Re: confidence in high register


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Posted by Cale Self on June 25, 2003 at 15:33:17:

In Reply to: confidence in high register posted by dave on June 25, 2003 at 02:26:25:

Dave,

Just a few comments from great players I've spent time with:

1) Pat Sheridan told me that whenever your lips begin to feel tired/bruised.worn-out/etc. that it's not an embouchure problem, it's an air problem. You have to realize that it actually takes less air to play in the upper register than in the lower register, stop fighting the mouthpiece and muscling the horn, and just work on flow.

2) Adam Frey asked me once if I wished I could play more securely in the upper register. Of course, I said yes. Then he asked me to name the percentage of time that I spent playing up there in my practice time. After much thought, I came up with 5% (which he thought was very optimistic). He told me, "How do you expect to do something well that you only do 5% of the time (and probably not even that much)?" It works.

My suggestion is to work your extreme ranges together, and concentrate on airflow the entire time. It's working very well for me right now. I've been playing euphonium for almost 15 years, and I've made leaps and bounds this summer just from focusing on airflow.
Hope this helps!

Cale


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