Stop Overblowing: A Short Trumpet Breathing Lesson

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Source: YouTube automatic captions, formatted for reading. Captions may contain errors; refer to the video for precise wording, sounds and demonstrations. Dates and offers reflect the original recording.

[Music] today i’m going to show you in just 60 seconds what overblowing is why it’s so bad and how to eliminate it for better brass playing and faster results in just 60 seconds over blowing comes from a misunderstanding that you have to squeeze air out of the body into the instrument it also comes from not knowing the shape of the face it’s inefficient it’s synthetic it’s hard to do and doesn’t sound as good consider this i can actively squeeze the air out of the balloon or

i can passively let the elasticity of the balloon do its job we take a body’s concert hall breath and we use the elasticity of the body to passively hum and sing now in the low register of the instrument we can make a great big sound without engaging the body whatsoever consider this i want the lips to interact with the air as if they are the vocal cords and if i can get the lip to vibrate like that although they don’t make sand in the instrument while

we’re playing the ability to do that will let go of the pinch of the lips and allow the resonance of the body to feed through into the instrument good luck i hope today’s video was useful and in episode number four of 60 second virtuoso i’m going to explain to you the four different steps to get what we’ve worked on so far onto the instrument it’s great fun look forward to seeing you there have you been thinking about how to improve your playing but don’t know what

to do and you’re scared of wasting time let me get you started and i’ll show you the right steps for better sound better technique and better range learn more at mystery to mastery dot com slash wind work sign up simply click the link below and let’s get started

Greg Spence contrasts actively squeezing the air out with allowing a passive release. This short archive lesson uses a balloon, humming and lip movement to explore the feeling of overblowing.

What is the focus of this overblowing lesson?

Greg encourages recognising unnecessary forcing and comparing it with the body’s natural release after a breath. The demonstration connects the Body’s Concert Hall with lip shape and an easier playing sensation.

This recording is part of Greg Spence’s public teaching archive. References to dates, events and offers reflect the original recording.

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About Greg Spence
Greg Spence is a professional trumpet player, educator and founder of Mystery to Mastery and WindWorks Trumpet Academy. His teaching explores efficient brass playing and the learning process.