Hi Chuck!

Welcome to M2M! My situation is similar to yours, but I married a trombone player instead of a vocalist, and I (thankfully) only have two kids.

I’ve always had good range, but had way too much back pressure, not enough endurance or consistency. Wind Works has totally revamped my playing, with bits of other stuff mixed in (Bobby Shew…[Read more]

In general, I agree with what Greg is trying to teach, but that doesn’t mean it’s actually what is happening. In the video I posted, the person demonstrated that the player in the recording would sometimes have the same shape for two different pitches, depending on the volume. A low/quiet note could have the same shape as a high/loud note.

This…[Read more]

Your clutch analogy is a particularly good one – let me embellish it further:

I have a Kawasaki Concours 14 Motorcycle. You can easily do 60 mph in 2nd gear on this motorcycle – you can also do 60 mph in 5th gear.

To go 60 mph in 2nd gear you merely give it more throttle. In 5th gear it takes less throttle.

For trumpet playing, shape is the…[Read more]

Here’s a video demonstrating the fact that an aperture can be the same size for both low notes and high notes, based on the volume played:

I could be wrong, of course, but I don’t think they contradict at all. Greg is just breaking the pieces down and separating them – Jim is combining them.

Greg is trying to get folks to understand the concept that shape can change notes – it’s not a requirement to increase the air kick to ascend – rather you can change the shape (which in turn inc…[Read more]

I would recommend looking into BE AFTER getting very comfortable with WW. If you can do the body’s concert hall, passive/active air release, control pitch by shape, etc, and you’ve gone through the Emerald stage, then the stuff from BE might make more sense in a practical manner – at least it did for me.

Lately, and I could be wrong, but I’ve been getting the feeling that the tightness in my corners are actually to push open the aperture / keep the roof from collapsing rather than trying to close the aperture. I think this is correct. I think when things are going well, I’m actually using the muscles surrounding the lips and not engaging the lip…

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https://zoom.us/j/6619120554
Password is 3100

It is another way of saying the same thing, but this is the beauty of Greg’s system. Greg is teaching you the shape for the notes where you’re not relying on the volume of air passing through the lips, you’re learning the shape first passively and then you’re adding the volume of air later for blowing sound out of the instrument.

Greg is breaking…[Read more]

I believe we are at 4pm CST, 10pm in the UK.

Yes, it is! Should be fun!

Yes, that’s the link.

Here’s the zoom link for the meeting on the 20th.

You got it!

Sounds like fun – count me in! I have a paid zoom account if we want to use it – it will allow us to go as long as we want.

It has been suggested that the MmmmmAaahhhhOooohhhh is a fundamental portion of the WindWorks philosophy, and I totally agree. Our thought process on what are lips do when changing pitch is fundamental to our approach. Greg is trying to get us to consider, and possibly challenge, our current approach.

I think the portion that needs to change when…[Read more]

What a great thread! Bill – thanks for being brave and vulnerable to share your struggles!

I do want to remind you, all of you really, that YOU are NOT your trumpet playing! If you play well, or play poorly, it is absolutely no reflection on YOU as a person.

You’ve had a lifetime of learning the traditional, less effective way of playing. This w…[Read more]