In my opinion, Success in Largo Long tones has less to do about the setup of the lips than it does about learning to release the air and relax and focus on efficiency and obtaining the most resonant, full sound possible, letting your body and…[Read more]

My understanding is that reducing aperture (changing Shape) is what determines pitch.

While tension is needed outside of the aperture in the muscles surrounding the aperture,the tissue that interacts with the air column must be left free to vibrate as fast…[Read more]

FWIW, I found the following forum on this question on a flute player forum (https://www.reddit.com/r/Flute/comments/kafdcs/cupids_bow_lips/). I realize Flute and Trumpet are different, but there are probably some common responses here.

My gut is that your issue is…[Read more]

Glad it’s going good for you. Every lap through the course has taught me even more than before.

But even now, I sometimes catch myself moving too much rather than keeping things simple and straightforward and have to get myself back into the right mindset. A little Clarke 1 and 2 on passive air at a soft volume usually helps me a lot.

I would…[Read more]

Regarding my post above, I suppose that experiment would be more linear if…[Read more]

Less air travels through the instrument the higher we play. I’m not suggesting one could hold a Double C for longer than a Low C, but I wonder what the easiest note may be.

I doubt it’s low F# (123)–I suspect that note would…[Read more]

Interesting question, it will be interesting to see the responses.

For me, I think it’s actually easier to play a low C for longer / less effort than humming a low C.

I may not be a very good hummer…I don’t typically sing and haven’t been doing the “MmmmWwwaaaOooohh” thing for a while now as I just feel like I “get it” now and…[Read more]

In his book “The Art of Brass Playing”, Phillip Farkas devotes an entire chapter (albeit, only a couple of pages long)…[Read more]

Forgot to mention, once you determine the optimal Shape for each pitch, we can / should experiment with moving between those Shapes as efficiently as possible…

I haven’t had that exact issue before, but I’ve battled an airy sound from time to time–in fact, it just so happens that yesterday was a bit that way for me.

I have experienced great success and feel that I’ve learned the most / developed the most from doing harmonic slurs when I have done the following:

1. Slow it way down, at…[Read more]

That makes sense. I’ve never tried meditation for playing trumpet but that makes a ton of sense.

Our minds are our biggest asset AND our biggest obstacle, often times within the same practice session.

Learning to recognize when our minds and/or our actions are helping us and when…[Read more]

My intent was not to increase my ability to slur notes faster, but that’s what happened–among other things, which were all good.

I just ended my practice session this morning and feel like I’ve reached yet another “level” with my ability to slur…[Read more]

Playing on Friday when I got home felt very weird and a little frustrating (like I was a bit uncoordinated), but my lips felt noticeably relaxed and I felt like I had less…[Read more]

Is there any specific reason you’re asking about this? Are you having difficulty with feeling too tight/stiff?

I get that way at times when I overdo it after a session of “gladiator trumpet”–usually a mindless, unstructured set of harmonic…[Read more]

The body has compression when we take a big breath, releasing air through a small aperture…[Read more]

For me, I’ve been having success taking a big breath and letting the air escape the aperture with the tension in the corners surrounding the aperture and thinking Ooohhh on High C and doing…[Read more]

You’re in a good spot. Like you, I took a long break from the trumpet, 20+ years as well. I came to find WindWorks, and various videos on YouTube, in 2018 and have found the WindWorks content instrumental in my ability to play like I never thought I would be able to.

I have experienced what you have described–regressing and having…[Read more]

FWIW, my understanding of the unfurling concept is that as we contract the aperture corners inwards, towards the Air Column / center of the mouthpiece, the lips move forward into /against the mouthpiece and the lips somewhat unfurl/pucker. This is little by little, but of course is significant over a large interval. The vibration of the…[Read more]

You may want to check out the “aperture and embouchure questions” forum thread in the yellow highlighted section at the top of the Forum. I believe that’s where Greg posted some clarifying videos on things. You might find these useful as well.

Best,

John

When I warm up, I’m pretty in tune on most notes. And when I ascend chromatically, I can keep things pretty much in tune.

But when I play a middle C the way it feels naturally without ascending…[Read more]

You’re very welcome–stick at it and you’ll figure it out.

I understand you’re point about the approach. Unfortunately, there’s not any specific videos that I can think of that I can point you to that would give you a “coffee moment” abut a specific embouchure for you, etc. But you could and should definitely watch Greg’s videos as…[Read more]

I don’t play in a group, I just play for fun by myself.

I’ve got my tuning slide out a couple of inches, but I think I need to spend some time playing long tones with drones.

It’s funny, I think this has been the case for a while and now my ear is used to it being sharp. Playing notes perfectly…[Read more]

It seems to me to a very subtle thing and certainly mostly a mental one, the difference between playing efficiently and over engaging, over blowing, etc.

The whole mindset we have when we start can make or break it.

I have found it useful to spend some time…[Read more]

For me, it’s hard to practice a lot and consistently. I am progressing, but know I’d progress more if I improved the quality of my practicing (structure, consistency, focus).

The quote “It’s not how much you practice but How you practice” comes to…[Read more]

It seems like I am softly touching the soft part of the roof of my mouth a bit behind the front teeth when I’m playing legato and the tongue seems a bit looser, whereas staccato or hard attacks are behind my front teeth.

I don’t know if that’s a recommended method, but it’s what I’m…[Read more]

I think there might be two issues involved in your post, correct me if I’m wrong:

1. Using the tongue to block the air and learning to release the air Passively simply by removing the tongue from behind the aperture/teeth/roof of the mouth, etc. and letting the air escape, as Greg demonstrates, etc.

2. Using the tongue to play…[Read more]

My understanding / recollection is what you’re referring to is “mouth compression”.

Greg talks about this in the Ruby or Emerald (or upper levels) levels, if I recall correctly.

Lately, I’ve been playing a shallow “lead” mouthpiece and have been encountering this both through purposeful experimentation AND accidentally–given the…[Read more]

You appear to be “playing in the red” a bit to me–it’s good that you’re open, relaxed and forward and appear to be passively releasing air through the lips, etc.…[Read more]

I was just thinking about recording myself yesterday as I realized that part of the difference is that my perception of the sound I’m making is changing. I was alternating playing the 3C, 1.25C and Bobby Shew Lead yesterday and the 3C and 1.25C just seemed so dark–which I used to prefer, but…[Read more]

I have been playing my Bach 3C for most of the past year–I loved the sound of some of the bigger pieces I posted about above, but planned on developing my range and figured going that big would make range development more difficult, eventually.

Plus, I wondered a bit if the fact that playing a 1.5C…[Read more]

But it’s important to remember that we must not tense up or restrict our throat or body as we ascend.

The aperture must be reduced, but that could and should be done without any unecessary tension in the throat or body.

There does need to be tension in the aperture…[Read more]

I suppose the trick is coming up with an optimal balance between experimentation of new processes and reinforcing good process that has been proven successful.

Being as…[Read more]

Doesn’t sound like you’re too far off from where I’m at. I don’t believe lowering the jaw to open up the aperture, if necessary, is a bad thing–it surprises me still how open one can play up there.

Lately, I’ve been working a bit / experimenting a bit trying to grow my…[Read more]

When you say “A and Bb in the second staff”, do you mean above the staff (i.e. A and Bb just below High C)? I presume so.

It is difficult to explain–you’re right. At times, I feel foolish to try but something compels me to make the attempt. I suppose it’s because I was lost for so long and finally feel like I found my way.

The “risky…[Read more]

Conversely, is it true that if we practice bad process that we can go backwards or it can adversely affect our ability?

I have struggled in the past going from a dedicated focus on Process, which successfully increases my range and ability to focusing on Results and using that new range and ability but…[Read more]

The “more tension is less” that you mention isn’t quite what I wrote.

What I wrote/meant is that the tension is in the aperture corners, not the middle of the lips–which is the area that interacts with the air and must be left free to vibrate as fast as possible.

And the tension os only as much as necessary.…[Read more]

I did have the feeling that I was fortunate to have been playing somewhat open to begin with, at least up to a point on the staff. I think I’ve always played that way. My problems started probably at about E on the staff and got very worse very quickly.

I don’t mean to contradict anything Greg recommends or WindWorks,…[Read more]

For me, I think it was more about the air–it is a very subtle thing, almost imperceptible at times, especially when playing music and trying to read music, get the fingerings, articulation, dynamics, etc. right and…[Read more]

The corners of the mouth don’t seem to move much to me, there is more of a sensation of engagement/tension in the corners while the middle part of the lips are free to vibrate.

To me, it feels more as if the…[Read more]

The Pacific Symphony recently posted a streaming concert of one of my favorite pieces of music and, even better, it was arranged for brass. The…[Read more]