Peter,

I’m very sorry to hear that you’re having difficulty.

For what its worth, we’ve all been there–that’s why we’re here.

It would be helpful if you could describe where you’re at with your playing and what your goal is.

I think its important that we constantly remember that WindWorks is not a set of exercises that you play to develop muscular strength, or even coordination.

It is a way to approach the instrument in order to experiment and learn through trial and error (in a structured approach) what is resonant and efficient and what is not.

If we experiment with the approaches Greg describes and don’t achieve a “point of difference” (feel / hear an improvement in efficiency and/or effectiveness), we must consider whether we truly are following what is recommended.

Most of us are here, more or less, because of range. So I anticipate that will be your main frustration.

What helped me a lot is writing out the different WindWorks mantras that scroll along the bottom of the main page, along with some related ones I found elsewhere:

1. Shape changes pitch; air is for volume and long tones

2. Less air is required the higher we play

3. The notes are closer together the higher we play. For example, ascending in the open (no valves) position, we can ascend from High C to Double G in G Major: (C, D, E,F#, G).

4. We want the lips to interact with the air column like the vocal chords. We don’t flex our vocal chords to sing higher; if we do, its inefficient, uncomfortable/painful, doesn’t sound good and limits our range.

There are others, but those are the key ones that really helped me have the confidence and abandon to experiment playing above the staff at a softer volume and with less air than I was previously. I was at the point that I was willing to give anything a try, even if I doubted it would work.

Surprisingly, it did work–I could play above the staff easier than I ever thought possible and played my first ever High C. Now I’m working on understanding how to get to Double G, which is the point at which the mouthpiece is an amplifier of the mouthpiece buzz and therefore it seems to be a different animal somewhat.

It takes time, and it’s not as simple as walking up a flight of stairs or following a map, it’s a personal voyage of discovery each of us must figure out for ourselves.

Hope that is helpful, for what its worth.