I decided to revisit Greg’s video on the “Largo C# Harmonic Slur.” Up to this point, you have been working on getting a nice resonant sound and using your magnifying glass to recognize any negative tension. Tension is not a bad thing in the right places. Excessive tension and unnecessary tensions are the problems that keep many of us from playing freely over the range of the horn. The other is not knowing the shape of the note we are playing.

As I stated before, there is going to be some movement of your larynx because it is connected to the hyoid bone which is connected to the tongue. You should have a relaxed throat, relaxed shoulders, and relaxed abdominal muscles. Slurring the beginning intervals, such as C# to F# requires a small shape change in the lips, tongue, and jaw. The key is to have no air kick from the C# to the F#. The only change is the shape required to play those notes. You have practiced playing these notes with the correct shape without any clamping your lips’ center. You will feel the change in your aperture corners. The aperture corners tension are dependent on your shape change. Look at Greg’s lips while he’s playing the slurs.

I hope this helps.