You’re very welcome. Good luck. We all rush at times. And it’s easy to focus on Results and stop focusing on Process, especially when we do experience some success–human nature is to switch our attention to our newfound ability and not to what got us there. I’ve fallen into that trap more than I’d like to admit.

But we learn from failure, not success.

If we tense up, use too much air, pressure, etc. and hit a pitch; did we succeed? No, not unless the pitch sounded and felt the way we wanted it too; and even then, our endurance will be minimal.

“Use the Force, Luke…” 🙂

I try to pay attention to the clues the instrument is giving me, which helps me figure out what precise movements I need to make to form the most efficient Shape possible and achieve optimal Resonance–the ideal balance between Shape and Air, optimal sound and efficiency.

Minor movements in the muscles in our face can help our hurt our sound, our tongue is involved too. That’s why focusing on harmonic slurs helps us so much–if we do them right and focus on optimal sound and efficiency, not just powering through them with brute force using too much air and pressure.

Trumpet is not an endurance or participation sport…it takes careful coordination and a delicate balance between Shape and Air to achieve optimal sound and efficiency.