Here’s a proposal for an agenda. The more people that weigh-in on this, the better. It’s not going to hurt my feelings if we come up with something entirely different. This agenda might be too long for an hour, although I could probably stay on if it goes longer. But we should try to make it as efficient / specific as possible. Some of this might be too high level, but I thought it would be good to cover some of these points, listen to other members talk about their interpretation and have Greg there in the wings as a referee in case one of us goes off the reservation… There are 6 topics so, we could theoretically spend 10 minutes on each. The introduction / course overview might be able to be shorter, with Greg starting off talking for 5 minutes or so about the course, what each section contains, etc.

1. WindWorks Course Overview / Outline
a. Largo
b. Adagio
c. Andante
d. Moderato
e. Allegro
f. Presto
g. Ruby
h. Emerald
i. Diamond

2. “Mmmm Aaahhhhh Ooooohhh” – What does this mean? Starting out on the right foot.

3. How do I know if I’m doing “it” right? What is “it”?

4. The Windworks Mantras:
A. SHAPE changes pitch! Air is for volume and long tones…
Shape involves the shape of the aperture, oral cavity, arch of the tongue, etc.

B. Less air travels through the horn the higher you play…
The notes in the harmonic series are closer together the higher we play (i.e. Low C to G on
the staff is a 5th, but the next harmonic above High C is D–a 2nd, and above High E is F#,
then G (1/2 step)…). It doesn’t take more air to play higher; it takes more air to play
louder.

C. Practise is experimentation… a process of elimination based on ideas gathered
from teachers, experiences and instinct.
We must be Objective observers to our experimentation, with no bias (expectation) for
results for the experimentation to be effective

D. Clamping the lips and over-blowing are the two biggest problems with playing and are
generally caused by a misunderstanding of how the instrument works.
Tightening the lips reduces or eliminates their ability to vibrate freely (as fast as
possible)

E. Critical awareness of the problem is half the solution…
What Can I do? What Can’t I do? What’s the highest I can play? What’s the fastest I can
slur, etc.

F. The lips interact with the air as if they are the vocal cords…
We don’t tense our vocal chords to sing higher–if we did, it would be
uncomfortable/painful, would limit our range and wouldn’t sound good.

5. Passive vs Active Air – Separating the act of changing pitch from playing louder/longer.

6. “My Coffee Moment” – WindWorks members talk about their “Coffee Moments” and the things that helped them have their realization, etc.