Hi All!
Most trumpet teachers, particularly classical ones, tell you not to blow your cheeks.
However, when I look at the great jazz players – not just Dizzy Gillespie, who is extreme, but also Freddy Hubbard, Chet Baker, Clark Terry and many others, they ALL blows their cheeks out. If they do it, why is that? And why are we told not to.
I have experimented, and I’ve found that it can be a way of keeping the lips relaxed and encouraging the feeling of letting the air out straight through the instrument. But I can’t get higher notes like this, whereas they obviously can.
Any comments would be very welcome.
Stan.