WindWorks Trumpet Academy Forums WindWorks Getting back into it

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    • #64199
      anthony
      Participant

      I’ve recently had a period of time of very little/sporadic playing and with the prospect of no gigs (Melbourne, Australia) as a result of COVID I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get back into the Windworks material.

      Playing right now feels/sounds crap which got me thinking about how I go forward from here. My usual mentality is “just get back into playing regularly, your chops just need time to readjust” but watching some of Greg’s videos made me consider how much of this is actually required.

      Do the lips actually need to get used to what is required to play the trumpet, or is it possible to play with a refined sound and great response from scratch if everything was set up and working (or previously trained) in the most efficient way?

    • #64200
      johnelwood
      Participant

      I may not be the best one to provide meaningful feedback to this as I’m an amateur player with no playing commitments, etc. But it seems to me that it’s somewhat normal to go through phases where playing fluctuates a bit better or worse and I think those fluctuations are both physical and mental. Some of them are even, in my experience, more mental than anything–more of our not meeting our preset expectation of what we should sound like. That can be detrimental. If you have toured and played in different venues with different sound acoustics and different environments, I’m sure you have experienced this as well.

      My understanding/opinion is that “less is more”, generally speaking. The lips just need to interact with air like the vocal chords. The less we have to do to manipulate the muscles in our face to get our lips into the right place at the right time, the more relaxed and natural of a setting, the better.

      When things are going great for me, they Feel AND Sound great.

      Often times when things don’t feel or sound good, I stop and basically give up on the sound for a bit and focus on what feels good–what do I feel like my chops need? Rest? Some soft Clarke I slurred? Soft long tones? Some easy flexibilities?

      I rest, take it easy and try to remember the things that I focused on to get to where I was before.

      That usually works in finding my way back home.

      I think it is possible to play with a refined sound and great response from scratch, assuming there is no lingering stiffness, soreness or other physical issues from overplaying.

      If I recall correctly, Greg gave an example of a band director asking someone what’s wrong with one of the trumpet players–he has a great sound, amazing tone, etc. But he can’t seem to read / play the music. The answer was that the player had just been playing for a couple weeks and was just learning how to read music. He sounded like an advanced player from a tone / sound perspective, but wasn’t.

      I try to let the sound happen and try not to get in the way. Easier said than done at times, but things usually go good when I achieve that / have that mindset.

    • #64203
      anthony
      Participant

      Johnelwood, thanks for the reply. This was very much a post to gauge other peoples thoughts on the idea, great to hear how you think about it.

      I 100% agree about the mental and physical fluctuations being regular and normal. As someone who is 17 years into this game we call trumpet playing I have mountains of expectations about what things should sound and feel like. If only there was an instant reset button that I could press and start over with everything the way it should be…but then of course I wouldn’t know everything I know now about playing.

    • #64478
      j.gardam
      Participant

      I think this may be a great opportunity to spend a little time on the basics of playing freely and efficiently whilst the old habits are a bit rusty
      This is based on some of my experiences.

      don’t rush up the scales. Get it all working freely and work on the easy harmonic slurs and good coordination and clean changes from note to note. this is what I am poor at so far
      These things make one sound great ( good speed makes it all automatic)

      Enjoy getting back into it
      Jon

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