After 43 years of relying on force & manipulation in my bass trombone playing, I am so happy I found WindWorks! I worked through the foundation stage for 10 months and did have some beneficial results but I suspected that I wasn’t really fully comprehending Greg’s concepts. I felt it was time to contact Greg and I’m so glad I did. Via Skype he immediately could see my chin coming up everytime the visualizer or mouthpiece did. As several people have noted on the Forum, there really does need to be black between the lips to ensure that the corners are coming in horizontally, the chin is down and there is a space between the teeth. My question for everyone is this:
This unfortunate situation we are all putting up with because of Covid means the community bands and small ensembles I play in are on hiatus. I am probably free to simply focus on my own playing until next September at the earliest. I have yet to achieve sympathetic oscillation and focusing on pure process feels wonderful, calming and very healthy, despite the lack of any actual sound. I understand that results practice keeps us focused on being musicians as well as helping us to recognize the point of difference. For me that point of difference seems so large and frankly uncomfortable when I engage in results practice that I’m tempted to just continue working on pure process. Has anyone else felt this way or is this a dead end?
GREG’s REPLY:
Hey there Eric. Thanks for the post.
Can we have another quick chat online? I find that due to the width our mouths and the wider trombone mouthpiece rim, I get a little bit of a buzz on the mouthpiece sympathetically so I’d love to check in to see what’s going on.
Whatever you do, don’t focus just on pure process. What got you to the level of player you are must be maintained or you might find yourself in strife when gigs fire up again.
Stick with the PROCESS then go for RESULTS and simply keep collecting data. Emotional detachment and curious observation.
Stick with it mate and let’s talk again soon.
Cheers,
Greg
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