This is GREAT Ron and I would like to sit on the sidelines and chip in if needed. Hopefully we can get some starters!

I really want WindWorks users to be running the meeting like I do the forum. I purposefully keep a low profile as you get enough of me at the course.

Also, people sharing and talking is part of the learning process and I never want to impede that.

Best Wishes,
Greg

I would be interested in this depending on work commitments.

I’m in London so 2200 gmt may be a little late though.

count me in even though it’s in the evening here in UK

Great idea. I will try and make it. I’m in UK.
I think Zoom has a time limit of about 40 minutes for the free version. This might be be a problem if Greg is chipping in!! As we are all aware his enthusiasm often means he gets carried away.
Cheers, Colin

Neat idea, Ron! I’ll try to think of an agenda to suggest–I think that would be key. If Greg is sitting in, perhaps even just a Q&A with him would be INVALUABLE for everyone. That would be pretty exciting, actually. I actually haven’t had a lot of time to play / practice lately and have been mostly just screwing around and not playing a lot of WW exercises per se. I have been playing most days but mainly warming up, playing some music and some flexibilities and whatever exercises I think I need to hit. So I’m not sure it would be that useful to watch me demonstrate anything, but I’ll try to go back and hit some of the WW exercises again–especially the “upper range development exercises in the Adagio, Andante, and Moderato stages” you mentioned above. I’d get an even bigger kick out of helping someone else get through their issue than I did working through mine–my range was limited to G above the staff up until a couple years ago. I’m still working through things and I’m no Maynard Ferguson (nor do I want to be, honestly). But I’m enjoying how easy it is, when things go right (usually they are these days), to play above the staff.

Depending on who wants to join, we may want to tweak the time so it works for UK, Australia, etc. I can do the time suggested though and will try to make it whenever it is. Thanks!

Sounds like fun – count me in! I have a paid zoom account if we want to use it – it will allow us to go as long as we want.

I am literally on day 2 of the course but would be interested. Its 11pm in the UK but you obviously need to go with the majority.

Here’s the zoom link for the meeting on the 20th.

This is great guys. For My Kiwi, Aussie and Asian friends this will be in the morning of the 21st November.

8am Queensland
9am Sydney Melbourne
6am Perth
7am Tokyo

Cheers,
Greg

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.

This is a question that might be asked by a lot of people.

When tension/ manipulation etc creep back in as we go up stage by stage;
what are the effective tricks or methods to get rid of them?

I haven’t got the answers!

Jon

MESSAGE FROM GREG:
Hey Jon, this is the biggie that everyone eventually deals with.

Best Wishes,
Greg

Is this meeting still on? I should be able to make it!

Is it still the original time of 5:00 p.m. central this Friday?

sounds excellent
to log in to the meeting on zoom we will need a meeting ID and a password