TROMBONE-L Digest 2293 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) RE: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) by "Jeffrey Albert" 2) Re: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) by "Hector Bourg Jr." 3) RE: Mouthpiece info by richardt@LEE.ARMY.MIL 4) Re: Perfect Pitch Study by Daniel Cloutier 5) Re: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) by Barry Green 6) Abbie Conant performing in Morehead Kentucky by Jeanie Lee 7) Diminished Cord Part Writing by Elisabeth Frederick 8) Brass Weekend Corrections by "Michael Clayville" 9) Re: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) by Earl Needham 10) Sinatra trombone question 3rd try by Peter Ellefson 11) Re: Mouthpiece info by "Jerry Blomberg" 12) having trouble tounging by "Jon Moeller" 13) Trombone solo with band by jimandcat@juno.com 14) RE: Trombone solo with band by "Jon Moeller" 15) Re: Diminished Cord Part Writing by Craig Parmerlee 16) Re: Trombone solo with band by Robert Holland 17) Diminished Chord... by Elisabeth Frederick 18) Re: Diminished Cord Part Writing by "Adrian Drover" 19) RE: Diminished Chord... by "Jon Moeller" 20) Sam Burtis and Carambola by "Richard Johnson" 21) Re: Diminished Cord Part Writing by BJMCHAFFIE@aol.com 22) RE: Trombone solo with band by "Todd Slothower" 23) teeth problems by "Shaun Hillen" 24) Re: having trouble in upper register by Gabriel Langfur 25) Re: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) by "keith.marr" 26) On or off topic by "keith.marr" 27) Rotary valves by "keith.marr" 28) Re: having trouble in upper register by "Dale J. Cruse" 29) Re: Perfect Pitch Study by Gabriel Langfur 30) RE: having trouble in upper register by "Gary Greenhoe" 31) Re: Diminished Chord... by "Dave Wank" 32) RE: Perfect Pitch Study by "Gary Greenhoe" ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 11:47:56 -0600 From: "Jeffrey Albert" To: , "'Trombones and related issues forum.'" Subject: RE: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) Message-ID: <000f01c1af36$69234b20$60249d42@user> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I like the basketball thing. I did have one teacher that spoke about preparation in terms of "getting the lungs moving" which I found helpful. I rarely move the same amounts of air watching Sportscenter that I do when I play, so thinking in terms of "warming up" the breathing system is very helpful to me as a mental image. Lots of us take the "you shouldn't need to warm up" angle, and others argue that it is ok or even necessary to warm up. I think the thing to be careful of is developing a dependency (mental or physical) on a warm up routine. The first thing that I do most days would sound like a warmup to just about all of us, but I don't think about it as that, because I don't feel that I HAVE to do it before the horn will work for me. I think of it as a daily exercise routine, because if I go a few days without it my playing suffers, but I don't NEED it to function at any given point. Does that make sense? That is just the way I have gotten my brain to work with it. Jeff Albert www.jeffalbert.com -----Original Message----- From: owner-trombone-l@po.missouri.edu [mailto:owner-trombone-l@po.missouri.edu] On Behalf Of Dale J. Cruse Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 11:42 AM To: Trombones and related issues forum. Subject: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) ---- Original Message ----- From: "Michael & Dava Millar" To: "Trombones and related issues forum." Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 12:17 PM Subject: Re: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice > A couple of weeks a go, Lloyd Ulyate told me that he has never worried > about warming up. Since he hasn't always had the luxury of warmup time > on jobs, he hasn't allowed himself to regard warmup as a necessary thing > to have. Doubling is like that -- get yourself to the point where you > don't think about it. > > Michael Millar Hoo boy! Warming up is worth its own discussion. Years ago I heard Dale Clevenger (principal hornist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) say that he never warms up because he never cools down. With all the playing he does in the CSO, chamber groups, lessons, etc., etc., his chops were/are always ready to go. While that's something to strive for, I would never say don't warm up at all - I'm just saying that we all need different amounts and types of warmups depending on the situation and where we are in our musical development. I'm also an electric bassist and recently attended a master class with Victor Wooten (from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones) where he talked about his favorite warmup - a good game of basketball! Instead of concentrating on warming up his fingers, he liked to warm up his entire body. I don't recall anywhere in the Remington Warm-Up Studies does it say, "Go play a quick game of one-on-one!" Different strokes for different folks. ;-) Dale J. Cruse dale@dalecruse.com http://www.dalecruse.com ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 13:11:50 -0500 From: "Hector Bourg Jr." To: "Bone List" Subject: Re: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) Message-ID: <03d601c1af39$bfa283a0$a2523842@hn9nz49oeloz7b> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_03D3_01C1AF0F.D6A1C220" > ---- Original Message ----- > From: "Michael & Dava Millar" <bazbone@earthlink.net> > > > A couple of weeks a go, Lloyd Ulyate told me that he has never worried > > about warming up. Since he hasn't always had the luxury of warmup time > > on jobs, he hasn't allowed himself to regard warmup as a necessary thing > > to have. Doubling is like that -- get yourself to the point where you > > don't think about it. > > > > Michael Millar ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dale J. Cruse" <dale@dalecruse.com> > Hoo boy! Warming up is worth its own discussion Many years ago (1956 to be exact) I was priviledged to meet and spend time with the great Tommy Dorsey. I met with him in his dressing room and spent a sublime half-hour discussing big bands and trombone playing. He finally stood up and walked directly onto the stage and down in front of the band. The audience was applauding. He reached down and lifted his 2B off its stand, raised it to his face and Sentimental Over You filled the room. Not one breath of warm-up (or warning to the band, for that matter)! Was this typical? I don't know...but it's sure what happened that night! Impressed me, I can surely say. Butch P.S. For any who may be interested, here's a more detailed account of this encounter: http://www.thesjo.com/pages/archive.html ,,,scroll down to "TD and Me" ******************************************************************************* Hector "Butch" Bourg Jr. - Graphic and Web Design - Atlanta, GA Trombonist - Sentimental Journey Orchestra - http://www.thesjo.com ** NOW CELEBRATING TWENTY-SIX SWINGIN' YEARS ** ******************************************************************************* PLEASE UPDATE your e-dress for me to: sackbutt@mediaone.netÊÊ ******************************************************************************* ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 13:30:35 -0500 From: richardt@LEE.ARMY.MIL To: craig@acticalc.com, trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: RE: Mouthpiece info Message-ID: <81F62454EA21B94EA95517180D7303730243F82E@lee-is-102.lee.army.mil> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01C1AF3C.5DEE2030" Despite the consensus on this list, the evidence for theory 1 would seem to be overwhelming and the evidence for theory 2 nonexistent.Ê However, calling it a loss of energy is both imprecise and misleading. Instead think of it as a graphic equalizer. Then there are two related functions. Whatever the brass structure subtracts from the wind column sound, and whatever the brass structure delivers to the player's ears (but not the audience's ears).Ê Remember that the sound of a trombone is not one frequency but a cluster of harmonically related ones, and the timbre we hear is due to the relative proportions of them. Remember too that our brain has an incredible ability to process incoming sound and affect output in a feedback loop, and small changes in what we hear may have large consequences. We can hear the brass vibrate, the audience cannot. Note also that in mechanical systems (which the vibrating brass is) the standard way of reducing vibration for any particular frequency is to attach another vibrating system tuned to that frequency, called a vibration absorber.Ê If I had the choice I would play a completely dead trombone and take all my feedback from the room acoustics, that would be as close to what the audience hears as I could get. This might be a disaster for those of you who play in noisy or amplified venues, maybe you need the horn to be more live.Ê If I were experimenting with mouthpiece mass I'd make a very light mouthpiece with a very heavy ring that could be screwed up and down the length of the mouthpiece outside the horn, then you could fine tune the position to get the best out of it. Possibly this is something like what Gary and Kevin have done.Ê -----Original Message----- From: Craig Parmerlee [mailto:craig@acticalc.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 4:34 PM To: trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: RE: Mouthpiece info At 01:00 PM 02/05/2002 -0800, Gabriel Langfur wrote: >--- Craig Parmerlee wrote: > > So clearly it is about vibrations. I can think of only > > two major > > theories. If there are other possibilities I'd like to > > hear > > them. > >Craig, it seems to me that your two theories are >essentially gradations of the same theory No, I think they are practically opposite. I probably didn't explain them very well. Theory 1 says that everything important happens inside the tube. Any vibrations in the instrument (and therefore radiations through the body of the instrument) represent loss of energy and are bad. Theory 2 says that the vibrations of the instrument are essential to the character of the instrument and are good. In a great instrument, they amplify and refine the sound. In a lesser instrument they may cause more destructive interference. Even in a great instrument you can get too much of a good thing. Instruments have their breaking points where that desirable vibration becomes noise/distortion. In these cases, the extra mass or bracing may allow more energy to be put into the instrument. ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 11:47:55 -0800 (PST) From: Daniel Cloutier To: trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: Re: Perfect Pitch Study Message-ID: <20020206194755.91466.qmail@web13207.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Walter Barrett wrote: >In the latest International Musician (Union paper), >there's a brief mention of a study being conducted at >UCSF. They're looking at a possible genetic >link to absolute (perfect) pitch. After a brief >questionnaire, you listen to 80 tones, 40 are pure >sine waves, 40 are piano notes, and you click the >name of the note on the little on-screen piano >keyboard. If you have a dial-up connection, the whole >thing takes about 30-35 minutes, because each >group of 10 tones takes 2-3 minutes to load. If you >meet their criteria for absolute pitch, then they >might arrange to take a blood sample for DNA testing. This study has been ongoing (for at least five years) and is very interesting indeed. After determining if you have pitch or not, they send you and your entire immediate family kits to take DNA samples. The old "rub your cheek" routine. They then sent me a second DNA kit, this time using Scope mouthwash and a vial. They said that Scope works surprisingly well in getting cheek cell samples. >Let's just say that they won't be asking for MY >blood, unless they want a control group! I did almost >2x better identifying the piano tones vs. the sine >tones. If it had been trombone sounds, maybe I would >have aced it? I had to do two musical tests. One on my own with a CD they send, and another with a different CD--monitored by them over the phone at the same time. This was over two years ago. I thought the sine waves were a bit more difficult to hear as well. The test monitor said that my (and your) complaint about the sine wave has been universal among musicians, and that's why they use the piano in addition. They sent me a journal article recently (got it around here somewhere in the reams of music, audition repertoire lists, and miscellaneous bric-a-brac), which had both unexpected and expected results. Those test subjects who were exposed to a musical instrument before the age of (I think it was) four have a significantly greater chance of having perfect pitch than those who did not. Asians had the highest ocurrance of pitch. So it seems I may have wrecked their bell curve, hence the reason they tested me the extra times. (As I am a White male (of the politically incorrect age bracket) with no musical training of any kind before age 10.) Here's the link again... http://perfectpitch.ucsf.edu/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 14:42:33 -0600 From: Barry Green To: sackbutt@mediaone.net Cc: "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: Re: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) Message-ID: <0BB1DC0C-1B42-11D6-86F2-0003934114D8@home.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v472) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I've been playing professionally since age 13, and here in Nashville for 21 years next month and while I've had long periods where I didn't warm up at all (when you're working 8 -15 sessions during a week) the older I get the more important it seems for me to warm up. I'm finding that although I can still do my job if I don't, I have a much better comfort factor when I do. It just sounds and feels better to me. I'm also spending more time playing the bass bone, my warm up is on bass and my large bore tenor, (relating to the earlier thread of doubling) doing this on the larger horns makes my small bore tenor feel great. Anyway that's what seems to be working for me. Barry Green ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2002 17:57:53 -0500 From: Jeanie Lee To: trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: Abbie Conant performing in Morehead Kentucky Message-ID: <3C61B4F1.496F8D1C@morehead-st.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------6FF3EF080977B1963813202B" Abbie Conant will be performing at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky at the Button Auditorium on Feb. 25th at 8:00 p.m. This concert is free and open to the public. She is a fabulous musician and always offers new and interesting music. Here is the "official" press release if you would like to read more about her: On February 25th, 2002, the world-renowned trombonist, Abbie Conant, will perform a concert comprised of two highly acclaimed works written in collaboration with the composer William Osborne, entitled "Street Scene for the Last Mad Soprano" and "Music for the End of Time." This extraordinarily unusual and engaging evening will utilize their work with performance art, computers, and trombone that they have been developing for over two decades. They will be traveling with their own 600 pound surround-sound system that provides the highest quality sonic effects. This concert is a rare opportunity to hear one of the world's finest trombonists performing two widely respected works so unique they are impossible to categorize. (See the program notes below for brief descriptions and links to websites with more information.) As solo-trombone of the Munich Philharmonic, Ms. Conant lived through one of the most astounding and well-documented gender discrimination cases in the music world. (German National Television made a 90 minute documentary film about her experiences and broadcast it throughout Europe.) It is a remarkable story and might make an interesting article for you, especially since it influenced the two works she will be performing. For more information and some details see Monique Buzzarte's article, "We Need A Man for Solo Trombone" on the web at: The site contains links to additional articles in the _Washington Post_ and _Wall Street Journal_ about Ms. Conant's experiences as well as biographical materials. She will be on tour to 17 cities in the States from February 20th to April 16. Program: ABBIE CONANT IN PERFORMANCE 8:00 pm February 25th, 2002 Button Auditorium Morehead State University Street Scene for the Last Mad Soprano (1997) (Intermission) Music for the End of Time (1998) Brief notes: "Music for the End of Time", for trombone and quadraphonic surround-sound, is in six movements based on St. John's _Book of Revelation_. The electronic music of the surround sound creates a sonic environment in which the trombone is the central figure. In this epically-shaped work, Conant's performance reveals all aspects of her instrument, ranging from expressions of "divine wrath," to wild rhythmic unisons with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, to the gentlest, meditative lyricism. The movements: I. A Door Was Opened In Heaven II. The Sea of Glass III. The Four Horseman IV. As It Were of a Trumpet Talking V. The White Beast VI. A Woman Clothed with the Sun "Street Scene For the Last Mad Soprano", a music theater work for performance-artist and quadraphonic sourround-sound, demonstrates the wide range of Conant's artistic skills as instrumentalist, singer and actress. Imagine a down-and-out soprano living among the dumpsters behind the Met. Tomorrow is her big audition at the Opera House, if only she could think of what to perform. She colors her world with opera excerpts, grandiose Swan Songs and virtuosic escapades on her instrument-- but as she makes preparations for her final big audition, we see that the brutality of the street has long since caused the borderlines between life and opera to blur. In a word, "Street Scene for the Last Mad Soprano" explores the belief that cultural identity is necessary for survival and that it is a way of confronting our human condition. For more details and photos of this work see: http://www.osborne-conant.org/Street.htm ABBIE CONANT received her Bachelor's Degree (cum Laude) from Temple University in 1977. In 1976 she studied at Yale University, and in 1979 she received her Master«s Degree from the Juilliard School, followed by a Meister diploma from the Staatliche Hochschule fŸr Musik in Cologne, Germany in 1984. From 1979 to1980 she was solo trombonist of the Royal Opera of Turin, Italy. >From 1980 to 1993 she was solo trombonist of the Munich Philharmonic. The International Trombone Association Journal has featured Abbie Conant in a cover article and described her as "in the first rank of world class trombonists". She has recorded a highly acclaimed CD of trombone and organ music and performs internationally as a concerto soloist, recitalist, improviser and performance artist. In recent years she has performed as a soloist in over 100 European and American cities. In 1992 the Baden-WŸrtemburg State Ministry for Education, in recognition of her international reputation as a trombonist, named her Professor of Trombone at the Staatliche Hochschule fŸr Musik in Trossingen, Germany - the first woman Prof. of trombone in Germany. In 1996 the 4200 members of the International Trombone Association elected her as their President elect. In August of 1998 she was the first woman to serve as a judicator for the International Trombone Competition in Geneva, Switzerland. She has composed a series of music theater works concerning the Holocaust which have been performed in Germany to large audiences with critical success. For her most recent project, entitled "The Wired Goddess and her Trombone, she is working with composers to create works for computer and trombone based on the theme of the goddess. To date twenty-eight works have been written or are in progress, of which she has already premiered thirteen. For more information about the work of Abbie Conant see: http://www.osborne-conant.org Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii; name="j.lee.vcf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Description: Card for Jeanie Lee Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="j.lee.vcf" Attachment converted: Macintosh HD:j.lee.vcf (TEXT/R*ch) (0001ED2E) ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 15:18:06 -0800 (PST) From: Elisabeth Frederick To: trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: Diminished Cord Part Writing Message-ID: <200202062318.g16NI6e7027542@mail.nctimes.net> Hi List! I got this assignment in class today and I was wondering if someone could help me out here. How do you double a diminished cord when part writing? Thanks! -Liz P.S. Trombone Content: I play trombone! :P ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2002 23:35:53 From: "Michael Clayville" To: trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: Brass Weekend Corrections Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I recently posted information on the Monumental Brass Quintet Brass Weekend which I believe may have been incorrect (not exactly sure what information I provided). The event is to be held at the Levine School of Music ARLINGTON campus not the downtown, Upton St campus as I think I stated. For complete information, set your browsers to http://www.monumentalbrass.org/education.html#weekend. Sorry for the mix up. Take a second and come say hello if you do attend! Mike Clayville for the Monumental Brass Quintet _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2002 16:38:44 -0700 From: Earl Needham To: trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: Re: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) Message-ID: <4.2.2.20020206163815.00aa02e0@pop3.norton.antivirus> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 01:11 PM 2/6/2002 -0500, Hector Bourg Jr. wrote: Many years ago (1956 to be exact) I was priviledged to meet and spend time with the great Tommy Dorsey. I met with him in his dressing room and spent a sublime half-hour discussing big bands and trombone playing. He finally stood up and walked directly onto the stage and down in front of the band. The audience was applauding. He reached down and lifted his 2B off its stand, raised it to his face and Sentimental Over You filled the room. Not one breath of warm-up (or warning to the band, for that matter)! Was this typical? I don't know...but it's sure what happened that night! Impressed me, I can surely say. Butch P.S. For any who may be interested, here's a more detailed account of this encounter: http://www.thesjo.com/pages/archi ve.html ,,,scroll down to "TD and Me" OH MY GOSH! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE COLLECTION OF STORIES!!! Earl Earl Needham, KD5XB, Clovis, New Mexico KD5XB-2>APU24L,WA5IHL-11,K5BEN-15,WA5IHL-7,W5SF-1,K5CQH-15,WB5EKP-1*,TRACE7- 1:=3425.84N/10313.56W-[DM84] Pet peeve #1: You look at a "SITE" with your "SIGHT". Pet peeve #2: "Congratulations" does NOT have a "d" in it. Old pet peeve: People who get themselves on a mailing list and then can't figure out how to get OFF the list, then repeatedly sending "unsubscribe" or "remove" as one-word messages to the list. ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2002 16:30:11 -0800 From: Peter Ellefson To: Subject: Sinatra trombone question 3rd try Message-ID: Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I have sent this each of the last 3 days and it hasn't made it on the list---so...one more try: Does anyone know, for certain, who the trombone soloist is on the Sinatra/Riddle cut "What's New" off of the "Only the Lonely" album from September 1958? My brief (10 minutes) research points to Ray Sims or Milt Bernhart. Anyone know? Thanks. Pete ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 17:08:08 -0800 From: "Jerry Blomberg" To: "trombone list" Subject: Re: Mouthpiece info Message-ID: <001d01c1af73$e88ae0c0$eb4df5d1@cubs> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_001A_01C1AF30.D9950E80" When I began this thread a couple of days ago, my initial question was: How many of you are using the Jeff Reynolds-L bass mouthpiece and what are your thoughts about it? The only one who said he was using it was Gabe. Any others? Jerry Blomberg jerrzo@netzero.net <>< ----- Original Message ----- From: richardt@LEE.ARMY.MIL To: Trombones and related issues forum. Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 10:30 AM Subject: RE: Mouthpiece info Despite the consensus on this list, the evidence for theory 1 would seem to be overwhelming and the evidence for theory 2 nonexistent.Ê However, calling it a loss of energy is both imprecise and misleading. Instead think of it as a graphic equalizer. Then there are two related functions. Whatever the brass structure subtracts from the wind column sound, and whatever the brass structure delivers to the player's ears (but not the audience's ears).Ê Remember that the sound of a trombone is not one frequency but a cluster of harmonically related ones, and the timbre we hear is due to the relative proportions of them. Remember too that our brain has an incredible ability to process incoming sound and affect output in a feedback loop, and small changes in what we hear may have large consequences. We can hear the brass vibrate, the audience cannot. Note also that in mechanical systems (which the vibrating brass is) the standard way of reducing vibration for any particular frequency is to attach another vibrating system tuned to that frequency, called a vibration absorber.Ê If I had the choice I would play a completely dead trombone and take all my feedback from the room acoustics, that would be as close to what the audience hears as I could get. This might be a disaster for those of you who play in noisy or amplified venues, maybe you need the horn to be more live.Ê If I were experimenting with mouthpiece mass I'd make a very light mouthpiece with a very heavy ring that could be screwed up and down the length of the mouthpiece outside the horn, then you could fine tune the position to get the best out of it. Possibly this is something like what Gary and Kevin have done.Ê -----Original Message----- From: Craig Parmerlee [mailto:craig@acticalc.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 4:34 PM To: trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: RE: Mouthpiece info At 01:00 PM 02/05/2002 -0800, Gabriel Langfur wrote: >--- Craig Parmerlee wrote: > > So clearly it is about vibrations. I can think of only > > two major > > theories. If there are other possibilities I'd like to > > hear > > them. > >Craig, it seems to me that your two theories are >essentially gradations of the same theory No, I think they are practically opposite. I probably didn't explain them very well. Theory 1 says that everything important happens inside the tube. Any vibrations in the instrument (and therefore radiations through the body of the instrument) represent loss of energy and are bad. Theory 2 says that the vibrations of the instrument are essential to the character of the instrument and are good. In a great instrument, they amplify and refine the sound. In a lesser instrument they may cause more destructive interference. Even in a great instrument you can get too much of a good thing. Instruments have their breaking points where that desirable vibration becomes noise/distortion. In these cases, the extra mass or bracing may allow more energy to be put into the instrument. ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 19:12:51 -0600 From: "Jon Moeller" To: "Trombone List" Subject: having trouble tounging Message-ID: <000001c1af74$90861ce0$9401a8c0@Jon> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0001_01C1AF42.45ED3380" For some reason my tonguing seems to have slowed down quite a lot, I used to be able to tongue 16th notes at mm 120, but now all I can do them at is mm 92 or so. Any ideas on what could be the problem? ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 19:11:34 -0800 From: jimandcat@juno.com To: trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: Trombone solo with band Message-ID: <20020206.193849.-366465.0.Jimandcat@juno.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Once again I call on the expertise of the list to help me out. I have a senior high school student who has a great upper register, but kind of a nasally middle and lower register. I know, I know (and she does too) lots of long tones. That ain't gonna happen. She is not gonna practice to improve, she is going to practice to play. Like, she plays lead in the jazz band and sounds great. Like I said, geat upper register and a musical player. Anyhoo, her band features the best players each year in the final concert. She is looking for a jazzy upper register solo with wind ensemble. Don't even say Morceau or Blue Bells, ain't gonna happen. The only piece I know of is "Reflective Mood" by Sammy Nestico, but it is kind of dull. Any ideas, my friends. Jim Prindle, San Diego ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 22:04:21 -0600 From: "Jon Moeller" To: "Trombone List" Subject: RE: Trombone solo with band Message-ID: <000201c1af8c$860f81d0$9401a8c0@Jon> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, there's always David, and Grondahl... But, if she practices to play what is the harm in giving her a solo like Blue bells? -----Original Message----- From: owner-trombone-l@po.missouri.edu [mailto:owner-trombone-l@po.missouri.edu] On Behalf Of jimandcat@juno.com Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 9:12 PM To: Trombones and related issues forum. Subject: Trombone solo with band Once again I call on the expertise of the list to help me out. I have a senior high school student who has a great upper register, but kind of a nasally middle and lower register. I know, I know (and she does too) lots of long tones. That ain't gonna happen. She is not gonna practice to improve, she is going to practice to play. Like, she plays lead in the jazz band and sounds great. Like I said, geat upper register and a musical player. Anyhoo, her band features the best players each year in the final concert. She is looking for a jazzy upper register solo with wind ensemble. Don't even say Morceau or Blue Bells, ain't gonna happen. The only piece I know of is "Reflective Mood" by Sammy Nestico, but it is kind of dull. Any ideas, my friends. Jim Prindle, San Diego ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2002 23:22:44 -0500 From: Craig Parmerlee To: trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: Re: Diminished Cord Part Writing Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.2.20020206232043.01ee1a18@acticalc.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 03:18 PM 2/6/2002 -0800, Elisabeth Frederick wrote: Hi List! I got this assignment in class today and I was wondering if someone could help me out here. How do you double a diminished cord when part writing? Thanks! Wrap it with an extra thick coat of electrician's tape. But really, a diminished cord is an electrical hazard. You really should replace it immediately. ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2002 23:00:52 -0600 From: Robert Holland To: "Trb. List" Subject: Re: Trombone solo with band Message-ID: Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit jimandcat@juno.com wrote: > Anyhoo, her band features the best players each year in the final > concert. She is looking for a jazzy upper register solo with wind > ensemble. Don't even say Morceau or Blue Bells, ain't gonna happen. The > only piece I know of is "Reflective Mood" by Sammy Nestico, but it is > kind of dull. I publish a popular tune (6/8 ballad) from the 1920s called Melody in A Major by Charles Gates Dawes and arranged by John Marcellus. It's available in versions for trb/piano, trb/band, and trb/orch. It's relatively short, very tuneful, and mostly upper register. Robert Holland Briar Music Press briar@chicagonet.net http://members.aol.com/EnsPub/briar.htm ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 00:10:00 -0800 (PST) From: Elisabeth Frederick To: trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: Diminished Chord... Message-ID: <200202070810.g178A0e7012782@mail.nctimes.net> Hey hey hey.... Sorry, somtimes I run by my computer half asleep....but thanks for helping me with my electrical problems. My trombone is all lit up and glowing with my diminished cord....and it didn't hurt too bad.... Anyways.... What I meant to say.... (but I think I found the answer in the book, of all places!!;P) When writing four part harmony and using a diminished chord what is the correct way and the correct doubling?? I belive the correct answer to be... In order to avoid a tri tone you should always write a diminished chord in first inversion....I assume that then you would double, the bass note or the third of the chord in the soprano....I left my book in the car, and its too late, I can't read anymore. BUT...there was an example showing it used in root position...allowing the "appearance" of parallel fifths....  Thanks!! Liz -- This email was sent using NCTimes.NET Web Mail. ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 10:02:20 -0000 From: "Adrian Drover" To: , "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: Re: Diminished Cord Part Writing Message-ID: <006601c1afbf$c1b985e0$119bfc3e@homedmpbgvaomg> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: "Craig Parmerlee" > Wrap it with an extra thick coat of electrician's tape. But really, a > diminished cord is an electrical hazard. You really should replace it > immediately. Oh, I thought she meant the cord would not reach from the trombone lamp to the wall socket. But could this by any chance be a harmony question? In the UK, we use "chords" rather than "cords" to harmonize our songs. It's amazing what a difference that little "h" can make to a diminished seventh. Adrian ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 07:13:03 -0600 From: "Jon Moeller" To: "Trombone List" Subject: RE: Diminished Chord... Message-ID: <000401c1afd9$2d091ae0$9401a8c0@Jon> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I think it doesnât matter where the root is, since a tritone is equidistant from both octaves, so unless you want to really mess up the chord and put the tritone and octave and a tritone away from the bass note the you could do that... And how can a chord have parallel fifths? -----Original Message----- From: owner-trombone-l@po.missouri.edu [mailto:owner-trombone-l@po.missouri.edu] On Behalf Of Elisabeth Frederick Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 2:10 AM To: Trombones and related issues forum. Subject: Diminished Chord... Hey hey hey.... Sorry, somtimes I run by my computer half asleep....but thanks for helping me with my electrical problems. My trombone is all lit up and glowing with my diminished cord....and it didn't hurt too bad.... Anyways.... What I meant to say.... (but I think I found the answer in the book, of all places!!;P) When writing four part harmony and using a diminished chord what is the correct way and the correct doubling?? I belive the correct answer to be... In order to avoid a tri tone you should always write a diminished chord in first inversion....I assume that then you would double, the bass note or the third of the chord in the soprano....I left my book in the car, and its too late, I can't read anymore. BUT...there was an example showing it used in root position...allowing the "appearance" of parallel fifths....Ê Thanks!! Liz -- This email was sent using NCTimes.NET Web Mail. ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 08:31:03 -0600 From: "Richard Johnson" To: "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: Sam Burtis and Carambola Message-ID: <000701c1afe4$124b17c0$81a99d42@zemry> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sam: I just recently downloaded (completely legally from emusic.com!) a cd entitled Carambola which was recorded by a big band led by Chico O'Farrill. I noticed that you were one of the trombonists on the cd. There are some excellent trombone solos on the cds. Did you play any of them? Outstanding album! **************************************************************************** ** Richard Zemry Johnson, Jr. "The Untouchables" Jazz Ensemble Shreveport Metropolitan Concert Band ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, , "There won't come a time when you won't have to practice anymore." J. J. Johnson **************************************************************************** ***** I'm not satisfied with anything about my playing. I know what I want. I can hear it; but it will take time and study to get it" -Sonny Rollins (1956) ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 09:53:47 EST From: BJMCHAFFIE@aol.com To: slide.rule@adios.co.uk, trombone-l@po.missouri.edu Subject: Re: Diminished Cord Part Writing Message-ID: <185.33546cf.2993eefb@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Amazing difference in what an H can make from Chords to cords. In the US we do not often get a lift from floor to floor and what is the old saw about a second storey?? Is that where the glowing trombone lamp is??? beldon wade ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2002 09:34:54 -0600 From: "Todd Slothower" To: , Subject: RE: Trombone solo with band Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Ah, public school education. Where "musical" players only practice what they want to, and only practice if it is something that they want to do. How about insisting that this student work out her problem areas before playing another solo. Sorry...this just happened to hit a "hot" button. Too many of today's students are only interested in what they want, not what works. The "quick fix" attitude. Back to teaching................................ ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 10:39:16 -0600 From: "Shaun Hillen" To: Subject: teeth problems Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear List, For the past month I've been having problems with my front top teeth being sensitive. It's quite uncomfortable and I beging to feel it early on in my warm up. I've taken time off and I've played nothing but easy slurs and long tones but the problem persists. I especially begin to notice it when I play anything above F in the staff. I've been to the dentist--no cavities. And I've been to an endodontist--no nerve damage and the gums are in great shape. Since the dentists couldn't find what was wrong, I'm getting a little worried. I don't think it relates to too much pressure because I've been thinking a lot about reducing pressure while I play. It seems to relate more to the actual vibration of the pitches. Does anyone out there have experience with this problem? Thanks. --Shaun Hillen ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 08:28:00 -0800 (PST) From: Gabriel Langfur To: "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: Re: having trouble in upper register Message-ID: <20020207162800.73976.qmail@web10304.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Jon Moeller wrote: > Whenever I get past Bb (4 ledger lines) I start to bite > my bottom lip to > play higher, and I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I > can't seem to > stop doing it, and I can't get enough air coming out of > my mouth to pull > off the high notes. > > Is there a remedy to this, or should I just stop playing > up high? > OK, nobody's responded yet - I'll bite (pun intended). I didn't hear this story firsthand, but I've heard it secondhand so many times I think I'm qualified to tell it. The great trumpet player Tony Plog was taking some lessons with Bud Herseth while studying in Chicago. He went to a lesson and said "When I go into the upper register, I tend to pinch my corners up and sort of stretch them out, and the sound tends to get sort of thin. What should I do?" He then demonstrated for Mr. Herseth what was happening. Herseth looked, nodded his head, and said "Yeah, you're right, that's exactly what you do. Don't do that." The only way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. My advice to you would be this: 1. Play lots of long tones in the middle and lower register. This will build embouchure strength that will carry over to the upper register. Buy Paul Kemp's book - it's an excellent guide to the practice of long tones. 2. Remeber these words: "Start with what you CAN do." When you practice in the upper register, start in the comfortable middle register, and stretch upwards gradually, and (this is important) ONLY PLAY AS HIGH AS YOU CAN WITH A NATURAL EMBOUCHURE. When you feel yourself starting to bite, stop, take the horn away from your face, and start again a little lower than you just stopped. Sam Burtis' book contains one of the best range-building exercises out there, based on the teachings of Carmine Caruso. Norman Bolter also has an excellent set of high range exercises, published in a small book. Take the same approach to the music and etudes you practice - when the biting starts to happen, stop, rest and start again. 3. All three of the books I've mentioned advocate planning frequent rests into your practice session - do it! The biting is happening because you don't have enough embouchure strength yet to play those notes for real. That strength will come with diligent, careful, smart practice, which includes rest. > Also, on a side note, I am looking to become a > professional trombone > player someday, hopefully in a prominent orchestra. If you are as driven as you seem to be, then you should be fine, but you probably need to be reminded that changes don't happen overnight. Be patient, take your practicing one day at a time, and don't beat yourself up if you can't yet do something you want to. Again: "start with what you CAN do." Norman Bolter said that to me many times in my lessons with him, and it was the most important sentence I ever heard from a teacher. > Are > there any steps > you people have taken that you greatly regret? Or any > steps you've > taken that were good for you would be great too (Yes > Doug, I've read > your entire website). > Again, if you're that driven, you should be fine. Audition for great music schools. I went to Oberlin, where I studied with Per Brevig and Ray Premru, and I got a college degree as well. I liked that balance - many young musicians don't want as much academic pressure. Wherever you live now, find the best teacher you can - but you probably know that. Gabe __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 16:51:16 -0000 From: "keith.marr" To: "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: Re: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) Message-ID: <00a101c1aff9$266d4f60$6e303c3e@tiny> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Amen to all this Barry, especially the warming up on the larger horn making the smaller ones feel better. Whenever I need to play Alto I always warm up on Bass at home before turning out for rehearsals/concerts. The only thing I would add is that when I'm playing lots of sessions a week I play better AT FIRST without a warm up. The difference 10 minutes warm up at home can make to endurance though makes it well worth the effort. Keith in Bb/FD ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barry Green" To: "Trombones and related issues forum." Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 8:42 PM Subject: Re: Warming Up (WAS: Bass Trombone/Tenor Trombone Doubling Advice) > I've been playing professionally since age 13, and here in Nashville for > 21 years next month and while I've had long periods where I didn't warm > up at all (when you're working 8 -15 sessions during a week) the older I > get the more important it seems for me to warm up. I'm finding that > although I can still do my job if I don't, I have a much better comfort > factor when I do. It just sounds and feels better to me. I'm also > spending more time playing the bass bone, my warm up is on bass and my > large bore tenor, (relating to the earlier thread of doubling) doing > this on the larger horns makes my small bore tenor feel great. Anyway > that's what seems to be working for me. > Barry Green > ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 17:06:31 -0000 From: "keith.marr" To: "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: On or off topic Message-ID: <00c301c1affa$62271da0$6e303c3e@tiny> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00BD_01C1AFF9.C9E30360" Dear all I have noticed recently that a number of posters about general music matters have felt it necessary to add something such as "trombone content: I play trombone". Looking at the name of this list it says "trombones and related issues forum". General music matters must surely be on-topic without such justifications. My 2p worth. Keith in Bb/F/D ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 17:10:36 -0000 From: "keith.marr" To: "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: Rotary valves Message-ID: <00c401c1affa$63553d60$6e303c3e@tiny> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00C0_01C1AFFA.5BE67800" Dear all I have a number of bones with which I wish to give the rotary valves a really thorough cleaning. They are all conventional rotary valves (Conn, King, Besson, Jupiter and Holton). This is something I've not done before. Am I likely to cause problems for myself in dismantling them? If not, does anyone have an exploded view of a conventional rotary valve that they could email me? Trombone-L's never let me down yet, it's a terrific list! Cheers! Keith in Bb/F/D ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 12:27:12 -0500 From: "Dale J. Cruse" To: "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: Re: having trouble in upper register Message-ID: <001901c1affc$ae561120$70d92444@union1.nj.home.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ---- Original Message ----- From: "Gabriel Langfur" To: "Trombones and related issues forum." Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 11:28 AM Subject: Re: having trouble in upper register > Again: "start with what you > CAN do." Norman Bolter said that to me many times in my > lessons with him, and it was the most important sentence I > ever heard from a teacher. I think this is excellent advice but *could* be taken the wrong way. I think the emphasis should be, "START with what you can do." Build from there. Jazz educator Jamey Aebersold's teaching revolves around the idea of not practicing what you can already play. Striving for perfection is one thing, but do any of us practice tying our shoes at this point in life? Probably not. Why? Because we can already do it and it's automatic - therefore it's time to turn our attention to more advanced matters. Can you already play (for instance) Rochut #1 well enough to make even the toughest audience applaud? Great. Time to move on. And on. Push for more. Again, I want to emphasize that I wholeheartedly agree with the advice given above - I just believe adding to it makes it even more valuable. Regards, Dale J. Cruse dale@dalecruse.com http://www.dalecruse.com ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 09:30:18 -0800 (PST) From: Gabriel Langfur To: boneplanet@yahoo.com, "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: Re: Perfect Pitch Study Message-ID: <20020207173018.29750.qmail@web10306.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Dan and others on the list with absolute pitch: I'm giving a brief talk on Saturday about Messiaen and his perception of pitch and pitch groups as colors. He seems to have had a condition called Synesthesia. My questions are as follows: do you associate pitches with colors? If not, is the experience of recognizing a pitch analogous to recognizing a color? Is there some other sense that seems to be involved in your recognition of pitch? Any other comments? I'll be happy to take my answers off the air if y'all don't think they belong on the list... Gabe __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 11:38:36 -0600 From: "Gary Greenhoe" To: , "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: RE: having trouble in upper register Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Gabe, Thanks for taking the plunge. I support your suggestions fully. Jon, from the pictures, it really looks to me like you are definitely folding or collapsing your embouchure. I really suggest(from what I see in the pictures) that your jaw needs to remain lowered and forward to support your lower lip and teeth. This is an important part of the foundation. Remington always began with a student simply saying the letter "M" as in Emory. You will notice when you freeze that syllable, the corners of your mouth are pursed and your lower jaw drops and moves forward slightly to create a resonance for speaking the letter M. This has always been a benchmark for me when working with problems myself. With that embouchure set, begin playing long low tones....then use a range building exercise, such as Remington's from low partials to higher....being very careful NOT to change your resonant set on the low notes as you ascend. This is the single best way that I have found to stabilize and increase range...and to run as a check...always to reinforce depth of sound in all ranges. As Gabe says...when you find your embouchure resorting to old tactics...Stop! Begin again and continue resisting the urge to revert back.....this is critical! If you would like more detail ....I would be happy to try to elaborate....but I really think from what I see that some coaching in person from a good teacher would do you wonders. Regards, Gary -----Original Message----- From: owner-trombone-l@po.missouri.edu [mailto:owner-trombone-l@po.missouri.edu]On Behalf Of Gabriel Langfur Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 10:28 AM To: Trombones and related issues forum. Subject: Re: having trouble in upper register --- Jon Moeller wrote: > Whenever I get past Bb (4 ledger lines) I start to bite > my bottom lip to > play higher, and I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I > can't seem to > stop doing it, and I can't get enough air coming out of > my mouth to pull > off the high notes. > > Is there a remedy to this, or should I just stop playing > up high? > OK, nobody's responded yet - I'll bite (pun intended). I didn't hear this story firsthand, but I've heard it secondhand so many times I think I'm qualified to tell it. The great trumpet player Tony Plog was taking some lessons with Bud Herseth while studying in Chicago. He went to a lesson and said "When I go into the upper register, I tend to pinch my corners up and sort of stretch them out, and the sound tends to get sort of thin. What should I do?" He then demonstrated for Mr. Herseth what was happening. Herseth looked, nodded his head, and said "Yeah, you're right, that's exactly what you do. Don't do that." The only way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. My advice to you would be this: 1. Play lots of long tones in the middle and lower register. This will build embouchure strength that will carry over to the upper register. Buy Paul Kemp's book - it's an excellent guide to the practice of long tones. 2. Remeber these words: "Start with what you CAN do." When you practice in the upper register, start in the comfortable middle register, and stretch upwards gradually, and (this is important) ONLY PLAY AS HIGH AS YOU CAN WITH A NATURAL EMBOUCHURE. When you feel yourself starting to bite, stop, take the horn away from your face, and start again a little lower than you just stopped. Sam Burtis' book contains one of the best range-building exercises out there, based on the teachings of Carmine Caruso. Norman Bolter also has an excellent set of high range exercises, published in a small book. Take the same approach to the music and etudes you practice - when the biting starts to happen, stop, rest and start again. 3. All three of the books I've mentioned advocate planning frequent rests into your practice session - do it! The biting is happening because you don't have enough embouchure strength yet to play those notes for real. That strength will come with diligent, careful, smart practice, which includes rest. > Also, on a side note, I am looking to become a > professional trombone > player someday, hopefully in a prominent orchestra. If you are as driven as you seem to be, then you should be fine, but you probably need to be reminded that changes don't happen overnight. Be patient, take your practicing one day at a time, and don't beat yourself up if you can't yet do something you want to. Again: "start with what you CAN do." Norman Bolter said that to me many times in my lessons with him, and it was the most important sentence I ever heard from a teacher. > Are > there any steps > you people have taken that you greatly regret? Or any > steps you've > taken that were good for you would be great too (Yes > Doug, I've read > your entire website). > Again, if you're that driven, you should be fine. Audition for great music schools. I went to Oberlin, where I studied with Per Brevig and Ray Premru, and I got a college degree as well. I liked that balance - many young musicians don't want as much academic pressure. Wherever you live now, find the best teacher you can - but you probably know that. Gabe __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 12:52:05 -0500 From: "Dave Wank" To: , "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: Re: Diminished Chord... Message-ID: <000201c1b000$28e3f080$a598fea9@computer> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit My curiosity has been piqued, Liz. Wouldn't the result of what you were talking about, the 1st inversion of the double-diminished, have the tonality of the II 7?(Two 7 - I've gotta figure out how to find super/subscripts!) Anyway, just wondering. dave wank ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293 Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 11:53:55 -0600 From: "Gary Greenhoe" To: , "Trombones and related issues forum." Subject: RE: Perfect Pitch Study Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Gabe, I have to chuckle at this DNA theory...as I have pitch recognition....and years ago ran across a study that links pitch recognition with a definite spike or loss of hearing in an individual that has recognition. At first I scoffed at this theory...but years later, had a hearing test where there was one of these spikes in my hearing. It was very narrow, and definite...and after years of thought on my part.....seems totally logical as I mature. I think it would also account for variations in perfect pitch people....some being very sensitive to changes in pitch centers, while others can adapt to a lower or higher tuning of particular pitches, depending on where or how narrow a spike is in one's particular case. It is definitely possible that there are other factors, but this really hit home with me as a young man....it was so logical. As for colors...or other identifiers...there are just timbres that might represent colors....but something just hits me with different pitches...they all have personalities...or faces just like people. Some are pitches of "color" and others are definitely "northern European". ;-) Regards, Gary -----Original Message----- From: owner-trombone-l@po.missouri.edu [mailto:owner-trombone-l@po.missouri.edu]On Behalf Of Gabriel Langfur Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 11:30 AM To: Trombones and related issues forum. Subject: Re: Perfect Pitch Study Dan and others on the list with absolute pitch: I'm giving a brief talk on Saturday about Messiaen and his perception of pitch and pitch groups as colors. He seems to have had a condition called Synesthesia. My questions are as follows: do you associate pitches with colors? If not, is the experience of recognizing a pitch analogous to recognizing a color? Is there some other sense that seems to be involved in your recognition of pitch? Any other comments? I'll be happy to take my answers off the air if y'all don't think they belong on the list... Gabe __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com ----__ListProc__NextPart____TROMBONE-L__digest_2293--