TO BUZZ OR NOT TO BUZZ ?

[happyroman]

I've been away for a while, and thought I'd bring up an older thread and add a comment. I studied with Mr. Jacobs in the late 1970s, and am a diehard advocate of practicing on the mouthpiece alone (I am not fond of referring to this as buzzing, which to me has a certain pejorative connotation).

The point that Mr. Jacobs made about mouthpiece practice that made the greatest impact on me has to do with the creation of a direct link from the brain to the lips. When the mouthpiece is in the instrument, you can be somewhat less precise in the pitch being vibrated by the lips, and the instrument will help out by fitting the note into the closest slot for you. However, if you want to play a C on the mouthpiece, you have to vibrate the C on your own. If you are even a little off, you clearly hear the difference and can make the adjustment yourself.

This type of practice is exactly what is referred to in the books The Talent Code and Talent is Overrated as deep practice. This is the kind of practice that enables one to learn at a faster rate and in a much more efficient manner. If the purpose of practice is to train the lips to behave in the same manner as a singers vocal chords, then mouthpiece practice is one of the best ways to achieve that goal.

The other aspect of mouthpiece practice that is extremely beneficial is that it helps one to learn new habits that can replace old, less useful habits. After years of playing, the instrument becomes a very strong psychological stimulus. Simply picking the horn up creates a connection in the brain with the old habit, making it extremely difficult to avoid it. If you put the horn aside, and practice on the mouthpiece alone, you can work on the new habit until it is developed to the point you can then reintroduce the instrument and not have the old habit be dominant.

[OffuttTubaGuy]

I thought some of you might like to hear what Allen Vizzutti has to say about the negitive effects of mouthpiece buzzing (around 2:08 into the video clip):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIRWgYWnLOc" target="_blank

[Ken Herrick]

The Vizzutti clips are interesting. In my view, he is actually rather confused about what REALLY makes the sound. Without VIBRATION, there would not be much of a sound. You can blow a lot of air at high pressure through an instrument and it will not make what we normally consider to be a "musical" sound. His idea of turbulence in the mouthpied being the source of the sound he gets is simply weird. IF his lips did not vibrate, he would NOT get a good trumpet sound. I am afraid this is a case of the very good player who would not make an equally good teacher - going by what is in that clip.

He has another - Clarke study #2 espousing "breath control". That is all fine and well for a trumpet player who needs nowhere near the quantity of air to produce his sound that a tubist does. Just looking at him, I would bet he has close to a 7 liter lung capacity which would be great for playing tuba!!!!!

I found, when I started studying with Jake, that developing a good sound on the mouthpiece alone was one of the best things he taught me. Playing your solos etc on the mpc alone, with good sound, dynamic contrast, articulation and the other things which go to make a good sounding, musical performance can be one of the few "shortcuts" to good playing.

It is not just the buzzing that counts - it is the fact that you must have your musical brain trained and engaged to perform well on the mpc alone. As Jake often said - "become a mouthpiece virtuoso".

Along the line of great players not necessarily being the greatest teacher; Bud Herseth would have been one of the greatest trumpet players of all time BUT, his second trumpet co worker, Vince Chicowickz was by far the better teacher when it came to teaching how to play. Bud was fantastic to learn from by imitation, but he had not developed the pedagogical skills which Vince had. Of course, Vince was a pretty damned fine player as well!

As a person develops as a player and teacher it is good to gain exposure to different methods and teachers and pick the best from each. Fill your tool kit with more than just the simple hammer, screw driver and crescent wrench. As Bloke once said BUY CALLIPERS..........

[swillafew]

I saw Vincent Cichowicz teach a clinic, and off the horn buzzing was the utilized to a stunning and entirely positive effect on the students who participated. Every level of player played better after using the mouthpiece alone.

Edward Kleinhammer devoted a whole chapter to it in his book, and between the two men, they made a beautiful description of the benefits of this practice.

I think the trumpet clinic had the BERP, but it was not the fundamental part of the lesson.

[happyroman]

I thought some of you might like to hear what Allen Vizzutti has to say about the negitive effects of mouthpiece buzzing (around 2:08 into the video clip):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIRWgYWnLOc" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Mr. Vizutti is a great trumpet player, but he's not confused, he's simply wrong. The air DOES NOT produce the tone. The air is a fuel supply that allows the lips to vibrate the various pitches. It is the vibration of the lips, fueled by the air, that makes the sound. You can blow air through a trumpet (or any other wind instrument for that matter) and if the lips (or reeds) do not vibrate, there will be no sound (other than the whooshing sound of the air moving). The instrument simply amplifies the pitch being vibrated by the lips into the mouthpiece.

I do know that trumpets are different from other brass instruments in the application of buzzing on the mouthpiece. Mr. Chikowitz had his students use an extension attached to their mouthpieces when buzzing because there were issues associated with the trumpet mouthpiece being too short. My understanding was that without the extension (about three or four inches) trumpet players would not be able to produce the full range of pitches.

[OffuttTubaGuy]

I believe that the point of his discussion (see 5:40 in the video clip) is that the lips will vibrate with a correct lip aperture and a good supply of air, producing a quality sound. After watching this, I tested his theory not only on tuba, but on all of the brass instruments, and was very surprised by the results. He is right on.

While mouthpiece buzzing might be a useful tool, his demonstration changed my thinking about good sound production. I no longer see it as a "buzz that is amplified by the horn" as many people teach. It is really the balance between airstream, lip tension, and the natural resistance of the instrument, where the only result is the vibration of the lips.

What might be confusing is that he is speaking mainly about having a relaxed embouchure and blowing a good airstream, while avoiding a discussion about the lips. He obviously understands that it is the vibration of the lips that produces the sound.

[tubajazzo]

Buzzing a trumpet mouthpiece is a lot more like playing a trumpet than buzzing a tuba mouthpiece is like playing a tuba...

that is the truth for me. If I buzz on the tuba mouthpiece alone, the whole setting of lips, jaws and oral cavity needed to produce a good buzz sound is one thing. If I take this same embouchure setting to the tuba, then the sound is no more as it should be, especially in the low register. I have to open up my jaws much more an make my oral cavity and throat form an AAWW kind of sound. With this setting I could never produce a good buzz on the mouthpiece alone. Could happen that this is different for other persons.

Gerd

[Lectron]

buzzing is a good exercise...So is reading load with a wine cork between your lips
Your working your muscles, like going to the gym......

Neither should be confused with the position of lips/yaw when playing your instrument