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Hey, Provincial Honour band auditions are coming up and I'm having trouble doing 2 octave scales without stopping because when i get to about the F (Bb scale), I have to shift my embouchure to hit the high notes, this is really holding me back and anything I could try would really be appreciated, thanks


Kevin

You can take this advice or leave it, but this advice is gonna come from ideas that my teacher, Dave Zerkel, gave me during early lessons on playing high, so it's not word for word, it's just a very rough summary. First of all, it's very important to make sure that you aren't necessarily "smiling", because the more lip are able to have in the mouthpiece, the more flesh you will have to make a resonant sound. Otherwise, you will have less control and you will also have more muscle tension. Next, make sure that instead of making a really tight embouchure, let your appeture be directional. An excercise to practice this directional idea is to use two fingers, and with your airstream, follow your fingers down to your chin. Remember, the more "kissy" and relaxed you look, the warmer and better the sound will be. Playing high "can" be easy; it's more of a mental and technique issue than it is muscle strength. However, it does require muscle endurance.

This is kinda general and I may have left out some important things. However, I hope this helps.

Now im confused, is my problem just that I cant play high well enough yet? Or was that just playing high advice......................Im trying to practice the physical transition I have to make.

You also have to ask yourself how often do I play high. If you don't do it, then don't expect to be able to do it.


I expanded my register an octave and a half in about 3 months by doing a daily exercise (as Sumner calls it, "The Daily Renewal") that takes me go up as high as I can go and as low as I can go every day, and first thing.

If anyone can get a lesson with Sumner Erickson, do it. He will change the way you think about playing so that you don't think about it.

Sumner is in Austin, TX BTW.

Are you using the 53H that came with your new horn? Is it a drastic change from your old mouthpiece? Jumping to a bigger mouthpiece will make the high range more difficult for a few months.