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Alfie72287 wrote:I've been looking into ways into strengthening my embourchure, and was curious if anyone had any input about or experience with Chop Sticks.

I like the pencil technique.... it depends on if you play straight ahead or not.... as i play off to the side (barely noticeable) that doesn't help me much....


i've heard more trumpet players toot that technique than anyone.

I have a few questions about long tones : should you play high and low ones?

How "long" are the long tones?

shall they be slurred?
whats mostly to be concentrated on while doing long t ones?

XtremeEuph wrote:I have a few questions about long tones : should you play high and low ones?

How "long" are the long tones?

shall they be slurred?
whats mostly to be concentrated on while doing long t ones?

When I do long tones, I take one of the Whole Note Studies in the First Studies of the Arban's, and I play that at quarter note = 40-50. I breathe after 1 or 2 whole note, depending on the range I'm playing at, and I usually do 3, one at the written range, one an octave lower and then I try to do one up and octave, but not exceeding a high F, because that'll just wear me out during the warm-up. I concentrate on the clarity of the tone, tone quality and consistency in volume and sound production.

This works like a charm.

the elephant wrote:You need to be fascinated by this sort of stuff if you really want to get better.

This is the secret of excellence in any topic.

When I was training for triathlons, people would ask how I managed the boredom of doing long runs and rides. I told them that you get into a rhythm of introspection, where with each step you consider your place in the environment you are running through. I know that sounds like mystical claptrap, but any endurance athlete will know what I mean. I could not achieve that level of detached interest until I'd run at least four miles, and so it took a good long time to build my distance to the point where I could really enjoy it. Step 1 was to spend a year running enough so that I could routinely run five miles. After that, it got easier. Miles 5-12 were always my favorites on runs. But in the end I could not sustain it more than a few years, and now I'm fat and unfit again. That sort of pursuit is demanding, and sustaining it in the long run takes inner drive that is what really separates those who succeed from those who don't.

Getting to the point where you enjoy and are motivated by seemingly mundane work on fundamentals is an achievement. I have never reached that point as a tuba player.

When Gene Pokorny gave his master class at the Army Conference, he explained that long tones are the foundation for everything we do. Want to improve your vibrato? You can't have a good vibrato until you have good long tones. Want to improve your dynamic range? Yup, long tones.

Bloke once provoked the Tubenet crowd by describing an exercise that sounds trivial. His exercise was playing a long tone 16 beats at 60 beats/min. Increase from pp to ff in the first 8 beats, and from ff to pp in the last 8 beats.

If you think it's easy or that you can do it perfectly, listen harder. The sound character will change as you start to run out of air (that's bad). The pitch will wander (that's bad). The tone will lose its core (that's bad). Top pros listen with their measurement tools set to maximum precision, and that's what Wade is talking about. He suggests keeping it interesting by turning the screws of precision a little tighter than what we can play--always. As Greg Lemond said of becoming a top cyclist, "It doesn't hurt any less, you just go faster". If we can't do that, then it's time to think of tuba playing as a fun hobby and not a professional pursuit.

It's not a test for beginners or bonehead amateurs. You have to work hard to get to the point where you can even take the test, let alone pass it. And the key to its value is that you keep upping your standards so that you never pass it. Don't believe me? Try it.

Rick "for whom excellence at anything is remarkably elusive" Denney

XtremeEuph wrote:I have a few questions about long tones : should you play high and low ones?
How "long" are the long tones?
shall they be slurred?
whats mostly to be concentrated on while doing long t ones?

This was how Don Harry explained long tones to me years ago.

Start in the middle register and play the same note for 60 seconds. When you run out of breath, refill quickly and replay (reattacking, but gently) the note again.
Go down a half step from the original note and play it for 60 seconds, breathing and replaying when needed for the full minute. Then go up a half step from the original note and do the same.
Go down a whole step from the original note and do the same. Then go up a half step from the original note and do the same.
Continue the procedure. This will take about 12 minutes per octave and an hour or more for the whole horn. You can also choose to do just a low or high octave as needed.
I believe he recommended having a watch, tuner, and mirror on the stand while doing this. The mirror was to make sure you don't get into any kind of crazy facial contortions and maintain a normal embouchure throughout the note. The tuner was to keep the pitch from dropping or creeping up throughout the minute.

If you do the entire routine over the range of the horn it will seriously kick your butt. I seem to remember doing this maybe twice a week for a while in high school.

I have only done this complete routine once in the last eight years, because my wife told me to "stop making noise."

I found they worked well when I played trumpet starting out... if you're going to spend time in front of the computer... why not eh?

however... I do not waste money on stupid things... pencil then plastic pen, then brass pen, then something else.

keep your money, I'm sure you have a Bic pen around somewhere... it's not like you can trust them to actually write!

And don't overdo it. When I was getting back into it, I did it too much. Strengthened the embouchure muscles, yes, at the expense of flexibility, and I almost had to start over.