Playing High??

[a2ba4u]

How high one can play is proportional to how much weed one smokes before playing.

But seriously....

I've had those occasional "bumps" in some desirable quality in my playing at various times for no apparent reason. I've never been able to nail down a reason why, but I like to think that it is just the hard work paying off.

[jonesbrass]

Jordan, it could be as simple as finally breaking a training plateau. Sometimes the plateaus are short, sometimes they last for years. Seems like the more advanced you get, the longer the plateus last. The same thing happened for me many, many years ago. The real trick will be to regularly practice your flexibility and use the entire range of your horn every day. Consistency of use has been the key, at least for me, to maintaining the range, it's stability and flexibility. Just don't forget to concentrate on your "cash register". Congratulations!

[Dylan King]

I hope this helps...

Part 1 : http://youtube.com/watch?v=EpYnw8BIlTY
Part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=TNDGvDPXIu8

Have a great day.

-DK

[MaryAnn]

That just happened to a friend of mine too; nothing special he did except put his time in over a period of a couple years. "Suddenly" his range went up; he jumped plateaus. Congrats on seeing the benefit of your hard work.

MA

[Dean E]

I am a sophomore in college. I haven't ever really been able to play all that high on the tuba. Within the past couple of weeks my range has sky rocketed like from a Bb above the stave to a F above it. I haven't changed anything really, like my embouchure, MP, Practice times...what could be some explanations to why I'm gaining range now?

Jordan

Congratulations on that achievement, Jordan.

For me, a novice, playing high is a matter of confidence and concentration. I heard of a trick, which I now use. The first note I play before warming up is above the staff.

No mealy-mouthed, working up to a middle C--just get the horn and mouthpiece positioned right and pop it for two or three seconds. Then go up the scale chromatically until, like Roger says, it sounds like a bird farting in a silo.

[djwesp]

People view musical training as a slow ascent up a hillside. In reality it is much more of a bell curve, towards specific things, with some time spent getting gradually better and then huge jumps in playing. You say you haven't spent much time doing anything different than before in your playing habits, let me ask some questions.

1. Do you spend more time in the low register now? (yes, it does improve high register playing)

2. Have you changed your breath in any way? (breathing is a very big part, and correct use of air)

3. Have you spent time on scales? (scales and slurs have been the mode of improvement for MANY on tuba high range)

4. Have you taken ear training/theory? (since you are almost at the end of the "usable" harmonic series of your instrument, hearing pitch is just as important as pressing a valve down and squeezing your lips)

5. Have you spent time on any other low brass instruments?


I have a hard time believe you would see this drastic jump without at least one of these things (probably more), occuring, while you are oblivious to them. Although excellence is uneven and scalar, if you do not address a part of your playing (to at least some extent) it will remain static if not degrade.

[Mark E. Chachich]

Jordan,

Congrats!

Just some ideas that were pounded into my brain by various teachers
about playing in the extreme ranges.

Playing high or low involves knowing in advance where to play the note. What your ear (the brain really) has to do is to hear the note before it sounds, command the muscles and then check the results. For me,
if I do not know where the note is supposed to be, the results are generally not good.

Playing etudes (especially Arban interval studies) in the mid
range to set the notes in my mind is the first step. Afterward,
play the same etude up or down the octave. After some time
this helps to know where the note goes. Sightsinging and other
ear training is also valuable.

Do not strain and do not hurt yourself, pain is generally the
body telling the brain that it has told the body to do something
wrong.

best,
Mark

[Donn]

Working on double pedals on my bass trombone

Please excuse thread drift, but this is the second time I've heard that expression "double pedal", and the other time it was also from a trombone player.

With no valves and the slide in, I believe the note corresponding to 1st partial on a Bb trombone is the 9 foot Bb below the bass staff, two ledger lines & a space. Is that a double pedal? If so, what is a (single) pedal?

[clarke]

Jordan, it could be as simple as finally breaking a training plateau. Sometimes the plateaus are short, sometimes they last for years. Seems like the more advanced you get, the longer the plateus last. The same thing happened for me many, many years ago. The real trick will be to regularly practice your flexibility and use the entire range of your horn every day. Consistency of use has been the key, at least for me, to maintaining the range, it's stability and flexibility. Just don't forget to concentrate on your "cash register". Congratulations!

dont think of plateaus, your learning curve simply becomes less steep when you are working towards more subtle improvements

[Haugan]

Sometimes, human growth seems to be an important factor. When you "stop growing" certain muscle groups tend to stabilize that just may have been in growth phase before.

High range on tuba is MUCH more a matter of control rather than muscle strength. Sometimes knowledge that high notes are the product of nothing more complicated than a faster vibration takes the effort out of what previously seemed like lack of muscle strength.

I remember Bob Rusk telling me when I was 17 years old that "High is just a faster vibration" when I was having some "hit and miss" trouble while playing 2nd tuba in "Symphonie Fantastique". The next day, I could play a 5th higher. Sometimes (often, in fact) it's just a "head thing'.

[Roger Lewis]

a good point that Paul brings up. Sometimes it all comes down to a teacher planting a "seed" of advice to make something change. The better the advice, the better the growth.

Remember - babies and monkeys can buzz their lips - what we do is NOT hard.

I can teach the monkey to push the buttons while he buzzes his lips - I can't teach the monkey to play a beautiful melodic line. What does this mean?

YOU ONLY HAVE TO BE A LITTLE SMARTER THAN A MONKEY TO BE A BRASS PLAYER!

Just my one thought for the day (at least according to my wife).
Roger