TubeNet

Hey,

I am teaching lessons to an average level high school tubist. He plays with a lot of tension in his throat - it's actually to the point where he vocalizes on attacks (and he does use he tongue to articulate). I've tried several things to get him to relax and open up, especially working with his breathing and blowing, but it is still pretty bad. He doesn't hear himself doing it which doesn't help. Do any of you have any experience with/suggestions for this issue? Thanks in advance.

tape it and play it back for him

I used to have a student do the exact same thing when he started taking lessons. I used primarily two things to help him overcome this...the first thing I did was record him, so he could hear his sound.....I mad sure to put the mic very close to his face so that some of that tension could be heard. This really seemed to help him realize what he was doing.
Then we did a lot of breath work with actual singing....making sure to pay attention to the vocal chords, how they feel and what they are doing, then I had him breath the same passages with just air, as if he were playing, just without the buzz. All of this again was recorded to allow the student to hear every sound he was making and I found the problem was solver relatively soon (just a few lessons). Hope this helps

Get him to play in front of a mirror. If his tension is visible, he can see it for himself. Try breaking down his playing: his posture, his embouchure, his breathing, and so on. Find the X-factor causing his problem. I did that a few years ago to myself to correct unneeded tension.


-heads

Hi,

what worked for me: have the student play with earplugs or other noise protecting gear. As you hear the sound as it travels through your bones, you get a pretty good idea of what´s going on with mouth, throat and tongue. It´s like sitting on the back of your tongue and "watching" your lips work. Helped me a lot.

Hans

If he insists on "vocalizing", try having him play using the syllable "toh" aka "toe"

1. Practice passages with the horn in place but without touching the mouthpiece - just do the fingerings, blow the air, and do the articulations.

2. Practice mouthpiece buzzing.

Try to eliminate the tension/vocalizing using these two methods first, then move on to playing.

He plays with a lot of tension in his throat - it's actually to the point where he vocalizes on attacks

Ahhh

Me used to do that... it is not merely a throat issue, it is an "inner pressure" issue.

The solution is easy – but it takes time – replacing the old habit with a new one. Just making the student aware of the issue wont make it stop.
There is a specific habit that creates that situation. You cant break the old habit – You have to replace it with a better one by NOT giving the body time and opportunity to create that tension.

The trick is to NOT have any delay between inhalation and exhalation -- in and out instantaneously so there is no time for the throat to get involved.

Use speech as a model, since we don’t give ourselves that opportunity for that situation when we talk (as it is physically impossible)

There is an exercise (perhaps Brian Fredrickson can chime in) where you inhale then say the word ONE, then inhale again and say TWO, and then THREE and so on and so on.

Then transfer that to the horn… a good thing to use is a mouthpiece ring (visualzer), then the mouthpiece, then the horn... inhalation and then IMMEDIATE articulation (with no buildup of inner pressure)

That throat issue/inner pressure/glottal involvement is a natural habit/phenomenon for many people. The trick is to not give the body the time to engage that habit. (then bridging to keeping pressure to a minimum, not playing by "feel", as well as not letting the tounge protrude through the lips while articulating -- these things are ALL related)

I believe that this exact situation eventually boils down to an issue of self-trust and self-confidence... Trusting oneself to articulate without having that inner buildup. (it is like a security blanket) Show them that pressure is simply not needed as it is really the basic quantity of wind that makes the horn play. If they can learn to hear the note before they play and play with a musical model in their head then they dont need that stuff...

(AJ has lots of writings on this in both Song and Wind and Portrait of an Artist)

good luck

Suggestions so far are good. I'm glad I've never had that problem...but one more suggestion. If he is playing with an open throat, "grunting" will be impossible. Use of a mirror, and showing him the difference visually between an open throat and a closed one (I can see a huge difference in the mirror with myself if I compare the two) could give him a "feel difference" that he can reference.

You also could have him vocalize on purpose....try to sing the same note he's playing, or something in harmony. That will make him much more aware of what his vocal chords are doing, and then he can "not" do it.

I hope you both are patient...a habit like this can take a while to turn around.

MA

Have your student play a long tone with no articulation and a massive crescendo. Near the end of the crescendo the tone should open up; when it does point out the difference in sound quality and always demand that it sounds like that (easier said then done, I know).

I used to do the same thing and what fixed me was changing the breathing. I had a really bad habbit of getting a breath and holding it in until I was ready to play. My teacher made me do breathing excercises while concentrating on making the air always moving, either in or out and nothing in between. It was a hard habbit to break since I had done it probably since starting 6 years before that point. Made a world of difference in my playing.

Ben

Something that has worked with a couple of my students is to tell them to imagine that they're trying to fog up a mirror that is placed on a stand about 10 feet in front of them. Actually put a mirror on the stand and have them try to fog it up with warm, moist air.