Trouble Starting Notes - Hesitation

[Tubaster]

Hi everyone,

I have developed a problem in which starting high notes (usually starting at Ab at the top of staff) has become an issue. It is not a matter of my range, because starting high notes with no tongue whatsoever is not a problem. There seems to be a build up of air and then finally the note comes out when everything is "set." Additionally, the "hesitation" I'm having only happens when a piece begins with a "high note" or when there is a high note after some rest.

It seems like this issue is a perfect case of "paralysis by analysis." I have tried singing, buzzing and then playing high entrances. That seems to help in the short term but the problem always persists. I have also tried to think of my inhalation and exhalation as a one-step process in which there is no stoppage of the air. I think this a good way to think of it but my tongue keeps getting in the way.

Has anyone ever experienced this issue? How did you tackle it?

Thanks

[Kory101]

I was struggling with something similar to this last year. I wasn't hesitating before playing high notes but I was "setting" as my teacher called it.

I learned to lead with my air and not set my embouchure before playing a note, high or low. Instead, I practice moving the right amount of air at the right speed.

As soon as you "set" your embouchure you're restricting the air as it crosses over the vibrating surface (your lips)

Try not setting an embouchure before you play and just practice "Ab air" and go from there. No tongue. All air attack.

It's a frustrating slow road but it yields amazing results.

Cheers,
Kory

[iiipopes]

What bloke said. In firming the embouchure to set for a high note, the throat can tense as well, interfering with breathing. Keep your chin down a little and tilt your head forward or lean forward in your chair (getting the shoulders off the back of the chair) a little to help keep the throat relaxed. How is the receiver & leadpipe set on your tuba? A lot of folks benefit from having the receiver tilted up a few degrees in angle and repositioned in height so that the horn is in a better position to help keep the torso and throat relaxed, which gives better breath support & response.

[Doug Elliott]

This is more common than you may realize. You don't have a procedure that works consistently, from first putting the mouthpiece to your face to playing a note. You may only notice it in the high range, but I would be pretty sure that the same thing happens throughout your range, just without the symptom.

...starting high notes with no tongue whatsoever is not a problem.

I think a good place to start would be to NEVER use your tongue for the first note, at least for a few weeks. When the symptom is gone, at least you can work on everything without the anxiety. Your response will improve and then you can start adding the tongue again, lightly. It doesn't take much tongue to start a high note, especially when you know the note is already there.

[k001k47]

Go about initiating the note the same way you would in a comfortable register. Of course, with changes to wind speed, aperture, and all that other technical junk.
Just know that I am a less than valid source for tuba playing know-how.

[tubalex]

Try subdividing two measures of 8th or 16th notes in your imagination before the first high entrance. Simply giving your physiology a very specific and definite place in time to start can, in many cases, clear up a thousand little question marks and erase this problem.

Try starting with F one line below the top of the staff. Count two measures of 16th notes, inhaling throughout the entire second measure. When you initiate the F on the following downbeat, keep the 16th notes running in your mind and use the syllable tOh to create the note

In your mind, hear
1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a (begin inhaling) 1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a "tOh"

Once this is comfortable, try the process on F#, then G, G# (see, you work your way toward your "focus" note), A (and beyond your "focus" note), Bb, B, C.

I hope this helps. Subdivision is about so much more than just coming in on time.

[ShoelessWes]

I was struggling with something similar to this last year. I wasn't hesitating before playing high notes but I was "setting" as my teacher called it.

I learned to lead with my air and not set my embouchure before playing a note, high or low. Instead, I practice moving the right amount of air at the right speed.

As soon as you "set" your embouchure you're restricting the air as it crosses over the vibrating surface (your lips)

Try not setting an embouchure before you play and just practice "Ab air" and go from there. No tongue. All air attack.

It's a frustrating slow road but it yields amazing results.

Cheers,
Kory

So you and your teacher advocate sticking a formless mouth to the mouthpiece?

[Steve Marcus]

Anyone care to comment on whether Tubaster could be experincing valsalva maneuver?

[bobn]

A helpful way that I've learned to address this problem is to identify the muscles that may be causing the hesitation.

It is often the same muscles that tighten when you cough. Try this sequence: Cough gently and notice which muscles are involved. Next, attempt to blow air while tightening the "cough" muscles. Finally, relax those muscles and feel how freely the air flows.

Try same sequence while playing your horn.

I believe that many/most/maybe all brass players, at some point in our development, restrict the air in our throat in an effort to speed up our air stream for the high register. This is an unconscious act that is not an effective way to squeeze out high register notes. I've encountered many junior and senior high players (and older) who are so tight that they actually articulate using these throat muscles rather that their tongues.

The next step in the process is to then relearn how to use your air/embouchure in a more positive fashion with out letting the throat tension creep back in.

Experiment with this. It may help.

Bob

[Plugo]

buy a mirror and see what is your embouchure, face is doing. i had the same problem for years. my trouble note was middle C on the staff. i worked on my breathing for years and years and the problem persisted. i quit playing for 12 years becuase of it. i lost all of my confidence in playing an instrument.

after 3 years of really working on my chops again. i am free of hesistation. i used to move my embouchure way to much. get your self a good teacher that can really take a look at what you doing.

good luck,

[b.williams]

I had the same sort of hesitation. What worked for me was to practice breathing in and starting all kinds of notes without any pause. In other words take a relaxed breath in and then blow without any pause. I believe I was breathing in and holding my breath (for an instant on certain notes) and then starting the tone.

Also, sometimes certain notes cause concern. This concern makes us focus, and that might lead to strange extra activity. Playing relaxed scales, in the above style, up to and beyond your trouble notes may increase your comfort level and decrease any undo tension.

Good luck.

[Tubadork]

Try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2rR-48a ... ata_player" target="_blank
Hope it helps,
Bill

[tubalex]

That last youtube link is the best way to start, and is absolutely the fundamental of what you should be focused on. My suggestion built simply off of the idea that the process should have a rhythm to it, as Dave Vining suggests in his extensive video.

[k001k47]

I've been having some trouble similar to this, but in the lower registers - e.g. below G1 at louder dynamics. I tend to have more success when I think 'fatter air column, relaxed oral cavity', but the embouchure usually doesn't react directly to the air column: it's usually wind then buzz. This is especially annoying when I'd like to start a low note with a crisp articulation at a loud dynamic, like in the common ride excerpt. I also can't buzz low notes on a mouthpiece to save my life. Any advice?