THE secret of playing higher on a brass instrument...

[eutubabone]

press your lips harder into the mouthpiece so that you will have an attractive ring on your lips once you've finished playing, and don't forget to use the "smile" technique to play even higher if you so desire

[PaulMaybery]

I'm going to stick my neck out here. Yes you do make "fart" sounds. But what propels it through the pipes? I would venture to say "airsflow." So, before the emission, it might be beneficial to be sure that the ventilation process is in order... kind of like the exhaust fan in the 'biffy.' If you would practice getting the air moving, simply blowing through the horn, and then just randomly letting the lips begin to flatulate ... oops... I mean vibrate... you will begin to realize that clenching the throat tightly and other types of clamping down simply are counter productive. Air flow plus vibrations and you are on your way. When you find you can not really go much higher, it just may be that you have clamped off the air supply. Perhaps the oral cavity is being crushed by the tongue as it rises to the roof of the mouth. There are limits as to how high you can go, but for most of us, there is plenty of room to keep ascending. A friend recently introduce to me the term "differentiation." That is understanding that airflow is totally separate from the muscle tension needed to produce pitches. Can you keep your airflow separate from facial tension? If you really can 'differentiate' then you are on your way. A good example is a reed instrument such as a saxophone. The reed can vibrate when given an airstream. It is not about the mouth closing the airstream when going higher. In fact it is the opposite. If you can separate your chops, as in the reed on a saxophone, and keep the air moving while your lips vibrate, then then things will begin to work. That is a little at a time. This is something you need to teach your body to do. We usually do not play this way and much will probably need to be 'unlearned' and 'relearned.' Try to stay calm as you play high. It should really be quite effortless. Good luck.

[Three Valves]

I'm not convinced one's lips actually touch one another while making fart noises,

See the oboe reed.

Discuss.

[Three Valves]

bloke "sensible comments withheld at this time"...with this exception of this:

never trust.jpg

I just watched Miracle on 34th Street yesterday.

Uncanny!!

[k001k47]

If you want to play higher, practice playing higher

[Three Valves]

Or play a euphonium!!

[Donn]

I might practice high once in a while myself, but that's no crime ... in Washington state anyway.