Last weekend, I attended the 2011 Atlanta Trumpet Festival. This was the 8th year of the Atlanta Trumpet Festival and it was the 3rd festival where I performed in the adult trumpet ensemble.

If you haven't been to the Atlanta Trumpet Festival before, here's a brief rundown. The festival is open to all ages, however the participants are divided into three groups. There's a middle school ensemble, a high school ensemble, and an adult ensemble. Each ensemble rehearses a handful of tunes, which they then perform on the second and final day of the festival. In between rehearsals, the festival hosts master classes and a vendor area where participants can try a variety of trumpets and trumpet accessories. If you're in the Atlanta area and you play the trumpet, you should definitely check it out.

Following are my notes from the master classes and final concert:

LEW SOLOFF MASTER CLASS

For those who don't know, Lew Soloff is one of the most successful studio and big band trumpet players around today. He has performed with a wide range of bands including Machito, Gil Evans, the Manhattan Jazz Quintet, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He's also fairly well known for his work with Blood Sweat and Tears. That's him playing the trumpet solo on Spinning Wheel.

Lew Soloff discussed a variety of topics in his master class, but I was naturally most interested in his thoughts on jazz improvisation. He began by saying he doesn't like the academic approach used in most classrooms. All of the emphasis on theory tends to produce students who view improvisation like a math equation. That was certainly my experience as a younger player. Since I couldn't play anything by ear back then, I relied entirely on jazz theory to decide which notes to play. This resulted in meandering solos that rarely made any sense. It's as if I decided to finish this paragraph with a bunch of random keywords. Lew Soloff improvisation jazz mouthpiece trumpet. See, the words might be right, but there's no meaning!

Lew Soloff stressed the following as key elements of jazz improvisation:

• Intention: Mean what you play. Don't just play notes to play them. He gave an example of playing high notes in a solo. It's ok to play high if the notes are relevant and meaningful to your solo, but if you're only playing high to show off in front of an audience, then it's pointless. I'd say the same rule applies doubly for circular breathing.
• Tone: The sound of each note should convey emotion and meaning. Miles Davis is a perfect example of a player who could play a single note and instantly evoke a somber mood. The nice thing about tone is that you don't have to be able to play high, fast, or loud in order to work on your tone.
• Rhythm: In most cases, rhythm is more important than note choice. It doesn't matter what notes you play, if the rhythm is off, it won't sound good. You can read more about the importance of rhythm in my Learning to Improvise - rhythm article.

At the end of Lew Soloff's presentation, a seventy year-old festival attendee asked Lew if he has any advice for a comeback player who hasn't played in decades. This is a question that I get fairly often since I'm a comeback player myself. In my case, it was only seven years that I stopped playing the trumpet, but many of the challenges are the same regardless of how long you've been away from the horn. It was nice to hear that Lew Soloff's advice echoed what I always tell people. A comeback player should take lessons with the best teacher than can find, especially if they weren't a great player in the past. As Lew put it, lessons with a good teacher will help you "get it right this time."

ERIC YATES MASTER CLASS

Eric Yates, professor of trumpet at the University of Alabama, gave a master class on trumpet fundamentals and practice tips. He covered a lot of ground in his discussion, but the part that resonated the most with me, was how he deals with frustration in the practice room.

It's easy to get upset with ourselves when we fail to improve or when we can't play something as well as we'd like. If we're not careful, we might even find ourselves spiraling into an abyss of despair. To help him overcome these negative thoughts, Eric Yates carries an old photo of himself in his trumpet case. The photo was taken when he was just a child, smiling ear to ear as he held a cornet for the first time. Looking at that photo, Eric thinks about how far he's come as a musician, and how important music has been to his life. The photo might not erase all of his frustrations, but it does remind him to be kind and patient with himself. Anything less would be unfair to the boy in the photo.

ALPINE HORN

Like previous years, the middle school conductor, Charles Jackson, did a fantastic job of keeping things fun and exciting for the large group of middle school students. The highlight was definitely the inclusion of an alpine horn. It looked neat, but more importantly, it sounded great, thanks to the wonderful playing of the young trumpeter shown in the photo below. As soon as the tune ended, the entire audience was on its feet to show its appreciation.

PLAYING IN THE ADULT ENSEMBLE

During the nine years that I've been playing the trumpet again, my primary goal has been to become a good jazz improviser. I don't think I'm all that good yet, but I'm definitely much better now than I was when I was in college. But when it comes to playing classical music in a group, I'm about as good now as I was when I was in eighth or ninth grade. That's because I no longer practice things like following a conductor, sight reading, and sectional playing.

Aware of my shortcomings, I typically try to pick easy parts to play when I attend the Atlanta Trumpet Festival. While this tends to be a good strategy for minimizing mistakes, it can get a little boring to play nothing but "background" parts. Frankly, I don't know how French horn players do it! This year, however, I felt I was finally ready to play something more challenging at the festival. I no longer have the range to play first trumpet parts, or for that matter, second or third parts (some of these pieces had ten or more parts), but I did find some parts with prominent sixteenth note runs and other passages that were difficult for me to play. I knew I'd be pushing myself to play this music, but the challenge definitely exceeded my expectations.

The decline of my concert band chops was readily apparent when even simple things like time signatures caught me off guard. For example, one of the pieces was conducted in two. Every time we played it, I'd accidentally count to four at some point and get lost. That happened every single time, even during the final concert. Another piece went from 4/4 to 3/4 halfway through. Guess what I did there? Yep, sooner or later I'd count to four in the 3/4 section and get lost. I wonder what my ninth grade self would think if he knew that decades later I'd have trouble counting to two and three!

To say I was nervous prior to our final concert is an understatement. Sure, I was worried that I'd get lost, or that I'd crack some notes, but all of that was trivial compared to the anxiety I felt about two measures of sixteenth notes that appeared in the final tune of the adult ensemble's concert. The two measures began on a G at the top of the staff, on the and-of-four, and I was the only person playing for the first few beats. The range and speed of the run was challenging enough for me, but it was really the and-of-four part that kept messing me up. During rehearsals I don't think I ever played it correctly. It was so bad, that during our final rehearsal, the conductor stopped everyone and basically said he didn't know what else he could do to make sure I came in on time. I thought for sure he'd ask somebody else to play it.

When we started playing the final tune during the concert, I kept telling myself, "Who cares if I mess up? Nobody will notice. Besides, we're all here just to have a good time. Don't worry about it!" But then I thought about the conductor and the look of frustration he gave me earlier in the day when I couldn't play the solo. And then I thought about the ninth grade version of myself who would have nailed this on the first try. And the next thing I knew, I counted to four in the two section! We were just a handful of measures away from my solo entrance, and I had managed to lose my place in the music.

My first reaction was to panic about getting lost, but that soon gave way to laughter. It seemed hilarious to me that I was worried about being able to play a passage and now I didn't even know where it was anymore! Thankfully, the measure leading up to the solo was conducted in four so I just waited for that. One, two, three, and the conductor's arms rose to signal beat four. I took a deep breath, got ready to play, and to my amazement, I finally came in at the right time. I couldn't believe it. For the first time, I played it perfectly (note: if I didn't play it correctly, I don't want to know about it). As we approached the end of the tune, I once again thought about the ninth grade version of myself. This time, however, I knew he'd be proud. Feeling I could do no wrong, I reached the final note of the tune, took a deep breath, and totally missed it.

THANK YOU TO THE ATLANTA TRUMPET ENSEMBLE

I've now attended four Atlanta Trumpet Festivals and this year's was definitely my favorite. Of course, it wouldn't have gone so well were it not for the outstanding efforts of Kay Fairchild, her son David Fairchild, and the Atlanta Trumpet Ensemble. The Atlanta Trumpet Ensemble always does a great job running the event, as they assume the roles of musicians, tour guides, and roadies to make sure it all runs smoothly. I'd also like to thank the clinicians and conductors, especially Mark Clodfelter, the adult ensemble's conductor. Thank you for not giving up on me!

ADDITIONAL READING

All of my Atlanta Trumpet Festival reviews: 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2011

Earlier this year I had a lesson with one of Atlanta's best jazz trumpet players, Joe Gransden. During that lesson, I got to try his Monette trumpet and wrote an article about the experience. Reader comments to that article eventually led me to switch from a 7C mouthpiece to a larger Yamaha 14B4 (3C) mouthpiece. I've been relatively happy with this new mouthpiece, but continue to wonder if it's the ideal solution. After all, I've only tried a handful of mouthpieces over the years and there are literally hundreds of alternatives to choose from.

My search for a better mouthpiece took a new turn about a month ago, when I was introduced to Alexa (Alex) Yates by way of Joe Gransden's Facebook page. Alex Yates is a professional trumpet player living in the Atlanta area. She also happens to be a mouthpiece consultant for GR Mouthpieces. As my trumpet playing readers may know, GR Mouthpieces is a boutique company that specializes in high-end mouthpieces. I've always heard good things about their mouthpieces, but frankly their dizzying array of options has always scared me away. GR Mouthpieces even jokes about their complexity with the following text that appears in bold type on their "Mouthpiece Tutorial" page: Caution - Do Not Venture Here Unless You Want Your Brain To Hurt! That's why they have consultants, like Alex Yates, who specialize in matching mouthpieces to trumpet players.

Interested, but not entirely sold on the consultation, I sent Alex Yates an email to learn more about the consultation process. She told me that the consultation lasts 1.5-2 hours, after which time 99% of the players leave with a new mouthpiece that matches their embouchure, playing style, and horn (the other 1% don't buy a mouthpiece). That's a great track record considering she's done hundreds of these consultations. Alex also told me that regardless of whether I buy a mouthpiece or not, "You will come away feeling much more in-the-know about how to listen to yourself, allowing your chops to respond to the air and play naturally in sync with your body." Sold!

Following are my notes from the consultation, which occurred yesterday.

THE MOUTHPIECE CONSULTATION

The mouthpiece consultation began with me playing a few G's in the staff on over a dozen different mouthpieces. For each of the G's, I used an air attack (a "Pahh" sound) and Alex listened as I played. We eliminated any mouthpieces that felt uncomfortable and kept those with which I was most easily able to get a clean attack. After the air attack sequence, we moved onto excerpts from classical etudes. The excerpts covered a variety of skills including low slurs, large intervals, articulation, and varying dynamics. With each excerpt, Alex noted my reaction to the different mouthpieces and tweaked the list of potential candidates.

The mouthpiece selection process felt a lot like an eye exam. Initially it was easy to eliminate mouthpieces since she tried a wide range of possibilities. But as time went on and the list grew smaller, I had a hard time picking my favorite. This was especially true when we finally arrived at two options that I really liked: 65M and 65C. At that point I alternated between the two, improvising jazz lines for about 15 minutes. I still couldn't make up my mind, though, so I asked Alex to choose one for me. She suggested the 65M, and that's what I bought.

DID I FIND THE PERFECT MOUTHPIECE?

As of this writing, I've only had the mouthpiece for one day, so it's way too early to tell how much I'll like it long-term. I can at least say that it doesn't sound as good in my tiny practice room as it sounded in the vaulted ceilings of Alex's trumpet studio. It still sounds pretty good, but now it seems a little thin, which isn't ideal since I like a nice warm trumpet sound. I really wish I could have tried the 65C at home so I could compare the mouthpieces in their normal setting.

The new mouthpiece is definitely easier to play on than my old mouthpiece, but at this moment that means it's actually harder to play. For example, on this new mouthpiece it feels like the notes slot much closer together. In other words, it takes less effort to go from one note to the next. In the long run, this added efficiency should improve my endurance and overall playing level. But since I'm not used to it yet, I'm overshooting some notes and/or missing their center. Alex told me it would take a couple of weeks to change my motor memory to lock into the new mouthpiece, so I knew this was coming. I just need to be patient during this adjustment period. Hopefully, once I've adjusted to this mouthpiece I'll also get a warmer sound.

CHANGING MY EMBOUCHURE

While the mouthpiece selection was the primary focus of the consultation, I think I'll benefit the most from Alex's assessment of my embouchure and use of air. The embouchure part came early in the lesson, when she noticed I was rolling my lips in to play the classical etudes. The roll-in is something I've been doing for several years now, ever since I first read about it in the Balanced Embouchure method several years ago. Here's an article about my initial experiences with Balanced Embouchure.

My longtime readers may notice that I haven't mentioned Balanced Embouchure in quite a while. I haven't said anything because I don't know if I actually did it correctly. Although, I guess I could say that if I did do it correctly, it doesn't work for me. I base this on the fact that I now have three different embouchures: one for notes below the staff, one for notes in the staff, and one for notes above the staff. When I play classical etudes, I constantly reset my embouchure based on the range I need to play. Obviously this doesn't work well for large intervals, and it doesn't work at all for jazz since I need to play all around the horn without stopping and starting again. When I play jazz I typically end up using the middle embouchure and excessive pressure for anything above the staff. That explains why I can only play jazz for 15 minutes or so before my chops begin to wear out.

Anyway, when Alex saw my rolled-in embouchure and all the horn pivoting and jaw movement I do when I normally play, she advised that I stop doing all of it. As she put it, it's all causing unnecessary fatigue and although some people can excel while doing all of that stuff, I've already proven that I'm not one of those people. Instead, Alex suggested that I use a single embouchure with strong corners and let the air do most of the work.

The embouchure itself is formed by saying "hmm." The goal is to keep the corners in that position throughout all ranges of the horn. That means I shouldn't relax my corners and puff my cheeks, and I shouldn't drop my jaw and loosen things up when I play low notes. She also gave me a couple of exercises to help strengthen my corners. I'm definitely going to give this new embouchure a try over the coming weeks and months. It may not be the ideal embouchure for everyone and it might not even be an improvement over what I already do. But, since I know that my current embouchure isn't working, I think it's worth trying something new.

THANKS, ALEX!

I'd like to thank Alex Yates again for the consultation. As you can see, I learned a lot about my embouchure and came away with a shiny new mouthpiece. I'd definitely recommend her services to my trumpet player readers, even if you don't intend to buy a GR Mouthpiece.

ADDITIONAL READING

• Will I still like the GR 65M mouthpiece after a couple of months? Read my seven-year anniversary article to find out!

Over the weekend, I attended the sixth annual (2009) Atlanta Trumpet Festival at Emory University. It's a two-day event featuring concerts from guest artists, trumpet master classes, ensemble rehearsals, and trumpet vendors. Here's my review of the festival:

ENSEMBLE REHEARSALS

The Atlanta Trumpet Festival has three ensembles for the festival participants. There's one ensemble for middle school students, one for high school students, and one for adults. The ensembles meet a total of three times to rehearse concert pieces in preparation for a performance on the final day of the festival. Within each ensemble there's a fairly wide range of experience and talent. For example, in the high school ensemble you'll see All State trumpeters playing alongside 1st-year students. Similarly, in the adult ensemble you might find semi-professional players sitting next to jazz trumpet bloggers who only play concert band tunes once a year (like me!).

Playing in the adult ensemble reminded me of when I was in high school band. Back then I was actually very good at playing concert band repertoire. I was a great sight-reader, and I had no trouble reading syncopated and otherwise complex rhythms. Well let me tell you, that time is long gone. So far gone, and so seemingly implausible, you'd think it never even existed. Like when unicorns roamed the earth.

In both of the tunes that we rehearsed, there were sections that I never quite managed to play correctly with the band. I even practiced the music at home, but it didn't matter. Once I got in the group and heard all the other trumpet parts, I'd always mess something up. At least I had the good sense to not play during those sections rather than throw off the performance. It was at least a little comforting, though, when our director (Mark Clodfelter) told us that these were the most challenging tunes he's ever tried with a group like ours. Of course, he might have said that just to pump up our deflated egos, but I'll choose to believe he was sincere. Regardless, I enjoyed the challenge and hope he returns next year with equally punishing tunes.

For me, the highlight of this year's festival came during a rehearsal with Thomas Hooten, principal trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He was the featured soloist on a tune and the adult ensemble had the good fortune to be his backing band. As I wrote previously, Thomas Hooten is the best classical trumpeter that I've ever heard. Every note is stunningly brilliant. The rehearsal was a rare opportunity to hear him up close. For once I was glad that we as a band weren't perfect. Every mistake meant stopping and repeating, allowing us to hear Thomas play again.

RAMON VASQUEZ - DRUM CORP & BREATHING EXERCISES

Ramon Vasquez, professor of trumpet at Auburn University, led a master class where he discussed his experiences playing in drum and bugle corp. The class began with a brief introduction to the various instruments allowed in drum corp. To my amazement, until 1990 they were forced to use 2-valve instruments that limited the number of playable notes (e.g. the trumpets couldn't play an Ab). And, if you can believe it, 2-valve instruments weren't even allowed until the 1970's! Apparently the addition of each new valve was fraught with a lot of controversy. It's a good thing brass instruments only need 3 valves. Can you imagine what a clarinet corp would have to endure (you know, because of the number of keys)? Even worse, can you imagine listening a clarinet corp? I'd apologize to my clarinet readers, but I know none of them would stoop so low as to read a blog article about a trumpet festival.

After discussing the drum and bugle corp instruments, Ramon Vasquez focused on some breathing exercises that have helped him to play at the intense volume levels demanded by the drum corp. The exercises are similar to those found in The Breathing Gym. They're all designed to help players develop an efficient and powerful airflow. Good airflow allows the air to do most of the work, saving you from excessive mouthpiece pressure. Following are a couple of the exercises. For all of them, use a metronome and relax your body (don't shrug your shoulders).

• Flow Exercise: Inhale fully for 4 beats and then exhale fully for 4 beats. Don't stop or hold your breath at any point. Keep the air constantly moving. After 4 repetitions of the 4-beat in/out, switch to 2-second cycles where you inhale for 2 beats and exhale for 2 beats. You should move as much air in 2 beats as you moved in 4. Repeat it all several times.
• Lung Expansion: Inhale fully for 4 beats. Then after each of the next 4 beats you'll take another small breath of air. The next 4 beats you'll hold all of that air in and then finally exhale for 4 more beats. Repeat it all several times.

During the question and answer portion of Ramon Vasquez' master class, one of the high school students asked for advice to develop more endurance for his chops. Ramon suggested mouthpiece buzzing as one of his favorite methods. When buzzing, hold the mouthpiece at the end, use as little pressure as possible, and try buzzing an entire tune. I'm definitely going to spend a few minutes each day buzzing long tunes like "All The Things You Are" and "Stella By Starlight" to see if it helps my endurance.

KEVIN EISENSMITH - DEVELOPING A PRACTICE ROUTINE

Kevin Eisensmith is professor of trumpet at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and as of October 1, 2009 he'll become the president of the International Trumpet Guild. You may recall that he gave a master class on overcoming performance anxiety at the 2007 Atlanta Trumpet Festival. This year's presentation was titled "Developing a Practice Routine."

Each day, Kevin Eisensmith practices with three goals in mind:

• Warm-up: This is the time to reacquaint yourself with the instrument, remembering the things you learned from the previous day's practice session. Kevin's warm up starts on G in the staff, followed by 1/2-step slurs for about eight counts each. His warm-up takes 5-15 minutes with as much resting as there is playing. It was interesting to hear that Kevin doesn't like to do long tones in his warm-up. He thinks it inhibits blood flow to hold a single note for a long period of time. Of course, this contradicts a lot of conventional wisdom about the importance of long tones.
• New Literature: Kevin Eisensmith recommends spending five minutes a day on sight reading and up to 10 minutes on each piece of new music you're trying to work on. He enforces this 10-minute maximum because he feels we only have a 10-minute attention span. Anything longer than that and our minds begin to wander.
• Developmental Practice: At this stage, Kevin works on the core techniques needed to master the trumpet. This would include lip flexibility, articulation, and finger dexterity. Each exercise is practiced with an "ER" modifier. "ER" includes fastER, loudER, highER, softER, slowER, lowER, longER. For example, you could take a C major scale and play it at a soft volume, then play at it at a fast tempo, then add a second octave. You could even do all three at once. The next day you might try the C major scale at a louder volume and slower tempo. This developmental practice should last a minimum of 20-30 minutes each day.

Kevin Eisensmith believes that we should practice every single day. Since our muscles begin to atrophy after 48 hours on non-use, taking a single weekend off can undue some of our progress.

PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT

We've all heard the saying "practice makes perfect." As Kevin Eisensmith pointed out, that really isn't true. If you practice something every day and you're always doing it incorrectly, then you aren't approaching perfection. Instead, all that practice is reinforcing bad habits and making those bad habits permanent. I can certainly relate to that as I continually battle against all those years of practicing with excessive mouthpiece pressure. I never developed an efficient embouchure, and often I wonder if I ever will. Are those bad habits truly permanent? Probably not, but they are certainly hard to change now.

NOTHING I'M SAYING IS RIGHT

After cautioning us against playing long tones, Kevin Eisensmith quickly stated, "Oh by the way, nothing I'm saying is right." And that's when I stopped taking notes. Just kidding. Kevin was simply saying that there is no single right way to play the trumpet. Instead, there are an infinite number of ways to approach the instrument (or anything in life) and what works well for one person may not work well for another. In Kevin's case, long tones aren't the most effective way to warm up. But for somebody else, long tones might be the key to their success.

Coincidentally, an illustration of "nothing I'm saying is right" came up during the first day of the Atlanta Trumpet Festival. That morning, we had a warm-up session led by Mark Clodfelter, professor of trumpet at University of Kentucky. Mark began the warm-up telling us that the first note he plays on his horn each day is a G at the top of the staff. He went on to say how the first note sets the stage for our chops and if we start on a low note, we're not preparing ourselves for the full range of the trumpet. Then, later that same day we were all in a master class with Kevin Eisensmith who told us he always starts his day a full octave lower than Mark, with a nice easy G in the staff. So who's right? You could say they are both right since what they're doing works well for them and their students. Or, you could say neither of them is right because there's no single correct way to warm-up. Turns out, both answers are right!

FESTIVAL CONCERTS

The first night's concert featured several trumpet solos and duets by Mark Clodfelter, William Stowman, Ramon Vasquez, Kevin Eisensmith, and James Thompson. As usual, the outstanding Rebecca Wilt accompanied them on piano. Rebecca sounded so good that I found myself wishing she got to play a piece by herself without all those darn trumpets getting in the way. I know, I know. As a trumpet player I should want all trumpets, all the time. But, honestly, I prefer to have some other instruments in the mix for variety.

On the second and final night of the Atlanta Trumpet Festival, the various ensembles performed for their friends and family. We were also treated to a performance by the Studio 5 Trumpet Quintet, comprised of various trumpet professors from Alabama colleges. All in all, I thought it was one of the best 2nd day concerts that I've seen at the festival.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

As usual, I'd like to see at least one jazz trumpeter at these trumpet festivals. While there weren't any jazz performances this year, the festival's organizer did assure me that they definitely plan to include more jazz in the future. Hopefully next year jazz will make its return (Joe Gransden gave a great master class recently... hint, hint).

I'd like to thank Kay Fairchild, her son David Fairchild, and the Atlanta Trumpet Ensemble for their excellent work in putting together another entertaining and educational trumpet festival.

All of my Atlanta Trumpet Festival reviews: 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2011

As I’ve mentioned in my anniversary articles, I’ve struggled over the years to increase my range and endurance on the trumpet. My range has pretty much topped off at a C above the staff, and I can’t play that high unless my chops are fresh. Some days, I can only reach a Bb above the staff. Endurance is also a constant enemy, as my chops start to give out after just 15-20 minutes of jazz improvisation.

Hoping to strengthen my embouchure, I recently took a lesson with one of Atlanta’s best jazz trumpet players, Joe Gransden. Among other things, Joe advised me to spend some time buzzing on my mouthpiece every day and he also suggested that I play long tones at very soft volumes. The goal with both of these is to improve my airflow and focus my aperture. It’s only been a week since that lesson, so it’s too early to see any noticeable improvement, but I am optimistic.

TRYING A MONETTE TRUMPET

While improving my embouchure was my primary interest for this lesson, I have to admit that a close second was the opportunity to play Joe’s new Monette Prana 3 trumpet (you can watch Joe trying his new horn at the Monette shop in this video - Joe's parts starts about a minute in). As you may know, Monette trumpets are handmade, very expensive, and are generally considered to be the finest trumpets you can buy. You’ll find Monette trumpets in the hands of many top trumpet players, including Wynton Marsalis, Irvin Mayfield, and Terence Blanchard. Never having played a Monette before, I think you can understand my desire to see if they really live up to all the hype.

At the end of my lesson, Joe Gransden graciously handed me his Monette trumpet and one of his Monette mouthpieces (you have to use a Monette mouthpiece on a Monette trumpet). Unfortunately, the Monette mouthpiece was quite a bit larger than my normal 7C mouthpiece. Generally speaking, larger mouthpieces offer a bigger sound, but they also make it harder to play high. Having just played for an hour and using this larger mouthpiece, I wasn’t expecting much when I brought the horn to my lips. Oh, I should also mention that just moments before I was barely able to play an A above the staff on my normal trumpet and mouthpiece.

My first note on the Monette was a C in the staff. I began at a normal volume, but the horn was begging for more air. So, I took a deep breath and really pushed the air through the horn. The horn instantly opened up, producing a large warm tone. Starting at the same C in the staff, I then went up a third, to an E and then up to a G just above the staff. The G was strong, filling the room with sound. Almost without thinking I went from the G, up to a C above the staff. This was without a doubt, the loudest, fattest, high C I’ve ever played. I couldn’t believe it was me playing, nor could Joe Gransden, judging by the look of total surprise on his face! I was so shocked by the high C, that it didn’t even occur to me to try playing higher. I’m fairly positive, though, that I could have kept going at least up to a D. After the high C, I tried a little jazz improvisation on the Monette, but that didn’t go nearly as well. I felt like I was huffing and puffing to support the notes, but I just couldn’t get enough air into the horn.

I gave the Monette trumpet back to Joe, and picked up my Bach to compare my range. Had my chops miraculously strengthened, allowing me to play a strong high C on any horn? Nope. I couldn’t play a high C on the Bach, nor could I even play a solid G above the staff with my tired chops.

While it’s tempting to think that a Monette trumpet and/or mouthpiece is the answer to my problems with range and endurance, I think the take-away here is that I need to work more on air support. The Monette forced me to use more air. When I gave it the air it needed, the notes came out almost effortlessly, and when my air stream wasn’t strong enough, it was hard to play in any range. Hopefully the buzzing and soft long tone exercises will help to get me on the right track with air.

UPDATE: APRIL 4, 2009

After receiving several comments suggesting that my 7C could be restricting my airflow, I asked Joe for the size of the Monette mouthpiece that I tried. It was a B2S3, which according to this chart is similar to a Bach 1 1/4 C. Interestingly, prior to my chop blowout, I always played a Bach 1 1/2 C. It wasn't until my second year of college that my trumpet teacher told me to start playing a smaller mouthpiece, a Schilke 15. During my comeback to the trumpet, I tried a few mouthpieces, and settled on my Yamaha 11C4-7C which I've played exclusively for a few years now.

I think I'll take your advice and experiment with larger mouthpieces. I can't find my old Bach 1 1/2 C anymore, though, and the next closest mouthpiece that I have is a Bach 3C which isn't very comfortable for me. Since I like the feel of my Yamaha so much, I think I might buy a new one of those that's comparable to a Bach 3C and/or 1 1/2 C. I'll definitely let you know how it goes.

UPDATE: MAY 13, 2009

I recently purchased a couple of used Yamaha mouthpieces on eBay. One of the mouthpieces, a Yamaha 14A4a is apparently similar to a Bach 3, but the "A" cup feels really shallow to me and thins out my sound. I don't care for the mouthpiece at all. I should have waited for a 14B4 to become available since that's Yamaha's equivalent to a Bach 3C (you can refer to this page for comparisons).

The other new mouthpiece I purchased is a Yamaha 17B4, which is similar to a Bach 1 1/4 C. The 17B4 is a real contrast from my normal mouthpiece (Yamaha 11C4-7C... too many numbers!). On the 17B4 I can get a nice big sound with a full lower register, and it feels good to get more air through the mouthpiece. Unfortunately it also requires a lot more work. Notes feel farther apart than on my normal mouthpiece and I find myself using more pressure against my lips for the upper register. That's no good. It may be a situation where I just need to give myself more time to adapt to the larger mouthpiece, but perhaps I'd be better off with something a little smaller. It is interesting, though, that after playing on the 17B4, my normal mouthpiece feels very restrictive, like I can barely get air through it.

I have also been experimenting with an old Bach 5C mouthpiece. On the 5C I feel like I can get a decent amount of air into the horn, but the mouthpiece itself isn't comfortable on my embouchure. Specifically, it feels like the inside rim isn't rounded off as much as the Yamaha rims, so the Bach creates more of a pressure point on my chops. Consequently, I can only play on the 5C for a few minutes before I start to feel pain and fatigue.

The search continues...

UPDATE: MAY 22, 2009

A few days ago I got a Yamaha 14B4 mouthpiece. Of the various new mouthpieces I've tried, this is definitely my favorite. I'm going to gradually spend more and more time on this mouthpiece over the coming weeks before coming to any conclusions.

This past weekend, I attended the fifth annual (2008) Atlanta Trumpet Festival at Emory University. Below you'll find my review of the festival and some notes from the master classes. While this is no doubt of more interest to trumpet players, I'd encourage everyone to read the notes from Thomas Hooten's masterclass. His tips on getting the most out of your practice session apply to any instrument -- and just about any goal for that matter.

TRUMPET ENSEMBLE REHEARSALS

The Atlanta Trumpet Festival has separate ensembles for middle school, high school, and adult trumpeters. As always, there are no auditions. Participants select the parts they want to play and are encouraged to play different parts on each tune. On one tune the best players might be playing 1st trumpet and on another they could be playing 6th or 7th trumpet. This rotation of parts allows younger and/or less experienced players to sit next to and learn from better players.

If you've read my review of the 2007 Atlanta Trumpet Festival, you know that last year was my first time playing the trumpet in public in over a decade. It was such a positive experience that I felt compelled to participate again this year.

While my range and endurance have improved since last year, I didn't want to press my luck when it came to picking music. So, rather than blow my chops away on the higher parts, I opted for the lower charts for every tune. Little did I know, the bottom trumpet parts were probably just as demanding. On one tune, for example, there were several entrances where we had to come in on a low G at a very soft volume. That's a lot harder than it sounds, especially when cottonmouth sets in.

Last year I addressed some of the shortcomings that I noticed about my playing during the Atlanta Trumpet Festival. Notably, I struggled with my limited range and found it hard to blend in with the ensemble. Since I stuck with low trumpet parts this year, I didn't end up testing my upper range at all, but it was definitely easier for me to blend in to the overall sound of the ensemble this year. Mostly this had to do with my improved ability to hear intonation issues between myself and the other players. I credit the jazz jam session that I've been attending each week for helping me with group intonation. No offense to that group, but it's quite common for one or more people to be significantly out of tune. That forces me to really pay attention to my pitch, adjusting as needed while we play.

KEVIN LYONS - BECOMING A VERSATILE MUSICIAN

Kevin Lyons, a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, led a discussion about being a versatile musician. Versatility will allow you to play a variety of musical styles (classical, jazz, salsa, etc) thereby increasing the potential number and types of gigs you can play in as a professional musician. A versatile trumpet player himself, Kevin Lyons spent a couple of years playing jazz with the Glenn Miller Orchestra prior to joining the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

As Kevin Lyons pointed out, when learning various styles of music, the most important thing you should do is listen. If your goal is to play gigs in a salsa band, get some salsa recordings and listen to them over and over again. Listen closely to the phrasing, accents, and rhythms. Listening affords you the ability to really zero in on the nuances that identify a particular style of music. These nuances can't be taught in written music, you can only learn them through listening. Listening to recordings is perhaps the most frequent type of listening you'll do, but Kevin Lyons also stressed the importance of attending live concerts. At live concerts you'll not only get to listen to fantastic music, but you'll also learn how musicians interact with each other and with the audience. You'll also have a chance to meet local musicians and begin the valuable stage of networking.

Once you begin to absorb the sound of a particular musical style through listening, the next step is to record yourself playing the music. Ideally you'll be able to record yourself playing a solo or phrase for which you also have a professional recording. You can then compare your solo to the original to ensure that you're closely emulating the style of music that you're trying to learn. If you don't sound like the original, the recording should help you to quickly identify those aspects of your playing that don't match up. As Kevin Lyons mentioned, recording yourself makes it much easier to find and fix problem spots in your playing. And that's precisely why I record my jazz improvisation solos.

I enjoyed Kevin Lyon's discussion and also appreciated his laid back attitude. It can be very intimidating for young and/or beginning players to talk with such accomplished musicians, but Kevin's friendly demeanor really took the edge off. I suppose it's all of those long, moonlit walks on the beach that mellow him out. I also liked it when one of the middle school kids asked Kevin to define the word 'gig.' Kevin replied, 'A gig is a professional job that you get paid for. And a professional job that you DON'T get paid for is called a gag.' Now there's something you don't learn in school!

THOMAS HOOTEN - GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR PRACTICE SESSIONS

Thomas Hooten is the principal trumpet in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He's also the best classical trumpeter I've ever heard in person. During his discussion, Thomas played an excerpt from Mahler's 5th Symphony that was so stunningly beautiful that I it gave me goose bumps. Thomas Hooten's brilliant playing was well matched by the insight he shared during his masterclass about getting the most out of our practice sessions.

Thomas began the discussion by drawing an image like the one you'll see below:

The dark circle in the middle of the diagram represents those things that we've already mastered in our playing. The large dotted gray area beyond that represents things we can do occasionally but with inconsistency and/or lackluster results. And the area beyond the large circle represents things we can't do at all. When practicing, many of us attempt to do too many things that are floating around in the middle of the dotted area. We'd have a much greater chance of success, however, if we focused on things that are right on the edge of what we've already mastered. For example, if I'm trying to learn how to improvise at faster tempos, I won't make significant progress if I start practicing Giant Steps at 300bpm. The mix of fast tempos and challenging chord progressions is setting me up for failure. I'd be much better off playing a tune I already know at tempos that narrowly exceed my current comfort level, gradually increasing the speed as my competency grows. This concept of setting attainable goals is nothing new, but it's still something most of us fail to do because we're in too much of a hurry to improve. Next time you find yourself trying to do too much too soon, remember this diagram and focus on the edge of that inner circle.

Following are several more of Thomas Hooten's keys for success:

• You Perform How You Practice - if you don't take your practice sessions seriously, it will be obvious in your performances.
• Good Performers Are Consistent, Not Lucky ' when you're underprepared you need luck to get through a performance. Proper preparation delivers consistent results.
• Don't Judge Yourself ' when we play poorly we sometimes become angry with ourselves and overly critical. These negative emotional responses cloud our judgment and inhibit progress. When problems arise, focus on the issues without taking it personally.
• Never Quit ' there's always a way to improve.
• Use a Metronome and Tuner ' good time and good intonation never go out of style!
• Practice Slowly ' don't play something at full tempo until you can play it at half tempo.
• Make Hard Sections Even Harder ' Thomas Hooten demonstrated this one by playing an excerpt with a very challenging leap to a high note. Since it's such a difficult passage, Thomas will practice the phrase while jumping to an even higher note. After that, the real/lower note seems easy. This one only works, however, if you can actually play the intended note in the first place.
• Take a Break After 30 Minutes of Practice ' after 30 minutes, fatigue sets in and it becomes harder to concentrate. Thomas actually sets a timer when he practices so he doesn't accidentally exceed 30 mintues. Once the time goes off he rests for at least 10 minutes, and sometimes for an hour or two.

• Experiment, Be Creative ' you don't have to do everything the same way all the time. Experiment with new repertoire, new approaches to existing material, and add variety to your daily practice routine.
• Keep a Practice Journal ' Thomas keeps very detailed practice journals so he can evaluate his progress over time.
• Practice Active Listening and Record Yourself ' Thomas basically echoed the same concepts I mentioned from the Kevin Lyons masterclass.
• Take Notes After Each Lesson ' if you're taking private lessons, your teacher may be telling you more things than you can remember during a lesson. If you record the lesson or take notes immediately afterwards, you stand a much better chance of retaining all of that information.
• Dealign with Nerves: Be Overprepared ' a good way of dealing with nerves is to be so prepared that you don't have to worry about whether or not you can perform.
• Dealing with Nerves: Play for your friends ' many of us become self-concious and nervous when playing in front of others. You and your fellow musicians can combat this by regularly performing in front of each other.

Here's one more tidbit about Thomas that I found especially interesting. While in college, Thomas said he had hit a wall with his playing. His teacher at the time, Armando Ghitalla, told him that he needed to change his embouchure in order to succeed as a professional trumpet player. On a leap of faith, Thomas took the advice, spent several months barely able to play as he adjusted to his embouchure, and look where he is now: principal trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra! This story interests me so much because I was a freshman at the University of Michigan when I first ran into major problems with my embouchure (the blowout). And guess who the head of the trumpet department was at the time? None other than Armando Ghitalla. I was a jazz studies major at the time and Armando Ghitalla primarily taught upperclassmen, but now I'll wonder how things might have turned out if he could have helped me with my embouchure back then. Of course, it's extremely unlikely that I would have become a fantastic trumpet player like Thomas Hooten, but perhaps I'd at least be able to play above the staff for 5 minutes before my chops give out! Sigh.

HOPING FOR MORE JAZZ IN THE FUTURE

Given the trumpet's pivotal role throughout the history of jazz music, it seems important to me that jazz should be represented at any trumpet festival. At last year's Atlanta Trumpet Festival we did indeed have jazz performances and discussions, but this year it was strictly a classical production. Whether the omission of jazz was intentional or simply a matter of scheduling conflicts (the festival date changed this year), it was a missed opportunity to expose the young trumpet players to jazz. You never know, jazz might be just the thing that keeps some of them interested in playing the trumpet. It certainly keeps me coming back to the horn. Hopefully next year jazz will return to the Atlanta Trumpet Festival.

Update 9/23/2008: The Atlanta Trumpet Festival director, Kay Fairchild, has informed me that jazz will indeed continue to play an important role at the festival. They actually had two jazz trumpeters scheduled to appear this year but things fell through when Emory University had to change the date on short notice.

ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCES

Attendance at the Atlanta Trumpet Festival was down a bit since last year's record size, but there was still a decent number of participants in the middle school, high school, and adult trumpet ensembles. Each ensemble played well during the final concert and I'm happy to report that I successfully made it through those soft low G's!

FINAL THOUGHTS

As always, I'd like to thank Kay Fairchild, her son David, and the Atlanta Trumpet Ensemble for all of the hard work they put into making the Atlanta Trumpet Festival possible. I look forward to participating again next year and hope more of my trumpet playing readers will attend as well.

ADDITIONAL READING

All of my Atlanta Trumpet Festival reviews: 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2011

The fourth annual (2007) Atlanta Trumpet Festival took place this past weekend. This year, Scotty Barhnhart, Mark Clodfelter, and Kevin Eisensmith attended as clinicians for the festival. They were joined by approximately 175 festival participants, comprised of middle school students, high school students, and adult trumpet players.

Unlike previous years where I simply watched from the audience, this year I registered and performed with the adult trumpet ensemble. If you're a regular reader of this website, you probably know that I haven't played the trumpet in public for quite some time. To be exact, 1995 was the last time that I played publicly. That 1995 performance was actually with a jazz combo, though. You'd have to go back all the way to 1993 for the last time that I played classical music in any type of group setting. As you can see, it's been almost 15 years since I had a trumpet playing experience that even remotely resembled what I'd encounter at the Atlanta trumpet festival. Needless to say, I was a bit worried about how everything would turn out.

Following is a review of the 2007 Atlanta Trumpet Festival and my experience playing in the adult trumpet ensemble:

WARM-UP CLINIC

The Atlanta Trumpet Festival began on Saturday, with a warm-up clinic hosted by the professor of trumpet at University of Kentucky, Mark Clodfelter. Having heard Mark's excellent solo performance during the 2006 festival, I was definitely interested to hear what he had to say about warming-up. The warm-up clinic began with a deep breathing exercise followed by a demonstration of some Cichowicz flow studies. Mark played each flow study on his horn at a low volume and then the entire group of 175 festival participants played the exercises together. I was already familiar with these flow studies, but I hadn't ever tried playing them at a low volume in such a relaxed manner. I'll definitely have to give that a try during my regular trumpet practice routine since it seems like a low impact way to both warm-up and improve my range.

Something else that was new to me was Mark's approach to playing high notes on the trumpet. I've known for quite some time that high notes require faster air, rather than simply more air, but Mark's suggestion to think of the syllable "HO" down at our diaphragm and "HEE" at our mouth was new to me. The idea is that the "HO" sound will produce the volume of air needed for high notes, and the "HEE" sound will force that air into a smaller opening at our embouchure, thus accelerating the air. Obviously you can't really say "HO" with your diaphragm, but having that sound concept in your mind should produce the desired result.

ENSEMBLE REHEARSALS

After the warm-up clinic, the festival participants were divided into their individual ensembles for rehearsals. This year's Atlanta Trumpet Festival had one middle school ensemble, two high school ensembles, and one adult ensemble. Mark Clodfelter conducted the adult ensemble.

One of the nicest things about the Atlanta Trumpet Festival is the fact that there are no auditions. You simply show up and you get to pick the parts that you play, with the understanding that the best players don't get to hog first part on every tune. Since my upper range is still rather weak, I opted for the lower parts on every tune. Here are some of the things I learned while playing in the adult trumpet ensemble:

• My range is even worse than I thought - Since I started playing the trumpet again, I've struggled to expand my upper range. In my recent jazz improvisation solos, you'll hear more notes above the staff, but those are always played at full volume and they're all optional. In other words, I only play high notes when my chops can take it. Playing from written music, however, I don't have this luxury. Instead, I have to adhere to the dynamic markings of the tune and I have no option but to play each note as written. This really caused problems for me on the first tune that we played in rehearsal. The part I initially selected had 4 measures of G's at the top of the staff, all played at a very low volume. I flat out couldn't do it. And I knew that even if I could pull it off during rehearsal, there was no way I could play those notes if my embouchure was fatigued. Fortunately, I was able to switch parts and never had to play anything higher than an E in the staff during the rest of the tunes, but I was a little disappointed that my range had failed me so early on in the event.
• I don't play well with others - When I started playing trumpet back in middle school, I always played in band class with many other people. It became second nature for me to blend in with the rest of the trumpet section, and it was easy for me to hear myself in a group setting. During the first couple of rehearsals with the adult trumpet ensemble, however, I could barely hear myself as I attempted to blend in with the rest of the players. There were times that I knew somebody was out of tune in my section, but I couldn't tell if it was me or not. Similarly, since I couldn't hear myself all the time, I didn't know if my tone was good or bad. These are all things that I used be pretty good at identifying back when I was in high school, but now that I've become so used to hearing myself as a solo voice I felt lost in the group. I guess like any other element of trumpet playing, playing well in a group takes practice.
• My endurance is better than I thought - When I practice jazz improvisation at home, I tend to play continuously for 15-20 minutes at a time (sometimes even longer). By the end of these improvisation sessions, my chops are so tired that I can't play anything above the staff without excessive mouthpiece pressure. Since 15-20 minutes goes by quickly when I'm improvising, it's tempting for me to think my endurance is terrible. The trumpet festival, however, proved that my endurance is actually pretty good, at least for the type of music I was playing. During all the ensemble rehearsals and performances, I never once felt like my chops were tired. Not even a little. If anything, I was playing better by the end of rehearsals than at the beginning. While I might not have the endurance to play a solid night of jazz improvisation, it's definitely encouraging to know that I can get through an experience like the Atlanta Trumpet Festival without any endurance problems.
• It's (probably) time to change my daily practice routine - I've been doing the same daily routine of warm-up and fundamental exercises for over a year now. In most areas, I'm pleased with my progress, but I really want to focus on exercises that will help strengthen my upper range. I'm not looking to play all that high. I just want a solid and controlled range that extends up to a C above the staff. I'll probably check out Trumpet Herald for suggested exercises, but if you've got any ideas, please pass them along.

OVERCOMING PERFORMANCE ANXIETY

Between rehearsals on Saturday, the festival participants attended a clinic with Kevin Eisensmith about conquering performance anxiety. Kevin Eisensmith is professor of trumpet at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Among other things, Kevin discussed the "two selves" concept that appears in the book "The Inner Game Of Tennis" by Timothy Gallwey. One of the two selves is that part of us who is capable of performing at our peak level. The other side is the critical voice in our heads that insists on telling us things like "I better play well tonight," "I hope I don't miss that high C," and "rats, I missed that high C, this is a disaster." It's that critical side that causes performance anxiety and it's the critical side that keeps us from reaching our full potential (I wrote briefly about that nasty critical side near the end of my four-year anniversary article).

To prevent ourselves from getting bogged down by negative and otherwise distracting thoughts, Kevin suggested that we develop a "Teflon Mind" where we let our worries and concerns fade away. Kevin also spent several minutes taking us through a meditation exercise that he does before every concert. He imagines himself in a serene setting, where he's perfectly comfortable and he then consciously relaxes each part of his body working from his head down to his toes. By the time he's finished, his mind is clear and the performance anxiety is gone.

HISTORY OF JAZZ TRUMPET

The final clinic on Saturday was a fantastic presentation of the history of jazz trumpet by Scotty Barnhart. Scotty Barnhart is the featured trumpet soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra and professor of jazz trumpet at Florida State University. He's also the author of the book, "The World of Jazz Trumpet: A Comprehensive History & Practical Philosophy" which I reviewed in 2006. What would have been an interesting history lecture on its own was transformed into pure magic as Scotty, backed by a rhythm section of some of Atlanta's finest jazz musicians (Kevin Bales on piano, Justin Varnes on drums, and Robert Dickson on bass), performed each major style of jazz trumpet playing in the style of its original performers! Scotty's playing was incredible as he stepped into the shoes of Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldrige, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Don Cherry, Freddie Hubbard, and Wynton Marsalis. That presentation alone was worth the price of the Atlanta Trumpet Festival!

ARTIST RECITALS

Saturday's festivities concluded with a free concert featuring the Atlanta Trumpet Ensemble, the various festival clinicians, the Air National Guard Band of the South, and the Eagle's Flight Jazz Ensemble. Everyone played well, but I especially enjoyed the opportunity to hear Scotty Barnhart play a few more tunes with the Atlanta-based rhythm section. It was also great to hear Scotty and the other clinicians join the Eagle's Flight Jazz band during the final tune of the night, "April In Paris." Since he's the featured soloist in the current rendition of the Count Basie Big Band, Scotty maintained the time-honored Basie tradition of playing Thad Jones' "Pop Goes The Weasel" solo. He and the other clinicians ended the tune with a bang, outdoing each other with high note after high note at the end. It was a great performance and the audience loved it. I really hope jazz continues to play a role in future Atlanta Trumpet Festivals.

PARTICIPANT RECITALS

The second and final day of the Atlanta Trumpet festival began with ensemble rehearsals, both separately and as one large group. The group rehearsal was for the final tune of the festival recital: Verdi's "Requiem" performed by 175 trumpet players! On stage it was extremely loud, yet there were still 2 rows of trumpet players standing in front of me. I can't imagine how awesome it must have sounded from in front of the stage.

Overall, I think the final concert went really well. I made a couple of mistakes, but nothing that really stood out. But even if the mistakes were obvious, I doubt anybody would have minded. And that's one of the things that make the Atlanta Trumpet Festival so special. There's no expectation of perfection. Heck, there isn't even an expectation of good. The Atlanta Trumpet Festival is a low stress environment where trumpet players of any age and ability can come together to share the joy of playing the trumpet.

LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT YEAR

I'd like to thank Kay Fairchild, her son David Fairchild, the Atlanta Trumpet Ensemble, and all the other contributors for the hard work they put into the festival this year. This was definitely the best Atlanta Trumpet Festival yet! I'd also like to extend a special thank you to Kay. I wrote to her a couple of weeks ago stating my desire to simply watch the proceedings from the sidelines, but she encouraged me to perform with adult ensemble. Thanks to her suggestion, I had a great time performing with the adult ensemble and I'm already looking forward to participating again next year!

ADDITIONAL READING

To learn more about the Atlanta Trumpet Festival, check out the introduction to my review of the 2006 Atlanta Trumpet Festival.

ADDITIONAL READING

All of my Atlanta Trumpet Festival reviews: 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2011

Back in 2004, I wrote a journal entry in which I discussed my limitations with fast articulation in jazz music. In that journal entry, I concluded that I'd have the best chance of improving my articulation speed if I tried to smooth out my double tonguing. Basically, I intended to replace the "tu-ku" syllables of traditional double tonguing with a smoother "duh-guh" attack so it would fit in better with jazz phrasing.

For several months after that initial journal entry, I practiced double tonguing for 5-10 minutes a day and posted a few articulation recordings on this site. Eventually my focus shifted to other aspects of trumpet technique, like improving my range and endurance, and I became less concerned about how quickly I could articulate. With this change in focus, I reduced my daily double tonguing practice to about one or two minutes each day. That's just enough time to double tongue Clarke study #2 starting on each note going from a G to a C in the staff.

I'm pleased to report that even with just a couple minutes per day spent on double tonguing, I've made significant progress with my ability to articulate quickly and smoothly with a double tongued attack. I still haven't started to use it when playing jazz trumpet, but I think I am getting close to a time where I could if I wanted to.

I'd like to make clear that it's certainly possible to play fast without any sort of special articulation method. None of my jazz solos to date have used anything other than single tonguing (with the exception of that one time I tried to triple tongue in "Fifth House"). And really, the combination of single tonguing and slurring notes is perfectly adequate for just about anything I'll ever need to play. So, this endeavor to improve my fast articulation is just for those instances where I really want every note in a (very) fast phrase to pop.

AND NOW... THE ARTICULATION RECORDINGS

As I mentioned earlier, I made a few articulation recordings in 2004 which I posted on this site. Since my articulation recordings are few and far between, I have decided to put all of those old recordings, and any new fast articulation recordings I make on this page.

FEBRUARY 24, 2007

In both recordings I'm playing Clarke's technical study #2.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Double-tongued, with a smoothed 'duh-guh' attack, starting on a G in the staff. In my previous clips this was about as high as I could go with these exercises.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Double-tongued, with a smoothed 'duh-guh' attack, starting on a C in the staff. As you can hear, I can now go quite a bit higher and still maintain a decent smooth double tongued attack. Progress!

SEPTEMBER 18, 2004

Just a couple short clips to show my progress with the double-tongued Clarke study and the introduction of double-tongued arpeggios.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Double-tongued, with a smoothed 'duh-guh' attack.

I'm getting pretty good with my smoothed double-tonguing in the lower range of the trumpet. As I climb higher in range, things start to breakdown. In the clip above, the first example begins on C below the staff; the second example begins on a G in the staff. The difference is pretty clear. Obviously, my goal is to keep the articulation smooth in all registers.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Double-tongued minor 7th arpeggios

I started working on double-tongued arpeggios about a month ago. This type of exercise should strengthen my ability to double tongue over intervals while improving my ability to outline chords in all keys. The example above outlines minor 7th arpeggios, however I also practice major 7th, half-diminished, and diminished arpeggios in the same manner.

APRIL 25, 2004

All exercises are on Clarke's technical study #2.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Single-tongued. Fastest speed possible.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Double-tongued, with a smoothed 'duh-guh' attack. Increasing speed.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Double-tongued, with a 'guh-duh' attack. I'm reversing the consonants here to (hopefully) bring myself to care less about which sound comes first.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Articulation with only 'guh' attacks. Fastest speed possible.

It has only been two months since I've been working on the smoothed multiple tonguing. Each day I play the previous variations starting on C and ascending to a starting note of G or Ab.

I think there's noticeable progress since my first recordings (particularly in the end of the clip: iwasdoingallright - audio clip), however I still have quite a bit of work to do before I'll be able to use this in regular improvisation. For starters, when multiple tonguing I puff my cheeks quite a bit --much more so than in normal playing. As a result, my embouchure is less focused and my range is much narrower than usual. Anything above a D in the staff is difficult.

MY FIRST ARTICULATION RECORDINGS: FEBRUARY 22, 2004

All exercises are on Clarke's technical study #2.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Single-tongued. This is as fast as I can articulate with a single-tongued attack.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Double-tongued, with a standard 'tu-ku' attack.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Slow double tongue, with a smoothed 'du-gu' attack.

iwasdoingallright - audio clip - Slow attacks using ONLY a 'gu' attack.

If I hope to succeed with double tonguing in an improvised jazz solo, I think I'll need to do two main things: (1) smooth my double tongue into a 'du-gu' style of attack, and (2) reach a point where I can use double tonguing interchangeably with single tonguing.

The second point is important because I want the double-tongued passages to blend in seamlessly with the rest of the improvised solo. If I have to consciously think about starting on a particular syllable or beat, then I feel like the double-tongued passage will stick out like a sore thumb. It might sound *fancy*, but it probably won't sound good from a musical perspective. With this in mind, I recorded the 'gu'-only track. It's an experiment to break traditional tonguing habits. I have no idea whether or not it will help, but I figure it's worth trying.