7 golden rules for better brass...

7 Golden Rules for Better Brass Playing

By

Marcus Reynolds

www.brasslessons4u.com

© 2018 Marcus Reynolds All rights reserved

A Message From Marcus

The secret to performing any complex task well, is to master

the fundamentals behind it, so that they become second

nature to you. This is as true in music as in other walks of life.

I have dedicated a large part of my life to helping others

master these fundamentals and I want to share just a little of

that here with you now.

These are my 7 Golden Rules for Better Brass Playing and

are intended to help you master the basics behind playing any

brass instrument.

Following these recommendations should give you a solid

foundation on which you can improve your brass playing and

help you to achieve your musical potential.

Best Regards

Marcus Reynolds


Warm Up & Warm Down Every Time You Play

An athlete knows that for peak performance you must warm up

properly.

As a brass player you use your diaphragm and abdominal

muscles, as well as facial muscles and tongue, and these all

need to warm up to work properly.

Warm up by playing sustained notes in the lower register to begin

with and move up the registers as you warm up.

After playing or practising you should always remember to warm

down and finish with playing sustained notes in the lower register.

If you warm up properly you will find your stamina improves.

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Practice With Regularity & Purpose

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Playing any musical instrument relies on so called 'muscle memory', the co-ordinated movements of musical note production that becomes second nature to the player through repeatedly practising them.

Practising for 1 hour, 7 days a week is much better than practising for 7 hours, 1 day a week.

Regular practice will help keep your fingers and tongue co-ordinated.

Always have a concept in your head about how you want to sound (tone, feel, phrasing etc.). and concentrate on reproducing these aspects. Recording yourself, as you practice, is a useful way to check that you are achieving your desired sound. This doesn't have to be very hi-tech, a voice recording app on a smart phone, tablet or a laptop will let you capture the important components of your playing.

Organise your practice session to make sure you practice effectively and you may find it helps to make a list with timings of the exercises you need to practice e.g.

•  Scales and arpeggios: 5 minutes.

•  Ascending and Descending Breathing: 5 minutes

•  Long tones: 5 minutes

•  Transposition and sight reading: 5 minutes

•  Excerpts: 10 minutes

•  Solo pieces: 20 minutes

•  Studies: 10 minutes

•  Improvising over changes: 10 minutes

•  Multiple tonguing: Flexibility: 2 minutes

•  Slurs: 5 minutes


BREATHING In order to perform you need to learn to breathe with the lungs as full as possible. Stand upright with your arms held loosely at your side and plant your feet roughly shoulder-width apart . With your knees slightly bent, exhale fully and hold that position for 5 seconds, then inhale, and feel the rush of air as you breathe in to fill the void. As the air comes in resist the temptation to lift the shoulders (though some rising of the shoulders will occur when you first try this exercise). Repeat this exercise for 6 repetitions. On returning to your instrument repeat the above and then play, you should be able to immediately feel more tonal support and this will add to your sonority as you will be able to perform without having to worry constantly that there might not be enough breath to complete the phrase. By regularly practising breathing as described you will find you are able to play longer phrases and also hold your long tones for extended periods. Don't just practice - Perform.

SIGHT READING There is only one way to improve your sight reading, and that is to keep practising it regularly. However if you suffer from dyslexia or dyscalculia you may find this a struggle. I am slightly dyscalculic and to counter this I taught myself a method that I call the ONE ONE CLUB where every note has a definite place i.e. either on the down-beat or the up- beat. Many of my students have been taught this to great effect. The book that helped my sight reading more than any other is called Modern Reading Text in 4/4: For All Instruments by Bellson and Breines. This is a great book as all the exercises are gently progressive, and because of this, you will grasp rhythms very quickly. There is a companion volume called Odd Time Reading Text: For All Instruments by the same authors. You can order these books from your music store, orchestral mini-series of classical works, and if you follow the score as you listen to a performance this will also help to train your ear.


EXCERPTS. The results of many auditions for an orchestra or band is determined by the candidates performing a series of excerpts before a panel of judges.

Research these excerpt selections and start building them into your practice regime.

To increase your chances of selection, and to improve your playing, start performing these various pieces and record yourself playing them.

Get used to using a metronome and set the tempo slow.

This ensures that you play less wrong notes so the muscle memory won't have to be re-learned.

Look to eliminate as many faults as possible or else these will “Ghost “ back to you through the process of becoming familiar with your selected piece.

Play the difficult sections even more slowly and your muscle memory will lock the intervals in.

I also suggest to my students to play the phrase on one note so you can get a better flow then the next note etc.

This familiarizes you with the valve and slide positions.

The result of this is when you put the phrase together you will maintain a flow that will add to the musical picture .

STUDIES. The trouble I have found over the many years of teaching students of varying standards, is that they repeatedly practice the same piece of music, aiming for perfection.

This may sound like a good idea, but my suggestion to achieve a better result, would be to experiment with something different and slightly more challenging. By adopting this method you will return to the original piece more refreshed.

If you are starting to discover jazz on your instrument seek out Jamey Aebersold’s jazz training series. Aebersold’s collection of books and studies is probably the most significant collection of study books that has spawned more Jazz players than any other format the world over.


DOUBLE TONGUING

Many players have possibly only experienced single tonguing as in Tu.

Tu is just one of the two syllables required to form the double tonguing engine. The other syllable is Ku and comes from the back of the throat.

I get my students to do 10- 20 back of the throat Ku’s and then check the balance of the Tu and Ku. As the Ku is sounded from the back of the throat it takes quite a bit of practise to produce an even balance between the two syllables.

In the beginning working on this Tu Ku Tu Ku Tu Ku is quite laborious and early results will more often produce a strong Tu and a weak Ku. This will eventually even out.

When you start to hear a more even balance between the two syllables try buzzing on the mouthpiece.

To really get the muscles to activate the Ku - play a whole piece just using Ku.

The thing to remember here is to not get despondent as the double tonguing will improve with time.

Spend some time on this and it will serve you well.

Let me also introduce you to a wonderful device I discovered at the International Trumpet Guild Columbus. It’s called the Staccator and it immediately helps you hear the balance and strength between the 'TU' and the 'KU'.

Tu and Ku are not the only syllables you can also try Du and Gu and alternate between the two sets of syllables.

i.e. A bar of Tu Ku and a bar of Du Gu. Experiment with both sets of syllables.


FLEXIBILITY

Here's a couple of tips I encourage my students to try, when using Chas Collins "Lip Flexibilities."

Page 9 of the Advanced Lip Flexibilities .

Buzz the first 2 bars 6 times,

Rest and roll your lips for 20 seconds

Rest 10 seconds.

Play first 2 bars.

Buzz bars 3 and 4 6 times

Rest and roll your lips for 20 seconds

Rest 10 seconds.

Play bars 3 and 4.

This might seem very laborious, but trust me the results will be tremendous.

Please note I have allowed a rest period for every etude - this is so important.

After completing the above 4 staves, turn to Page 17 and:

Buzz the 11th and 12th notes the F and the D without moving 6 times - slowly

You will soon ache. This ache is the result of duress from the muscles calling for more blood and oxygen. Follow the resting time of 10 seconds.

Return to Page 9 and see how easy the notes are.

If the lips feel resistance check the gap between teeth. If they are closed you will not enjoy the resonance the exercise should have provided.

(I really hope this helps and gives you an insight in to how detailed and focused my coaching is.)


Resting Is An Important Part Of Practicing

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Most tuition books on brass instrument playing will tell you that 'you should rest as long as you play'.

It's good advice as it gives your muscles and lips some recovery time.

So don't rush your practice and build in some rest periods.

This needn't be 'dead' time as you can try 'visualisation' or visual motor behavioural rehearsal (VMBR) to give it it's full title.

Whilst you are resting your 'chops' read through the music you have just played, or are about to play.

Practise fingerings, rhythms etc. BUT IN YOUR MIND'S EYE ONLY.

See yourself playing in your mind’s eye, focusing on the same things when you practice for real.

VMBR is used by many top sportsmen and women to hone particular movements or techniques they require.

Rugby goal-kickers, bobsleigh pilots and racing car drivers all use VMBR techniques and if it works for them it can work for you too.


Use As Little Mouthpiece Pressure As Possible

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Your fundamental tone is produced by the vibration of your lips, therefore they have to be able vibrate freely. Also the muscles you are using to create your embouchure require oxygen and energy which is supplied by blood vessels. Too much pressure both crushes the embouchure muscles and cuts off the blood supply to them.

Excessive pressure damages tone quality, flexibility and range. Use only enough pressure to make a good join between your embouchure and instrument.

By encouraging a good jaw position, the STRATOS Embouchure System

reduces the need for mouthpiece pressure.


Keep The Junction Between Your Mouth And Mouthpiece

Still

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Only two things should move when you play, air and your tongue. I am not talking about controlled pivoting your instrument, but unintentional movement up and down or laterally. You can think of it like a joint in a water pipe, a loose joint will leak and cause problems. Likewise if your jaw or instrument are not steady this movement will result in low or uneven air pressure which in turn affects your sound. You can check this by playing in front of a mirror or getting a friend or family member to record a video of your playing.

By re- enforcing the correct relationship between your embouchure and instrument & helping to keep it steady the

STRATOS Embouchure System enables player to improve quality of tone, as well as

increasing both range and power by ensuring this joint is good and steady.


Adopt A Good Posture

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Brass instruments use vibrating air to produce the sound.

A good upright “tall” posture will aid the free flow of air from the lungs through the windpipe, past the lips and into the instrument.

You will find taking a deep breath is easier and that the throat is opened slightly helping with resonance.


Remember that good sound production starts with a good

embouchure.

7

A brass instrument is mainly an amplifier to make the sound you produce, heard.

To help sound production blow as though cooling a spoonful of soup or making a candle flame flicker, keeping the aperture between your teeth slightly open so air can pass easily over them. Your lips should be together but free to vibrate and buzz.

Remember that a number of tiny changes to your embouchure can have huge beneficial effects, and attributes to the guiding principle in the development of the Stratos Embouchure System.

This is why I prefer to talk about embouchure re-alignment or adjustment rather than changing or re-building an embouchure. You are probably much closer to a good solid embouchure than you think.

When your embouchure is functioning well, this will translate into good tonal quality, better sound production, improved range and you will find that you can practice and play for longer.

In short you will be able to play your instrument better.

Great playing starts with a good embouchure.


About Marcus

Marcus Reynolds, creator of the unique STRATOS Embouchure System, has been a professional brass player and teacher since his musical training at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall. He gained teaching experience tutoring for Surrey County Council and at numerous private schools for over 12 years, whilst developing his reputation as a professional performer on the trombone. His career included stints on-board the QE2, with West End shows such as ‘Chicago’ and numerous Radio and TV sessions, playing with the very best players in the UK.

Following a serious stage accident that led to major re-constructive surgery, he has had to battle to learn to play again. This struggle gave him insights about the brass embouchure that he used to develop the STRATOS system. The development and refinement of STRATOS took nearly 3 years but has resulted in a system that is used successfully by hundreds of brass players world-wide to improve their embouchure and playing. Marcus uses his knowledge and experience to help his students, who range from beginners to seasoned professionals. He continues to play regularly and is a Michael Rath Trombone signed artist/clinician. In between playing and teaching, Marcus now gives lectures and clinics on his approach to the embouchure and brass playing. He has talked at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for the British Trombone Society, and also for Warwick County Music Service. He is also in demand as a writer and has produced articles covering all aspects of the brass embouchure, which have been published in The Brass Herald, Brass Band World and by The British Trombone Society. Marcus can be contacted via phone: +44 7815 504 619 or email: [email protected]


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