Ep. 11 Shedding Solfege in the Practice Room

In my experience, few are willing to lay the foundation the way I describe in this episode . . . but those that do will experience tremendous growth on the horn.
It may be the least glamorous episode so far, but it's the most likely to really change us as players.
Today, I invite you into the woodshed with me: a practice session where I use solfege to coordinate my body as a trumpeter.
The purpose of ALL practice is to the connect the creative mind to the body.
That's it. That's the game.
But as luck would have it, the creative mind happens to work like a super-powered 4-year-old. (So teaching it can feel . . . challenging . . . at times.)
But as soon as you realize how 4-year-olds learn (i.e. how all of us are wired to learn skills), you get insight into much more effective practice, saving you hundreds of repetitions.
This time, I find myself leaning on three helpful mentors: Carmine Caruso, John McNeil (who is my connection to Carmine's work), and Dave Hickman.
Visit John @ www.mcneiljazz.com
Or check out this remarkable book, synthesizing Carmine's principles for the modern trumpeter, which John wrote with his co-author, Laurie Frink (former lead trumpet, Maria Schneider Orchestra).
mcneiljazz.com...
As always, you can find Dave Hickman here:
www.hickmanmus...
I highly recommend "Trumpet Pedagogy" and "Trumpet Lessons with Dave Hickman."
Ryan's Trumpet is a recurring series that shares ideas and practices that have been extremely helpful to Ryan as a trumpeter, musician, composer, improviser, and teacher.
Have some questions about this episode? About the trumpet? Music? Performance? Jazz? Composing? Comment below!
If your question captures Ryan's imagination, you just might get a free lesson and have an episode dedicated to you!
Ryan Nielsen is the trumpeter in the Kobie Watkins Grouptet.Their first album, "Movement," received international acclaim and was selected by Howard Reich (former member, Pulitzer Jury) as one of the 10 best albums of 2018.
Ryan has recorded and performed with Ra Kalam Bob Moses and the Summit Brass. In 2021, he was an adjudicator for the preliminary rounds of the Carmine Caruso Jazz Trumpet Competition, "The world's most prestigious competition for jazz trumpet." He has performed as lead and solo trumpet with Delfeayo Marsalis's Uptown Jazz Orchestra, and received the Doc Severinsen Award for Outstanding Classical and Jazz Trumpet.
Ryan co-authored "The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation" with John McNeil (Trumpet, Hush Point; frmr. trumpet, Horace Silver; Professor Emeritus, New England Conservatory). It is due to be released later this year by Oxford University Press.
He is currently Associate Professor of Trumpet at Utah Valley University.
Visit Ryan online at www.ryanstrumpet.com

[@carlharper5846]

Oh boy, the whole process and that chat you had at the end was so insightful.

[@ryanstrumpet]

So glad it felt insightful to you!

[@carlharper5846]

@@ryanstrumpet Do you know much about Gordon's Music Learning Theory? I've been teaching with solfege for about 7 years now, and what it has done to develop my own audiation and ability to improvise has been nothing short of miraculous. I am also able to audiate chord changes like I couldn't before; listening is a much richer experience now because of moveable solfege.

[@ryanstrumpet]

@@carlharper5846 I only have a cursory understanding of Gordon's theory . . . I read a few chapters once, a *long* time ago. I remember the concept of audiating sticking with me ... but that's about it!

[@ajdavidsen4111]

That was fantastic! Thank you so much for being willing to demonstrate this. The idea of a four-year-old in your head was a huge eye opener for me.

[@ryanstrumpet]

Thanks, AJ. It was for me too . . . . such a brilliant way to frame what's going on with the subconscious mind as musicians. Gotta love John McNeil!

[@josealejandrocalerodiaz877]

Hi Ryan, wonderful videos. A friend has recommended me to see you (I've not accurate technics, no Language and phrasing, not good reading) and your videos are a really to true gift. I have a question to get (jazz or just improvisation) Language: I notice that you solfege by calling note (do, re mi..) instead of numbering (1,2,3..) in all the keys. I wonder if is useful for me imagine and sing the real (latin) note for evry key or solfege like you do. Thanks again for your videos. It is important to listen accurate metaphors, paraphrasing of usual sentences or the metaphor that you need in a concrete moment and your videos are Plenty of that.

[@ryanstrumpet]

Thanks, Jose. I love the way you said that . . . the need for accurate metaphors to inspire our playing. Beautiful. In regards to the solfege/latin note for every key, I would trust your own instincts. Try both ways (or several others) in multiple keys, and see which ones leave your body in a space where it connects more immediately with your creative imagination. All my best to you in your trumpet journey!

[@josealejandrocalerodiaz877]

​@@ryanstrumpet Thanks Ryan for your time. Yeah I will make my own soup😊. Thank you again for these videos, I am watching them again

[@begumacar]

Hi Ryan..You know I’m your huge fan.Thank you for your contributions.I’ve a question to you.What do you think about “Spit Buzz”?Have a nice week❤

[@ryanstrumpet]

Hi Begum. 🙂 Can you teach me more about what you mean by "spit buzz?"

[@begumacar]

@@ryanstrumpet I’m talking about “Jerome Callet System”It's about involving the tongue in the buzz

[@ryanstrumpet]

Thanks! Now I’m remembering. I only know one player that uses the tongue on the lips effectively. And, even so, their articulations are limited in variety. I would not advise using the spit buzz technique unless there were immediate gains in terms of sound quality and ease of response. The majority of my students do best when articulating where they speak …. And allowing the rest of the setup to adapt to that. A few have done best with anchor or dorsal tonguing, as did Armando Ghitalla. But I’ve not yet had a student tongue in the lips in an effective way. When my students have tongued that way, it was because of an embouchure deficiency; which we resolved through lip bends. Hope that helps!

[@begumacar]

@@ryanstrumpet Very helpfull.Thank you so much.🌸🌸🎺🎺

[@andreabraschi4108]

Hi Ryan! Thank you very much for sharing all this beatiful videos! I'm following all the series and I like a lot! I have I question about Solfege approach because is something that also for me means al lot when I do it, but I always want to understand it better.. How do you recognize, during practice, if the problem of something that you are triyng to do is related to Solfege or the phisycal aspect of your technique? maybe you have a strong idea of how a phrase should sound but you're muscle memory associate a bad habit to this sound in your head..or maybe sometimes is the opposite.. what is you're approach to this?

[@ryanstrumpet]

I love this question, @andreabraschi4108. The reality is, we learn to understand the difference through trial and error. In my practice, and my teaching, I have steps to test what may be the cause: 1) Test the mental aspect first. The mental aspect has four areas we can experiment with: A) Pitch (solfege) B) Rhythm (dance/groove/feel/meter/pulse/subdivision) C) Style/Phrasing (this is deeply informed by the dance and the pitch) D) Tone/character After I know those are in place, then I move to physical technique. I don't test all four . . . I test one at a time, and then play the horn. I'm looking for which one improves my playing the most quickly. 2) Bridge techniques. I use several practice techniques that help "bridge" the mental aspect to the physical aspect. For example, the twisty-tie technique I shared at the end of episode 9. These techniques assume that the mental aspect is clear, but that there is a problem in connecting that to the physical aspect. 3) Physical technique. Here, a suggested order of trouble shooting: First, Breathing. Second, Tongue placement. Third, embouchure work. In my experience, at least 8/10 times, the issue lies in the mental aspect. 9/10 if you include "bridge techniques." Hope this is helpful! I will be addressing a lot of these in future episodes :-)

[@andreabraschi4108]

@@ryanstrumpet thank you very much! super clear and useful explanation! that's what I was asking for