FIVE THINGS I WISH I KNEW AS A YOUNG BRASS PLAYER

FIVE THINGS I WISH I KNEW AS A YOUNG BRASS PLAYER
Some brass pedagogy thoughts during this time of social isolation.
Dr. Matthew Haislip
Assistant Professor of Horn
Mississippi State University

[@susancottrell977]

Thank you! This really hit the spot with me. My fundamentals are surely lacking. I played well over many years, never really playing lip slurs well. When I retired from my job, I practiced every day, took lessons from people you know, and just got so fatigued, I couldn't play anymore. Now, nearing 70, I don't want to give up! I still play in a community band, 4th part. That's a long way from playing 1st in the Air Force field bands. Thank you for your help!

[@debrabum]

Thank you for these lessons. And thank you for playing with our little symphony in Corinth this past Christmas. It was an honor to get to play with you.

[@MatthewHaislip]

Thanks so much for watching my videos and for your message! It was fun! Best wishes to you for a great 2022!

[@musicofnote1]

1) Buzzing is NOT the answer for everyone. 2) Play according to sound, not feel (Dale Clevenger) 3) If you blow, you suck (Jim Pandolfi) - No singer with a beautiful sound blows air, but rather lets the air produce the sound. If you're blowing, your forcing and therefore sucking. 4) Ignore those who insist that a shift/pivot (whatever you want to call it) is good or bad. Some people need to do this, others don't. 5) (Especially true on bass trombone) - if your low register is solid, your high register will come, but see points 1-4 above.

[@lesterramirez5661]

Thanks for the advices!

[@MatthewHaislip]

Thank you for watching!

[@carlw]

Thank you so much Matthew, you nailed my issues!!! Although I probably have a decade or two on you, you reaffirmed a lot of my issues. Constantly trying to "muscle" the notes, forgetting support with air BUT trying to achieve that "horn sound". So getting to G on top of staff nothing but fast air comes out, no sound 🤨🤨🤨😕😕. I used to be able to trill on any note in my younger days when playing trumpet. Now after maxillofacial surgery, and certain muscle degrading meds (another unrelated issue) trills are nothing more than tone/fuzzy air/tone. Even hitting C4 (third space C) is a chore and embouchure is quite weak. 😲😱😭😭. Will likely be looking for rehab help. Your video really helped believe it or not. Please feel free to comment should you be so inclined. Thanks.

[@MatthewHaislip]

Thank you, Carl! I am so glad to hear this helped!! Happy to help anyway I can if you'd like to discuss this further sometime!

[@carlw]

@@MatthewHaislip Thanks. Ok come on over and I'll order pizza. 😀

[@carlw]

@@MatthewHaislip Just listened again. Obviously the universe is kicking me in the butt to pay attention more to air management. Did you find books like "The Breathing Gym book" helped?

[@MatthewHaislip]

@@carlw Glad it has helped! I think that intense breathing stuff can help some folks, especially if one has trouble breathing/asthma/etc. But some of that breeds too much tension. I think we often focus a bit too much on athletic breathing. Especially on horn, we don’t need it as much as low brass players. I have found Wim Hof breathing exercises extremely helpful. I do have asthma, but these exercises help so much.

[@carlw]

@@MatthewHaislip Wim Hof breathing. Hmmm. Good idea. Tx I've found as one ages one acquires an unforseen laziness when it comes to breathing properly for brass instruments. I'll try the Wim method, on a whim. 😕🤔😬

[@COMB0RICO]

Just starting horn a month ago. These thoughts echo my experience. Seems french horn needs a self taught talented player to arise to show the institutionalism there's another way.

[@ALLinHerMovements]

Mind blowing. Thank you.

[@MatthewHaislip]

Thank you! Glad you found it to be helpful!

[@darryljones9208]

Lip function IS primary, air is only the energy source. The problem is not lip "consciousness" . The problem is the approaches to playing that teach ineffective embouchure skill. Like mouthpiece buzzing, free buzzing, etc. These put students on a bad trajectory of excessive embouchure effort with inefficient results. In my experience, air is RARELY the problem. "Air speed" has nothing to do with a particular pitch. The lips absolutely control the pitch played. Air speed is just something players hear and repeat. Its just "trumpet-psychobabble",

[@MatthewHaislip]

Very interesting! I guess it goes to show how differently we all perceive things and how different approaches work. I can't say that I agree that air speed is psychobabble, though. It's all about air speed, IMO. :) Fast air = higher notes; slow air = lower notes. Sure works that way for me when I play.

[@darryljones9208]

@@MatthewHaislip so you never heard anyone every say air speed = pitch, but yet you made an accurate measurement of air "speed" and correlated it to pitch in ALL cases? How did you measure it? Where in the system did you measure it? So lip tension has NOTHING to do with controlling pitch as long as the air "speed" over the tongue is correct?

[@MatthewHaislip]

@@darryljones9208 I would say that the control of air speed is something we shouldn’t and don’t have to micromanage. The subconscious mind can and does memorize the coordination of support, tongue arch positioning, and lip aperture engagement from daily practice on long tones, overtone series slurs, scales, etc. to successfully play in each register with the air speed needed for the frequency of each pitch. I think we can get into a lot of trouble by trying to control the coordination of air speed *too* much. The general principle is what I like to teach and rely on. Lip tension does have to do with it, too, but this aspect, especially, is one that I try not to focus on. If we gain/lose weight, eat salty foods, have played too much the day before, etc. our lips and our perceptions vs reality of our lips can change, creating some paralysis by analysis or some over-tensioning, etc.

[@darryljones9208]

@@MatthewHaislip but wait, you already said that pitch is ALL about air speed. You do understand that air speed, flow, or pressure are not all the same thing. Right?