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JA z Z TRUIMPET

T ECTHTNllQUES

FOR DEVELOPING ARTICULATION AND FAST FINGEBS by J0HN McNEIL

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ZZ JA RUIMPET EClHlNlt QUES FOR DEVELOPING ARTICUTATION AND FAST FINGERS

by JOHN McNEIL

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STUDIO P/R, 1nc.,224 S. Lebanon St., Lebanon, 1nd.46052

INSRODUCTION

student To make thls book as compact as posslble, Ttm-assunlng--tlg not Id¡i1e playing. grasP of_trumiet has at- Ieast a rudlmenta-ry will levels alL of belleve-players geared ror coñpi;ü uegldleig;-f Itno thls book of some beneflt. for lncreasing range and. Thls book contains no specifi-c method(s) b¡eath support., ?ng próOúctlon, endurance. ffré-méciranl-es ói-soun¿ many boo-ks-, that I 3o in detailed embouchure O".ráfop*ent havé-Uéen of these subtreatment speclfle ány fnciuáe fett lt unnecé""áiy-io thouáitlg included are playlng ql l"yppet jects. Some ;¡-*V"own my perThough useful. them find lói"iv ln the hope someone vlptmethod for Ine, ,I donlt intend them sonal concepts fbrm a coheti.t" as a panacea io" áff problems encountered 6y trumpet players' and wlth for the most part is valve teehnique lihat I have dealt -párticularly q1?y9r' trumpet the to iazz as relateá artlculatron,

this of Jazz is-tmprovisation, I have.oriented Slnce the line. improvised the "rr"ñ"u problems occurri-ng in nóof. toward about ehords and scales' If I assume the reader knows something and lmprovlsation books 1n the not, there is-á iiit of ¡aáá theorf áre also listed with herein Appendlx. Other books référred to tñéir publlshers in the APPendix. fOrm. Because of Jazz improvisation is a very_ personalized art the music is golng to be somethls, every piayert s approaóft- toexerclles, and^methods of practice what different. The "ott""pit, frave found helpful'. It ln this Uoot áre ones tfiat-i-óersonally save the student at least a is my hope th;¿ thls material"will iitti" time in hls or her musical development.

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TOI^¡ARD PRXCTSION

VALlru 1ECHNIQUE

result of poor fundamentals. Pushing down a trumpet valve seems to be a fairly simple maneuver, v¡hich lt ls, to be sure. Almost everyone has the sheer anlma1 cunning necessary to work a valve mechanlsm. However, it ls possible to become so engrossed i^¡ith other aspects of trumpet playing, making the ehord changes, etc. that you lose sight of the basi-c task of your flngers. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, Iet me point out that when playing the trumpet, your fingers are alternately pushing down and releasing the valves in varlous combinatlons. Forgetting this fundamental point ean result ln not gettlng the valves all the way down every time. Technique problems are usually the

If all this sounds very sirnple and baslc, thatrs because it is. Itrs also important. Not getting the valves dovin firrnly results in garbled, run-together-sounding lines, especlally when you try to move rapidly, I haye heard too many trumpet players play very fast but fall to generate intenslty, sirnply because nothlng came out clean1y. For this reason, itrs a good idea to periodically back up and reafflrrn some baslc concepts of finger technlque. I personally use conslsts of transferrlng the weight of the arn to the flngertlps, feeling as though the welght of the arm is doing the actual work of pushing down the valves. This way of playtng makes lt possible to keep my flngers very The valve technlque

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flngers snap from one valve combination to another, I try to have the feellng of simply shlfting the weight from one finger t o the next.

il

ldhen my

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I have talked with some exeellent trumpet players who donft thlnk of playing the above way at all, and wonder why anyone would, Irm the last one to argue with success. If somethlng works for you, use 1t.

All

players, however, stress relaxatlon as one of the keys to good valve technique. This means relaxation of the wrlst as weII as the fingers, sÍ-nce tension in the wrist automatically cancels any looseness ln the fingers. If you are used to playing with tense flngers or "squeezing" the valves down, eoneentrating on keeping your wrist loose will relax your playing. Try to make your fingers feel "heavy. " If you are accustomed to tension, you w111 probably feel that playing this relaxed leaves you no control. It mlght feel uncomfortable at first, but it will soon become the natural way to play, and your valve technique should beeome crl-sper and cleaner. Relaxation helps speed and coordination come more easily, and lets your improvisation flow more naturally. good

Even thouglr

this is a seemingly effortless lray of playing, valve

never, repeat NE\IER, be weak. Valve changes should always be strong, positlve, and quick, l{hen playlng, I feel as though Itm "throwlng" the valves down. Throwing, banglng, snapplng, think of 1t any way you like--Just get the valves down hard and completely. (ff you have trouble reconelllng relaxation movements should

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v¡ith strong, powerfur actlon, thlnk of a basebatr player. In basebarl, a good hitter arrvays has a relaxed swing, yet at the same tj-me, it is very qulck, strong, and declslve.) Slow valve releases are another

thlng that can really hlnder you. Remember: getting the varves gp quickly and positlvety is Just as irnportant as getting them down. Sometimes swltchlng your concentration from snapping down the valves to releasing them quickly will help clear up a flngeri_ng probtem. Poor coordination 1n releasing the valves results For example, when playing this,

if the thlrd valve ls late

coming

in "extra notes. "

up, yourll get

this type of problem can be very tedious. Over-compensatlon--in this ease deliberately forcing the flrst valve to be late instead of the third valve--ls a technique that can be helpful. Sometimes ltts good to approach a problem such as the above in a nonmusical vüayr i.e.r BS pure coordlnation. Ask yourself, 'rVühat are my fingers actually dolng? blhlch flnger moves where and when?rt Get your head into your flngers. Concentratton is the key ln this area as well as ln every faeet of playlng. Overcomlng

vf

polnt: most teachers advise keeping your little finger out of the ring on the lead pipe. Many iazz players, myself 1"cluded, use the ring more than half the tlme, but thls doesntt make lt deslrable. Restrlctlng the little finger llmits the motlon of the third fi-nger. For this reason, most great players free the llttle finger v¡hen playing somethlng technlcally demanding. Freddle Hubbard is a classlc example of this. Using the rlng can aLso make you use too much pressure. llhen practieing, therefore, it would be a good ldea to lteep free of the ring. A mlnor

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llnes, etc. are the result of mental lapses or lack of mental preparation. If you know a scale uel1 enough to vlsuaLLze it and all of its nuances, as well as all of the fingerings involved, chances are that you will make very few mlstakes when playing it. You will probably be able to improvi-se freely with that scale at a pretty fast tempo as weIl. tr^le all know jazz players who are not technical wlzards at all, and yet always seem to be able to execute their ldeas, The faet is, if you know v¡here youtre golng (netter Yetr if you can hear where youtre going) ¡ Vou usually have the technlque to get there.

Most mistakes, wrong notes, fumble-fingered

are, however, certain valve changes which involve coordinatlon problems. These are sometimes referred to as "cross flngerings, " somewhat of a misnomer, since many times the difficulty Iles in executing a particular sequence of fingerlngs, each one of which is not particularly difficult. Ttrere

The followlng pages contaln exercises with many such coordlnatlon

probrems. You will no doubt find many slmilar probrems in your or^,n experj-ence. trürat r have tried to do here, at least ln the shorter examples, is to condense a flngering probrem into as short a figure as possible. I¿Ihen working out your own problems, try to find just those elements that are causing the difflculty, and eoncentrate on them. Robert Nagel I s Speed Studies eontains many worthwhile exerclses

in this

same

vein. I

reconmend

this book very hlghly.

All exercises should be slurred unless otherwise marked. Your goal should b" ) =160 or faster. Use regular fingeringst not alternates,

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SOME I,fAYS TO PRACTTCE

the lmportance of practlcing slow}y, but almost no one tells you the reasons why. Here are a couple: the valves move just as quickly in changi-ng from whole note to whole note as they do ln playing a Ilne of eighth notes' The difference is, you have a longer time between valve changest which enables you to coneentrate and real]y ze¡a in on the exact coordlnation of your fingers. A slov¡ tempo also gives you time to listen to your sound, and helps you maintain fullness from one

Many books and teachers emphasize

note to the next.

Practieing slowly, much slower than you are capable of playing, takes patience, but ltts worth lt. Not only does it help your speed tremendously, it also makes your time lock in more solidly. Fol}owing are some more concepts whieh you ralght find useful.

Silent practice consists of banging away at varlous valve combinatlons while not actually blowing the horn. Itrs a way to improve your technique while you are restlng your chops or watching T.V. or whatever. SILENT PRACTICE.

If you make thls valve-banging part of your practlce, it

w111

also help you maintain your coneentratlon throughout your practlce time. Trumpet players need to rest qulte often, so this is a way to put this rest time to good use. Another advantage of sllent practice ls that you ean do it anphere (atmost)--on a bus, ln a weather balloon, ln bed, etc. The exerelses j-n thÍs book are all good for silent praqtice. IO

you are practiclng

this

to lj-sten closely to the valves. If your coordlnation is perfect, there should be one short click for every valve change. More than one cllck means your valves arentt moving preclsely together.

I¡lhen

w&Vr be sure

to use this silent practice is to sing improvised lines and finger the approprÍ-ate notes on the trumpet. This rnight be a little difflcurt at first, but itrs great for establlshlng a direct connection from ears to fingers. Another good way

LEFT HAND PRACTT,CE. Switching hands ancl v¡orking

out fingeri-ng problems wlth your left hand l¡ill greatly speed the coordination of your right. I donrt knorru vihy this l^¡orks, but it does. You really have to try it to believe it. The v;ay to approach this is to v¡ork on a problem very slow1y and deliberately with your teft hanci, and then gradually increase the speed. use a metronome to insure evenness, and ecncentrate very hard. 'v,Ihen you switch back to normal, your executlon will have J-mproved dramaticalty. Using

this method, you can conquer problems in ninutes that might otherv¡ise harre taken days to work out. Again, T must stress concentration. The more you coneentrate, the better resul-ts irou will get. qUICE__qE4NGI. Take

a phrase that?s giving you fingering problems,

say for example,

11

to flnd out exactly where the problems are and comect at the same time ls to first play the phrase ]ike ,thls:

A

?,¡ay

and then

them

Ilke this:

It may very v¡ell be that one way of playing the phrase is more difflcult than the other. Repeated practice of both ways will iron out a problem quickly. You might also try:

This "quick change'r method works especially well when comblned with left-handed praetice. FfNGERING

AI{EAD. Set your metronome

at a slov¡ tenpc.

Then take

for example) and play each note very staccato, snapping immediately to the next valve posltlon as soon as the note is sounded. Try to change instantaneously. If the valve change ls quick enough, it wiII almost seem as though yourve gotten ahead of yourself. In time, you can try to lncrease the

any exercise (a Clarke study

tempo.

L2

will help coordinate your tongue with your flngers, and, more i-mportant1y, speed up your reactions. To improvise at fast tempos, you need the qulckest reactlons you can

Practlcing this

way

get.

Practiclng mentally (without the horn) fr one of the most valuable things you can do. You can run through changes, play tunes in different keys, do any number of things, and get as much good out of it as if you had aetually been playing your horn. The next ti-me yourre stuck in traffic or r,¡aiting i-n a doctorts offiee, try mentally playing a tune through all keys. You w1Il be surprised at how diffieult it can be at first, and how relvarding it can be after a short wh1le. I{ENTAL PRACTICE.

SOME FURT}MR CONSIDERATIONS. . .

of response in the valve mechanlsn itself can hlnder you tremendously. I think itrs a good idea to experlment with using heavler springs. Personally, I like my valves to offer a lot of resistance. If I throw the valves down firnly, I want to feel a correspondingly strong return action. I feel this helps my timing Lack

and helps eliminate slow, uncoordlnated releases.

Rather than getting

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some

people simply stretch

their present springs to lncrease the resistanee. Either

way will

work.

or not harder valve aetlon makes for better response is somethlng the individual has to decide. Use whatever u¡orks for

trühether

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