TCE Talks S02E03 - Playing The Trumpet Is Not Like Talking Or Whistling
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- Hi everyone,
Welcome to another TCE Talks. This video may be seen by some as controversial. I have a little rant in an attempt to logically criticise some ideas that exist in brass pedagogy.
There will be a lot of people who strongly disagree with me and there will also be plenty who agree. Enjoy! 🎺
Check out my website for TCE goodness:
neotericbrass....
Hello Rich, a friend of mine brought your video to my attention, and I thank you for your kind words regarding my book. I knew Jerry Callet a bit, and am acquainted with a few TCE players, principally Alex Holton (NYC). Alex and I discussed TCE a little, but my understanding of it is less than complete. You are obviously a very accomplished player and a thoughtful teacher. I am interested in different pedagogies and what they have in common, or how they can complement one another or even be blended.
You are correct when you point out that there is more than one way to play the trumpet, and further, that we often perceive and understand things differently (forgive me if I am putting words in your mouth). I believe there are very few solid “rules” that apply to every player, especially when considering different idioms (commercial v classical for example). This makes writing a method book a risky endeavor - maybe a foolish one.
Our teaching and understanding stems from our personal experience, and from the idioms in which we function. I’m an orchestra guy (though my original hope was to be a commercial lead player!), and have spent my career trying to create a clear, resonant, and engaging (to use one of Vincent Cichowicz’ favorite terms) sound with as natural and vocal expression as possible in order to function in “classical” or “legit” settings.
Some of my teaching is reaction to the ubiquitous (in North America, anyway) “wind and song” approach of Arnold Jacobs and Cichowicz and their many disciples (which I feel is limited and limiting) on one end of the spectrum and the a mechanical/pneumatic approaches on the other. Of course, as teachers we have to be aware of what’s happening physically (or should be happening), but frequently must use metaphorical language to achieve the desired results. We must also be flexible and creative in dealing with individual students. Consequently, it helps to have a big “toolbox” of approaches and ideas. I have had splendid success with literal speech as a model for articulation (which in turn greatly affects sound and stability), but if it doesn’t work for a particular student, we go another route. BTW, whispering might be a better model than talking since it takes the vocal cords out of the equation. I sometimes think of “talking” in a somewhat pressurized atmosphere. For students who speak with the very tip of the tongue (ALA Mendez, whose clear but somewhat explosive articulation would be caricature-ish in the orchestra), I introduce “anchor” tonguing mechanically, and if the resulting sound and range are improved, suggest that they experiment with it, and perhaps discovering a hybrid solution that is personally workable. Suggestion and experimentation over hard and fast rules.
Language and regional accents can affect outcomes, so i look to the resulting sounds as the indication of the desirability of one approach over another. I ask players to beware of thinking in terms of binary “right” and “wrong,” or so rigidly hewing to an approach or instruction that they lose sight of the larger goal of making music.
Just some ideas. Best wishes to you.
Hi Peter,
Thank you so much for taking the time to watch and comment on this video. My habit is to butt heads with the dogmatic descriptions of how to play whist simultaneously believing that TCE is a really solid system for building the fundamentals and developing the chops. It has certainly caused me a lot of cognitive dissonance since I got into it because as a freelancer I've played in both classical and commercial settings and you must adjust the physical approach, whether it be conscious or not, or you'll end up with something that's not right for either extreme.
Ultimately when it comes to making music I think that so many of the in-the-moment decisions we make whilst playing come from our habits and experience that we've built over years of listening and practice, and that's something that I feel is entirely separate from my thoughts on how to help a struggling player overcome the physical difficulties of playing. Still, I could be wrong so ask me again in 10 years!
It's great to share ideas with you, so thanks again. If you don't mind I'll pin your comment at the top because I think people could get a lot out of reading it.
Hello Rich, at first great great content and information I was once a student from Jerry 2003 I visited him in Long Island. unbelievable guy. second I disagree with your comment about your brain. Your brain works fantastic and you have done the right things and you will… after long and taking care of this way to play the trumpet and try to to get better control. I would say this is the most efficient and easiest way to play trumpet. If you understand how the trumpet physically works, you will know that like Jerry used to say that the trumpet is a compressive instrument. and with this kind of position you will ever have a compressive way to play and produce Notes, the lowest and the highest. At least I agree hundred percent with your content. Great job and maybe got some time to talk about or even better to meet. Have a drink and have a good time to talk about the most beautiful instrument in the world.. thanks for sharing your knowledge.❤🎺😊👋
I think everything you have to say here is quite reasonable. Thank you for putting in perspective some of the teaching methods that may be effective for some students at particular developmental levels and only marginally helpful for others. I am of the opinion also that understanding is not harmful and does not in any way resemble paralysis. It seems to me that paralysis is created when a person can't quite quite process information. This does not necessarily mean the information is incorrect or that giving information is incorrect only that the processing mechanism is not operating well. That's a different issue altogether isn't it? Thank you also for being clear about what tongue in between. The teeth is where others have been quite unclear about this.
Very good content, many thanks!
Glad you liked it!
The intro tune sounds like the Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass tune "Walk, Don't Run". Is it? Herb Alpert and his trumpet is what got me interested in learning to play the trumpet.
It's actually a clip from a demo tune I wrote when I was learning to use Logic a few years ago. I do like Herb Alpert though, so maybe the influence is deep in my subconscious somewhere!!
Does TCE work on low brass instruments?
Yes definitely. You can't really do the double pedal tone exercises, but that doesn't mean you can't play with your tongue on the lips.
I have a theory that learning to play any musical instrument should be accomplished the same way one learns to speak as a child: Learn to PLAY TONES i.e. "speak" on the instrument long before even being introduced to sheet music, the same way a child who cannot read is nonetheless able to speak coherently long before they attend kindergarten or first grade.
I took Italian for three years in high school and did well. Unfortunately, there was virtually no conversation, everything was vocabulary and grammar. The sad result was that after three years I was barely able to communicate in Italian with my Italy-born grandfather. I believe this is EXTREMELY common with Americans who "learn" foreign languages in school: after years of classroom study they're unable to actually verbally communicate in the language with native speakers. Maybe the situation is different in the UK?
I now firmly believe that anyone wishing to learn a foreign language must LEARN TO SPEAK IT FIRST (immersion being the best way) before opening a book to study vocabulary, spelling and grammar.
As an adult who's trying to learn to play the trumpet with the sole goal of simply achieving basic competency as a "hobbyist" so that I can play pop songs that I love I wish I was able to simply play by ear. The ability to link certain tones with notes on a staff can wait until I can play the instrument, much as my ability to speak came before learning to read. There've been some outstanding instrumentalists who never had the ability to read sheet music but who were very accomplished musicians; I'm immediately reminded of the late Jerry Lee Lewis who was an awesome piano player. Even The Beatles, I've heard, couldn't read sheet music and used amanuenses to dictate melodies to, with the amanuenses then converting the melodies into sheet music.
I'll have to sit on the fence with this one. I'm a big fan of teaching people how their instrument works, both in terms of learning the harmonic series and mechanical functions of the valves, but this relies on a simultaneous teaching of music theory to at least a bare minimum degree. Personally I can't see any disadvantage to learning to read sheet music whereas I can see plenty to not learning it.
I think that in order for your language comparison to work there would need to be structures in place to assure that the person learning knows what it is they are trying to achieve (this was obviously he case with those you've mentioned) but unfortunately my experience with teaching children has shown that this often isn't the case.
I think it's worthwhile making a video about this. I've made some note and I'll put it in the queue
@@BrassPractice I look forward to watching it!