TimsTrumpetPlace

Clifford Brown - Joy Spring

Joy Spring is one of my all time, favorite, jazz tunes.  Clifford delivers an amazing performance in this classic recording.  I wasn't able to find a video performance, but, this is the best recording (in my humble opinion).

 

If you are not very familiar with Clifford's music I encourage you to spend some time on YouTube and listen to some of his classic tunes and great solos.  Here are a few links to get you started.

Here is a link for a playlist I put together of Clifford playing some of his tunes and some well-known standards - Tim's Clifford Brown Playlist

Here is a link to a playlist of Clifford Brown's music autogenerated by YouTube - Clifford Brown Playlist

Below are some recommendations to help you increase your knowledge and love for Clifford Brown. 

Here are three great deals on classic Clifford Brown albums.  The middle CD is actually 4 albums in one.  The one on the right is one of my favorite Clifford Brown albums--It is Clifford in a New York studio with a string orchestra. I love his smooth playing and consistent tone.  In the liner notes they speak about his professionalism and how he was there ready to play and didn't need a lot of in-studio practice.

If you really like Clifford you should get this biography and learn more about his life and art.

 

If you like Clifford's playing you should check out these transcriptions.  Volume 1 (green) includes Joy Spring and 29 other charts from his early years. Volume 2 (yellow) has 25 transcriptions and Volume 3 (red) has 16 solos.

 -=iii=< Tim

Embouchure Control and Development

Embouchure is an important topic of concern for all people who play trumpet. Developing your embouchure is a process that takes a long time and a lot of effort. I recently read an article by William Cramer that was originally published in The Instrumentalist. I would like to share some of this article with you. There are a few direct quotes which will be in quotation marks, whereas the rest of this post will be a summary of information from this article and my thoughts about it.

"The act of performing on a brasswind instrument is essentially that of properly manipulating muscles of the body in such a way that air is directed to the lips which are set in vibration and they in turn cause the air in the instrument to vibrate and produce musical sound. Tone production is accomplished by the human body in motion. The instrument itself acts as a resonator and amplifier only. The instrument and the body must be in sympathy with each other to achieve maximum results."

I agree completely with Mr. Cramer’s statement, "the instrument and the body must be in sympathy with each other to achieve maximum results." When I read this, it reminded me, I spent a lot of my early years as a trumpet player, struggling with, or against, the instrument. I did this by pushing too hard against my lips to force them to stay in place in my effort play a little bit higher (which doesn’t work very well). Another problem I had, related to my weak embouchure. I was not focusing my wind so it entered the trumpet cleanly. When the wind left my mouth it bounced around inside of the mouthpiece and eventually into the trumpet. This produced fuzzy tone, poor control, inability to play in the higher range consistently (or below middle C very well), and a lot of frustration. My instructor showed me some tone focusing exercises which made all the difference in the world.

In the many years since then, I have learned the importance of a strong embouchure to produce a smaller, but still firm, aperture through which the air is forced into the instrument producing the vibrations that are amplified by the instrument. Another thing that helped, came about 15 years ago; I read an article that recommended lip buzzing, without the mouthpiece, to help produce a strong embouchure, with muscles alone changing the size of the aperture. Lip buzzing helped in a couple of different ways. It helped me strengthen my embouchure, specifically, allowing me to change the size of the aperture without using force against my lips. Also, lip buzzing helped me understand the concept of why I needed to improve my embouchure--I began to see it was possible, for me, to play in the higher range without excessive force (the mouthpiece against my lips). I can’t over emphasize how important it was for me to understand that I could play in the higher range without the excessive force. Basically, I had come to the conclusion that I would never be able to do this. As I have said in other places on this blog, my poor self-esteem has really hindered me in achieving my potential.

In this diagram, we have two pairs of lips with different sized apertures. The aperture is the actual area through which air is forced; where the upper and lower lips vibrate, to produce the sound that is amplified by the trumpet. I have frequently used lip buzzing, especially when I did not have a trumpet handy, for example, when driving to and from work.

Now, back to the original article by Mr. Cramer. He outlines the muscles involved in playing the trumpet and the purpose of each set of muscles:

1. Inhaling/Exhaling - wind
2. Tongue - articulation (rhythm and styles of attack)
3. Embouchure - operates the vibrating medium to control the tension and set the proper pitch
4. Muscles to control the valves and slides

"Muscle tension in the embouchure is the only practical method of altering the vibrations of the lips. Excessive pressure on the lips in place of muscle-controlled tension will produce thin tone and decreased flexibility."

"There are two well known methods of embouchure control but these methods have problems:

1. smiling - stretches the lips and makes them thin.
2. puckering - closes off the aperture requiring more wind and changes the quality of the tone." (I have found a couple of websites that describe more than two methods. Below you will find links to view these.)

Mr. Cramer describes the ideal method, which is a combination of the following:

1. Pucker muscles - ring of muscles in the lips
2. Muscles on either side of nose that pull lip up - like a snarl
3. Muscles in chin with pull lip down

"If the lip muscles (1) can be made to contract at the same time muscles (2 and 3) contract, there will be a change in tension (and a change in pitch) with little outward facial motion or changes in tone quality. The situation will be one of muscles apposing each other."

"Great care should be taken that only the facial muscles are being used and that the instrument is not being jammed against the lips with the arms."

"Development of strength and endurance, as well as range, now follows exactly the same pattern as that which an athlete follows in getting himself into shape. The muscles must be exercised deliberately and gradually made to take on greater loads that will lead to extended range and endurance. Hurrying this process can, however, cause injury to the lips."

Below, are a couple of links to sites that speak about several different methods of developing your embouchure. One thing to remember, there are many different opinions about how to develop and form the best embouchure. Each person is different, the shape of their teeth, the thickness of their lips, and many other factors come into play in deciding which method or technique is appropriate for you. I encourage you to speak with your instructor if you feel your embouchure is a concern that should be addressed. If you are not working with the instructor I encourage you to begin.

http://www.bbtrumpet.com/embouchures.html - this page is found on Pops’ Trumpet College by Clint 'Pops' McLaughlin. Pops provides a lot of good information on this website, including books, videos, and other resources to help you learn how to play the trumpet better.

http://www.asymmetric-mouthpiece.com/ideal.htm - this is an article reprinted from Pops MacLaughlin’s book, The Pros Talk Embouchure, released in the fall of 2002.

http://www.trumpetthink.com/embouch.htm - this site discusses several different methods producing embouchure.

 

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Dizzy Gillespie – A Night in Tunisia

This is one of Dizzy's great tunes and one of my favorites by him. This is a pretty recent performance. It's interesting to go on YouTube and watch an earlier performance of this same song and compare the differences. I have watched several different videos spanning the time between the 1950s and now. Each video has some interesting stylistic differences.

While I watched this video I wondered how many times he has played this tune over the years. I'm guessing he's played it an average of 200 times a year for at least 40 years (in performance alone) which would be about 8000 times. What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know your guess. Here is a link to a YouTube playlist I put together of several of Dizzy's tune and some standards - Tim's Dizzy Gillespie Playlist

Here are a couple of biographies you might find interesting if you want to learn more about the life and music of this great jazz musician.  If you like Dizzy's sound and style of Be Bop, jazz you should check out these =iii=< Tim

My Arban Adventure - Week 5 - Observations So Far

In week 5 of My Arban Adventure, I took the time to look back at the last 4 weeks and assess my progress. In my effort to rate my progress as objectively as possible I have been recording my practice sessions. I want to focus on some observations made while reviewing the recordings up to this point.

After listening to several weeks of recorded practice sessions, I observed my timing was decent, most of the time, before I started using the metronome--decent, but not perfect. I know my internal timing is better than it was in 1980 when I started college. In college, I hated playing with the metronome--I really struggled to stay with it at times. One of my biggest problems was a tendency to rush through difficult passages. With rushing came more mistakes and much frustration. Another bad habit I had in college (and several years after) was stopping when I made a mistake. It took me a long time to get past that. I suppose my timing has improved over the years because of maturing as a musician in general, but I think the single, most helpful thing is 20 years of directing choirs and instrumental ensembles. I find myself working through difficult or unusual rhythms by "directing" the beat and singing the rhythms. Thinking back over the years I can recognize a definite improvement with my sight reading and I'm sure improved timing helped a great deal with that also.

I have found working with the metronome to be surprisingly helpful.

I have noticed great improvement with articulation--being clean and more precise. I was beginning to hear some improvement since I started getting more serious about practicing (about 7 months ago). But, I can hear drastic improvement in the last month (since beginning My Arban Adventure). Recording my practices has really made it possible to see how much improvement I have made in the last month and, at the same time, listening to the recordings has helped with many needed corrections. I hear many subtle things on the recording that I don't hear or notice when playing--things like articulation, subtle changes in dynamics, pitch, "shape" of each note, and tone just to mention a few.

In the last month, I have noticed much more consistent and better tone from the low to higher range. There is no doubt, in my mind, this is directly related to the First Studies and the Scale Studies from Arban and sticking to the regimine I set for myself. Listening to the first couple of weeks of recordings helped me hear my need for more emphasis on breath support. As a result, my higher range does'nt sound as pinched as it did a month ago and the tone is much better. There is still much work to do, but I hear much improvement.

I wish I had started using the metronome and a recorder in my practice a long time ago. I had been told to use both in college but I didn't think I needed them. Also, I didn't want to take the time to listen to my practice sessions and using a metronome to work through difficult passages takes more time than I wanted to take. Stubborn pride has a way of leading me to make very poor choices. I encourage you to learn from my mistakes and use these valuable tools, if you do not already use them. I guarentee they will help.

Follow this link to see more about Week 5 of My Arban Adventure

Follow this link to go to My Arban Adventure Home Page

Follow this link to see the my Audio & Recording Equipment Page where you will see the equipment I use and some recommendations.

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