Thornton's daily tips... No 2

David Thornton is providing 4BR with some daily tips to help players with their playing during the enforced period of self distancing and home isolation.

The working lives of freelance players have been hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic, so if you have the chance please get in touch with them and book some on-line lessons and tuition.

Question:

I think I have quite a nice tone when I play, but totally lose that when I go up to the higher register and I'd really like to improve that.

Is the answer just to practise playing higher — or do you have any tips that might help?

DT's suggestion:

With range I work on the ingredients separately and then bring them together.

The ingredients are:

1. Strong embouchure:

Use long tones (middle & low range) and faster flexibility exercises (page 42-45 of the famous Arban Studies) to develop strength.

Make sure you breathe well, blow well, be careful not to use excessive mouthpiece pressure and always aim for the most 'beautiful' tone possible. With long tones, aim for control of the sound to gain a consistent tone quality, consistent pitch and consistent pitch.

2. Strong and efficient breathing technique:

One way to develop air speed is to use a practice mute and play a hymn tune as loud (but controlled) as you can.

Be careful though not to use excessive mouthpiece pressure and to use your air in the best way possible — both during intake and output.

NB: It's important to note that too much time playing with a practice mute in can cause problems — ideally only ever in short bursts of no more than 30 minutes and then most light playing.

The exercise drill suggested here should only take a few minutes before moving on to something else.

Even at the extreme volume and with the mute, listen to the quality and consistency of the sound, find a musical line, and don't lose sight of the musical line — even though the idea of the drill is to develop using large volumes of air quickly.

3. Increase aural awareness:

Sing your phrase several times, out loud and with a good full voice (maybe find a room in the house where no one else is listening!).

The open nature of the throat when we sing helps with the concept of a rich sound, as well as being able to hear the pitches in our minds more clearly. You can also play the phrase or portion of the phrase down one octave.

This will continue to familiarise the pitches, but also help to develop a musical, stylish picture of the phrase without the stress of the range.

4. Be bold and be musical:

How many times do we miss a high note because we backed off (just in case it goes wrong!)?

Fill the phrase and the intervals with strong flowing air, stay physically relaxed, have the sound you are looking for in your mind and go for it. If it goes wrong, that's what practice is for, moving from one stage of development to the next.