Article by Dean McNeill
Enlightenment gleaned from slush pump basics
Since the Fifth Grade, I have been a trumpet
keener. I intentionally make a distinction here between being
keen, and being good, as it was some time before I could claim
an association with the latter. My keenness has not diminished
in my adult years and as a result I find myself still deeply interested
in the trumpet from a variety of perspectives, which primarily
include performance and pedagogy. Perhaps not surprisingly then,
a Bb slide trumpet (a.k.a. soprano trombone) caught my eye at
the local music store recently. When it went on clearance, I bought
the instrument for reasons of pure keener self-indulgence.
Shortly after the instrument's novelty wore
off, I must admit that I began to view the slide trumpet as a
culmination of A) the sluggish, inexact technique intrinsic to
the slide trombone and B) the difficulties inherent in playing
a soprano register brass instrument. In essence, I thought I had
purchased an instrument that personified the worst of two worlds.
Upon further experimentation however, I discovered some very practical
applications for the instrument and some rather substantial revelations
pertaining to my trumpet teaching and playing. Although the musical
concepts discussed below are certainly common knowledge information
for trumpet players, it is the demonstration of these concepts
on the slide trumpet, in particular playing in the centre of pitch,
which I feel, warrants this article.
I experimented with using the slide trumpet
in trumpet lessons when students were having trouble thoroughly
understanding the difference between playing in tune (with respect
to themselves and/or others) compared with playing in the centre
of the pitch. Perhaps some I.T.G. members can relate to a situation
I have faced on more than one occasion when, after an explanation
and demonstration of the centre of pitch, students are at times
still confused. The explanation includes how the student is to
find the "sweet spot" intrinsic to each note on the
horn in order to create maximum resonance and how, if the student
is playing on the high or low side of the pitch, the resultant
tone will be compromised. As a teacher, one knows they have failed
when upon finishing the explanation, the student looks at his/her
horn and moves the tuning slide, thereby completely missing the
point at hand. Reasoning that perhaps a substantial derivation
in audio frequency would challenge students to remain in the centre
of "the" pitch while moving throughout an augmented
fourth gliss, my hope was that the slide trumpet would help students
gain some conceptual clarity in this area. I was pleased to find
that the slide trumpet did in fact help the majority of my students
in this regard.
When using the slide trumpet in lessons, I asked
students to consider that as one glissandos either up or down
(from slide position 1 to 7 or 7 to 1), one should strive to remain
in the centre of the pitch; one's tone colour should remain consistent
throughout the gliss. In other words, the pitch being buzzed should
match the slide length even as the slide length changes. If this
is not done, the tone will inevitably be compromised. In these
lessons I often noticed an immediate improvement in most students'
comprehension of the centre of the pitch. Their ability on the
conventional trumpet often improved noticeably after playing the
slide trumpet for only a few minutes. More often than not, after
playing a few of the following basic exercises on the slide trumpet,
students were able to then play a bit more accurately in the centre
of the pitch on the conventional Bb trumpet. The following is
an example of the types of exercises that worked well with intermediate
students.
Play the following exercises a few times on
the slide trumpet then repeat immediately on the conventional
Bb trumpet using the fingerings corresponding to H.L. Clarke's
technical study #1. When ascending or descending, strive for
an even tone color. Make a slight crescendo when moving from
slide position 7 (fully extended) to slide position 1 (fully
retracted).
Note that at no point in the above exercise
is the student caught up in virtually any technical aspect of
playing (the valves) as required by Clarke's technical study #1.
Once the evenness of tone is established on the slide trumpet,
the superimposition of the concept onto the valved trumpet can
be made very easily. When this is done the student's use of air
is more fluid and his/her sound evens out.
In the most basic of terms, the slide trumpet
has helped students to understand the concept of getting an even
sound, especially while the pitch changes because the instrument
made this concept extremely obvious. As well the strangeness of
playing the slide trumpet helped students to loosen up their concept
of air flow when they were locked into thinking of playing their
Clarke technical studies from a "fingers" perspective
only. The "fingers only" approach to playing Clarke
studies (or anything else) often means that students are not paying
adequate attention to their tone quality and therefore their use
of air. Furthermore, as I began to incorporate a bit of slide
trumpet playing into my daily routine, I began to notice some
important refinements in my own fundamental concepts of trumpet
playing.
For advanced players I would suggest the following
exercise as well:
Play each bar a few times on the slide trumpet,
then play the corresponding Clarke first technical study on
the conventional trumpet. Do not proceed above a "G"
(top of treble clef) until an even tone color in achieved. As
one moves into the upper register observe how the various aspects
of playing the horn such as air speed, oral cavity shape and
lip tension must work in concert with one another to achieve
an even sound as the pitch changes. Take special note here that
one does not have to do these things but rather simply needs
to observe how these components of playing come together to
produce the desired result. Again this concept will likely be
quite obvious on the slide trumpet.
Like my students, after playing for a few minutes
on the slide trumpet I noticed a noticeable improvement in my
tacit knowledge pertaining to a few fundamental concepts of playing
the conventional trumpet. Given the above, one might argue "Why
not simply achieve all this by buzzing the mouth piece?"
I certainly subscribe to the notion that the
addition of the buzz aid is a wonderful asset to any trumpet player's
arsenal of practice and pedagogical aids. I do take issue however
with the adage "if you can buzz it, you can play it,"
as this does not hold entirely true in all instances. For example,
most players can play significantly higher on their mouthpiece/trumpet
combination compared to buzzing via a buzz aid. As well, the resonance
the trumpet creates when played in the centre of pitch is less
obvious when one buzzes on the mouthpiece alone however such resonance
is equally is obvious when playing the slide trumpet.
Mouthpiece buzzing is wonderful for developing
associative relationships between what one hears and what one
buzzes, "kicking" the chops into high gear (as the lips
have to work harder when the trumpet is not part of the equation)
and so on. In certain instances however I feel there are advantages
to working with the slide trumpet over the buzz aid. The most
significant advantage the slide trumpet can offer is that it is
the same length, and therefore the same basic resistances as the
conventional Bb trumpet yet like mouthpiece buzzing, it can be
played entirely chromatically (although such playing is limited
to the interval of an augmented fourth). As well the trumpet-like
tone produced by the slide trumpet combined with the instrument's
chromatic capabilities can help students to bridge a potential
gap between mouthpiece buzzing and trumpet playing.
It may be of no surprise to learn that when
I revealed these exercises to a colleague who plays trombone in
the Saskatoon Symphony, he simply smiled and stated I had just
explained exercises, which trombone players have been practicing
for the past few hundred years.
In this technological age there seems to be
a growing number of options out there for trumpet players to experiment
with. These of course range from the practical (i.e. the buzz
aid) to the absurd (i.e. Arctic coconuts when suspended from the
ceiling and held under ones armpits at a 45 degree angle helps
to correct for any unwanted overtones when playing a middle 'C'
(with both triggers extended 27.35339 millimeters)… I think
readers get the point). That being said, I feel the slide trumpet
can be used as a valuable teaching tool for students and for one's
own personal journey of self-discovery on the trumpet.
This is not a promotional article and I have
no affiliation whatsoever with any slide trumpet company. In fact
I would like to suggest to any of our readers with an entrepreneurial
flair, that should they endeavor to construct an inexpensive quality
slide, which could in turn attach (perhaps via the 2nd valve port)
to a valved trumpet, yet another trumpet related cottage industry
might be born. If even a crude slide trumpet could be inexpensively
manufactured, my feeling is that such a device, when viewed in
the same light as the mouthpiece visualizer, buzz aid, breath
builder, breathing tub, mirror, and so on, could make a sound
addition to any trumpet teacher's arsenal of pedagogical aids.
Please, be my guest and make a million.
Dean McNeill is
Head of the Department of Music at the University of Saskatchewan.
Canadian trumpeter/composer Dean McNeill holds degrees in jazz
studies from the University of North Texas (Masters), McGill
University (Undergraduate), and Grant McEwan College (Music
Diploma). Currently he plays with the Metro Jazz
Ensemble, The Saskatchewan Brass Quintet, and the Saskatoon
Symphony. His trumpet teachers include, Bill Dimmer (Edmonton
Symphony), Kevin Dean (McGill University), Real Mathew (McGill
University), Garry Guthman (British Columbia), and Keith Johnson
(University of North Texas).
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