Mystery to Mastery

The 5 Easy Steps explained in lessons one to five cover the basic fundamentals of playing your instrument in a new and exciting way, allowing you to understand “What, Why and How” to practise so you can achieve great results, faster. You will also find some conversation points that may be of interest.

STEP 1 - Brain Training

To build a skyscraper, you need a strong basement and foundation.

Your body is the builder, your sound is the final construction, the trumpet is the tool used to build the building and the brain is the architect. If the brain is not correctly trained, the rest of the project is doomed.

We all have a preconceived idea of how playing should feel. What exactly is that based on?

You must reprogram the way you approach playing. The amount of effort required to play is far less than you imagine.

Exercise 1. Put your index finger over your mouth, lower your jaw and quietly whisper the word "HOW" as you quickly suck air in. Your abdominal wall should expand outwards as the diaphragm drops. When you are full of air, place the tip of your tongue against the inside of the top lip then spit the air out keeping your cheeks in. Rest and repeat 5 times. (Be sure to rest to avoid hyperventilation - a lowering of the carbon dioxide levels in the brain)

TIP: Place your hand in front of your face to feel your airstream. This will help when visualizing the energy created from a deep breath.

Bobby Shew calls the exercise of spitting the air "Spit Rice". Imagine you have a grain of rice on the tip of your tongue and you spit it off to start the flow of air through an open aperture.

Notice how with little to no effort, the air releases from the body with great force. This is called PASSIVE exhalation. You are using the body's natural functions with the help of atmospheric pressure to create energy.

Your belief system is about to be challenged!

There is enough energy in the blow practised in Exercise 1 to play all over the instrument, low C to double high C and above.

Your trumpet reprogramming has now begun. You must believe that every time you do Exercise 1, that is what it feels like to play.

Interesting Fact: Arnold Jacob points out that the body can create 80-100psi when doing the Valsalva Maneuver (closing the throat and exerting the abdominal muscles) but the trumpet at its absolute loudest can handle about 3psi.

The feeling of strain when heading into the upper register is one or both of two things:
- the excess air that you are blowing, being rejected and reflected back to you by the instrument,
- lip tissue that is too tight being forced to vibrate by the abdominal muscles squeezing the air.

Imagine a car with its accelerator pushed down but the brakes and parking brake are engaged. Plenty of energy is being used but the result is minimal.

Forces are working against each other that negate a result. A tight aperture and over exertion from the abdominal muscles is in a way the same situation. Why not back off the blow and relax the lip allowing the air to move freely causing the lips to vibrate??

Close your eyes and repeat Exercise 1, five more times. Internalise the feeling and begin to believe that this feeling of freedom is how you must feel when playing.

Be sure to go to Lesson 2!!

Lesson 1
The 5 Easy Steps explained in lessons one to five cover the basic fundamentals of playing your instrument in a new and exciting way, allowing you to understand “What, Why and How” to practise so you can achieve great results, faster. You will also find some conversation points that may be of interest. STEP 1 - Brain Training To build a skyscraper, you need a strong basement and foundation. Your body is the builder, your sound is the final construction, the trumpet is the tool used to build the building and the brain is the architect. If the brain is not correctly trained, the rest of the project is doomed. We all have a preconceived idea of how playing should feel. What exactly is that based on? You must reprogram the way you approach playing. The amount of effort required to play is far less than you imagine. Exercise 1. Put your index finger over your mouth, lower your jaw and quietly whisper the word "HOW" as you quickly suck air in. Your abdominal wall should expand outwards as the diaphragm drops. When you are full of air, place the tip of your tongue against the inside of the top lip then spit the air out keeping your cheeks in. Rest and repeat 5 times. (Be sure to rest to avoid hyperventilation - a lowering of the carbon dioxide levels in the brain) TIP: Place your hand in front of your face to feel your airstream. This will help when visualizing the energy created from a deep breath. Bobby Shew calls the exercise of spitting the air "Spit Rice". Imagine you have a grain of rice on the tip of your tongue and you spit it off to start the flow of air through an open aperture. Notice how with little to no effort, the air releases from the body with great force. This is called PASSIVE exhalation. You are using the body's natural functions with the help of atmospheric pressure to create energy. Your belief system is about to be challenged! There is enough energy in the blow practised in Exercise 1 to play all over the instrument, low C to double high C and above. Your trumpet reprogramming has now begun. You must believe that every time you do Exercise 1, that is what it feels like to play. Interesting Fact: Arnold Jacob points out that the body can create 80-100psi when doing the Valsalva Maneuver (closing the throat and exerting the abdominal muscles) but the trumpet at its absolute loudest can handle about 3psi. The feeling of strain when heading into the upper register is one or both of two things: - the excess air that you are blowing, being rejected and reflected back to you by the instrument, - lip tissue that is too tight being forced to vibrate by the abdominal muscles squeezing the air. Imagine a car with its accelerator pushed down but the brakes and parking brake are engaged. Plenty of energy is being used but the result is minimal. Forces are working against each other that negate a result. A tight aperture and over exertion from the abdominal muscles is in a way the same situation. Why not back off the blow and relax the lip allowing the air to move freely causing the lips to vibrate?? Close your eyes and repeat Exercise 1, five more times. Internalise the feeling and begin to believe that this feeling of freedom is how you must feel when playing. Be sure to go to Lesson 2!!
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