trumpet aperture

Exercise for Focusing Playing Aperture

September 1, 2021 / 1 Comment / Uncategorized / By

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This is part III of a V part series on efficient tone production.  Click here for Part I.

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Training the Playing Aperture

Now that we’ve outlined how you can use the air more efficiently while playing the trumpet, it’s now time to discuss the next critical element of easy tone production – focusing the playing aperture. 

To do this, we’ll first remind ourselves how the aperture is meant to respond to the air. Then, you’ll learn a tried-and-true exercise for focusing the aperture while allowing an easier, more-controlled response. …

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Trumpet Embouchure Training – Part 1

March 27, 2021 / 1 Comment / Retro BTB / By

Funny deadlift

Why add resistance to lips?

As discussed in Resistance is not Futile every note requires a specific balance of air flow and resistance. This resistance is collected from a number of different areas in the body and the balances vary from repetition to repetition. These balances are dictated mainly by practice and fatigue.

Since the muscles of your embouchure are relatively small – and not connected to bone – there is a tendency for them to fatigue quickly. Once the embouchure is fatigued the necessary resistances will travel to …

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Resistance is NOT Futile!

March 27, 2021 / 4 Comments / Retro BTB / By

school-resistance-is-futile

Part of the trumpet playing experience is dealing with daily discrepancies in how you feel and sound. These differences are shared by ALL players regardless of experience. As you practice and pay attention to your body you develop a greater intuitive understanding of what it takes to play.

Referring to a model to describe the feelings of playing leverages your practice time by helping you make more intelligent decisions on how you practice. The main ideas of this blog are related to an idea we’ll call the “resistance model.” Once you understand the resistance model through practice and feel it in your body you will be able to make tremendous chop gains within a relatively short period of time.

What is the Resistance Model? …

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Open vs Closed Aperture

March 27, 2021 / 2 Comments / Retro BTB / By

open-vs-closed-trumpet-aperture

*** FreeTB “Aperture Control” Course is NOW AVAILABLE! Check it Out HERE) ***

  • Introduction

Not everybody likes to talk about aperture – and with good reason – it can be confusing and thinking about it while performing often leaves you dead in the water. However, having a basic understanding of the aperture is useful in interpreting the sensations we feel while playing the trumpet.

  • Aperture 101

In brass playing, the aperture is …

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