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| Author | Topic: helpful hints? |
| matt |
posted 11/23/09 11:45 AM
Hi, I have acquired a tenor horn and was looking for some tips. I seem to find there is a great difference in the quality of my notes above and below D below the stave. I find the lower notes much harder and they come out much "rougher". I would also like to know whether playing the horn will effect my cornet playing. I'm not very good at either but so far I think that it is helping. Thanks in advance, Matt. |
| Bobby |
posted 3/8/10 9:57 AM
i notice the same thing the second i reach for anything higher then an Eb or lower then D things become a little bit hit an miss on the quality, the notes are there but they are often really cras, my tutor claims is because of the length of tubing in the horn was designed for that particular range and anything they get beyond that was a bonusi found that getting really comfortable playing up their and then playing really long notes and concentrating of tone and quality helped them sound better but it takes forever to get there |
| Billie |
posted 4/9/11 4:51 PM
The trick is to loosen your lips when you go for low notes. If you loosen your lips too much though, then the note WILL come out "rough" and fade rapidly. Don't blow out your cheeks. Big no-no. Tighten your lips for high notes, especially at the corners. Alright?As for whether or not the horn will affect your cornet playing, I have no idea. It shouldn't, but who am I to say so, when the only brass instrument I play is the tenor horn? My advice is: get a tutor. No matter how old you are, they do help and with their support your confidence with the horn will improve dramatically. I have a tutor and trust me, IT HELPS LOADS. If you find this helpful, please tell me. If not, I am very sorry indeed. But, c'mon, I'm only an amateur... :) |
| Dr. M. |
posted 6/25/11 8:29 PM
Hi Matt, Regarding the switching from TH to cornet. Everybody has there own opinion on this topic. Let me speak for my own experience. During the summer of 1985, and after a long hard semester of playing trumpet in school and gigs at night, all of a sudden my gigs dried up. i became very frustrated at this situation, and i was 29 years old and felt i should be doing a lot of gigs. So i "protested" the situation by going to a pawn shop and buying a Bach valve trombone and a Schilke 59-something mouthpiece which was designed for doublers. i just put the trumpet down, got out all of my Bob Brookmeyer valve bone records, and just played the valve trombone-I practiced as well as i could-sometimes in a mute-sometimes open-but always with music in mind. This activity went on for about 3 or 4 weeks. Then: my phone rang. A call to play lead in a Latin Band. Now i have this little rule. NEVER TURN DOWN GIGS. Even if they are bad ones, you never know who you are going to meet. i was totally panicked. i had not touched my trumpet in almost a month. So I packed both my trpt. and V. bone and set off to the gig. After the first tune on bone, i realized that i would never get through the night playing valve bone on lead. So i picked up the trumpet--took some deep breaths; the secoud tune was called off, and after a few bars of misteps, i realized that not only could I play the trumpet, but with a new power I never had before. i attributed that power to the breathing i had to do on the v. bone. i not only got thru the gig, but with chops to spare. i didn't play a lot of v. bone after that, but i was able to play much better on trumpet. And if i was careful-and i mean careful...i could still play the v. bone. with a lot of power and finesse. So I'm not sure if i answered your question, but i hope there is a story in there that may help you. Best wishes from Paris. Dr. M. |
| Greg |
posted 7/9/11 10:22 PM
Matt, lots of us here are brass doublers. Al plays Horn as well as mellophone, as does Mark Taylor. I play everything from piccolo trumpet to tuba, as do a few other players here. As Dr M says, playing a lower instrument helps a lot with a higher instrument. I got into playing euphonium and trombone many years ago because it helped immensely with my mellophone, tenor horn and trumpet playing. Low brass instruments help your breathing and tone production, high brass instruments help your range and endurance. http://gsmonks.webs.com/ |
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