[Trombone-l] pitch

[Bruce Faske]

--- Roger Hecht <rihecht at earthlink.net> wrote:

> I may be repeating things already said, but over the
> years, I've 
> found that several things affect a basic tuning of
> the horn. Some of 
> these you've  eliminated as possibilities in your
> particular case. 
> They include changes in mouthpiece (not just how far
> it goes into the 
> leadpipe, but also differences in throat, cup depth,
> etc.), leadpipe, 
> and approaches to air, articulation, etc.
> 
> Someone mentioned conception of sound changing your
> approach, 
> resulting in a change that carries over through
> different equipment. 
> That's a possibility.
> 
> Another may be misusing the Schlossberg exercises.
> I've used them on 
> and off for years. Obviously, I have no conception
> as to how you play 
> them or which ones you're doing, but I can offer a
> few thoughts. 
> While the Schlossberg exercises include some long
> tones and slow lip 
> slurs, they lean more to lip drills, up and down
> chordal exercises, 
> etc. In my mind anyway, the emphasis of these later
> drills is on 
> increasing range, technique, and flexibility, as
> opposed to working 
> on breathing, breath support, etc. That's no problem
> if you do them 
> correctly and use them correctly. That said, if
> you're overfocusing 
> on the flexibility, range, and technical stuff, it's
> conceivable in 
> over to accomodate your ambitions in these areas and
> make the 
> exercises easier, you've been tightening your
> embouchere, speeding up 
> your air flow, backing off on the support, or a
> combination of the 
> three. You may also be attacking notes on the high
> side of the pitch 
> in order to make the lip drills easier, faster, etc.
> 
> If you're not doing so, spend more time on long
> tones, slow slurs, 
> lower range playing, and breath support and
> capacity. The Remington 
> drills are a good supplement to things like the
> Schlossberg, as are 
> any set of exercises that work with the aspects of
> playing, mentioned 
> in the previous sentence. You might also concentrate
> on centering 
> your air flow and pitch as you play slow upward
> arpeggios, i.e., 
> don't tighten as you go up the arpeggio. The
> Schlossbergs are great, 
> but if you're cheating on air and support in order
> to progress 
> through them more quickly than you should, they can
> do more harm than good.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >Here's something to break the doldrums...
> >
> >I recently switched over from an Edwards T-350 to a
> >Greenhoe Bach 42.  I'm using the same mouthpiece, a
> >Greg Black 4.5G/5GS, but since I've settled into
> the
> >horn, I'm having to pull the main tuning slide out
> >almost double where it was on the Edwards.  I would
> >chalk it up to a different horn, but I went back to
> >the Edwards and I had to pull it out more, too.  I
> >even went to a buddy's horn and I had to pull that
> >tuning slide out, too.
> >
> >I've always been taught to not fish with the face,
> but
> >to adjust the slide to as close as I can and work
> from
> >there.
> >
> >I don't really see it as a problem, but should I? 
> Is
> >it the start of something bigger?  I've been
> working
> >out of the Scholossberg book lately...it's pretty
> much
> >the only new playing that I'm doing.
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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>
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> 
> Roger Hecht
> 
>