[Trombone-l] Pedal Note Articulation

[Steve Gamble]

Hi Doug,

Regarding tongue placement for articulation, mine goes lower the lower
the note.  Tonguing between my lips is not unusual.  I've never
considered it a hindrance to rapid articulation.  The difficulty in
articulating in the low register is determined more by how responsive
your horn is and how accurately your embouchure is set for the desired
pitch.  So Dan's suggestion of a heavier mouthpiece might be worth some
experimentation.  I notice the improvement in response especially around
low Eb to B with a tone booster on my Denis Wick mp. 

I find that practicing attacks with no tongue is very beneficial.  The
way I do it most often is a bit unusual, but very helpful for making
sure your embouchure is exactly right, by that I mean set perfectly for
a given pitch and volume.  A perfectly set embouchure has zero excess
tension and requires absolutely no additional adjustment after the note
gets going.  So here's what you do: Take a giant breath, set your
embouchure for the note you're practicing, and begin blowing so that
your air gets up to speed gradually.  It's important to blow the air up
to speed gradually for this exercise to be the kind of diagnostic tool
that it is designed to be.  The more accurately and relaxed your
embouchure is set, the sooner your note will speak.  Next, articulate
the note with your mental focus more on blowing the air than on moving
your tongue.  It's good to do this in front of a mirror.  When you're
getting it right, you will see no movement at all around your lips.  

When you combine this with the more common no-tongue exercise of blowing
sudden and immediate air in an attempt to make the note sound "tongued,"
you should find that your tongue isn't at important to the process of
articulation as you thought (which is why tonguing between your lips
should be no great sin).  I hope this makes sense to you, because it is
a very effective little exercise.  I'd be happy to have another go at
trying to explain it if you have any questions.

Steve Gamble, Librarian
Tucson Symphony Orchestra
2175 N. 6th Ave.
Tucson, AZ  85705
(520) 792-9155 x118
(520) 792-9314 fax
(520) 991-7056 cel
sgamble at tucsonsymphony.org

-----Original Message-----
From: trombone-l-bounces at maillists.samford.edu
[mailto:trombone-l-bounces at maillists.samford.edu] On Behalf Of Doug Rowe
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 10:21 PM
To: Trombone-l at server5.samford.edu
Subject: [Trombone-l] Pedal Note Articulation

Hello all,

A quick question.  I've been spending a lot of time trying to get a 
fuller, quicker responding pedal range on the bass trombone (my primary 
horn).  I'm playing more big band now than I used to and have found that

the short hard hitting low notes (about low Db on down) don't speak as 
loudly nor as quickly as I need/would like them to.  Phil Teele style 
exercises, lip slurs in the low range, and articulation exercises are 
the meat and potatoes of my practice sessions now.

I have noticed that starting around low Eb or D, when I have to 
articulate something hard, I "naturally" (meaning without thinking about

it) articulate with my tongue between my teeth--as a matter of fact, 
when I get down to Ab or even lower my tongue actually slots itself in 
between my lips (I removed the mouthpiece mid-articulation and was able 
to observe this).  I would like to know if this is normal, wrong, or a 
"do whatever works down there" way of articulating the low notes.  Of 
course, I'm not happy with my current articulation down low, so I'm 
guessing that it's NOT working.  Do most folks articulate "normally" in 
their low registers?  Are there any tricks, so to speak, for getting a 
nice hard pedal note articulation? 

Of course, I do not tongue between the teeth anywhere else in my 
playing, and tend not to when articulating softly in the pedal range.

While folks are at it, if you have any other good low range developing 
exercise suggestions beyond what I mentioned above, I'd love to hear
them.

Thanks in advance.

Doug
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