[Trombone-l] Free-buzzing opinions

[Steve Gamble]

Hi Jeff and Andrew,

My experience sort of fits in with what you guys are saying.  I like
free buzzing, especially for working in the upper register.  It's as
much a matter of finding a way to make certain that I'm not blocking the
air in any way as it is an embouchure exercise.  I even start with just
blowing the air through my lips without buzzing, making a tiny aperture.
As I said in a recent post, replying to a post by Dean Hubbard, I think
it is a good idea to try to separate yourself to some degree from
relying on the horn...that could be because I double, as Jeff said.  (Of
course, I find doubling to be quite educational in its own right.  It
has opened my eyes to a number of very important things, helping me make
big improvements on my main horn.)  My description of buzzing the same
exact song on a series of randomly selected and different size
mouthpieces probably sounded a little crazy, but it seems to me that you
could look at the exercise as kind of a hybrid of free buzzing and
regular mouthpiece buzzing.  In any event, I find it quite useful for
keeping my thoughts focused on important musical stuff and eliminating
all the clutter that can fill your head when you're distracted by how
thing are working or how they feel or any number of non-musical things
people think about while they play.

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


-----Original Message-----
From: trombone-l-bounces at maillists.samford.edu
[mailto:trombone-l-bounces at maillists.samford.edu] On Behalf Of Andrew
Glendening
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 2:58 PM
To: Jeff Albert; Douglas Ward
Cc: trombone-l at server5.samford.edu
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Free-buzzing opinions

I can't speak to the doubler viewpoint, but my own experience is that
free
buzzing doesn't help the orchestral tone much (for me at least.)  It was
helpful working on solo recitals and new music. Sam's point about using
the
free buzzing as as a diagnostic tool is a good one.  Strength and
control of
the embouchure are difficult subjects.

As an undergraduate at Oberlin,  Tom Cramer had us free buzz.  The
assignment was to buzz the Star Spangled Banner into the back end of the
mouthpiece.  Not touching, just focused enough to fit. It helped me
quite a
bit at the time.  Sort of an awareness and brain-embouchure connection
improvement.  I've used similar approaches with a few students,
especially
those with stretched/smiling embouchures, but tend to favor the rim to
avoid
excess tension.

I never heard Cramer play, but he could buzz louder than I could play.
He
could also buzz inhaling.

There is a good video of Mr. Jacobs buzzing on the Windsong Press site.
His
buzzing WITH the rim is very free.


Andrew Glendening


> From: "Jeff Albert" <jeffalbert.smb at gmail.com>
> Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 15:18:16 -0600
> To: "Douglas Ward" <dwdraw at gmail.com>
> Cc: trombone-l at server5.samford.edu
> Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Free-buzzing opinions
> 
> If I had to make a generalization, I would guess that most symphony
players,
> or people that can play their whole scene on one rim, would not
advocate
> free buzzing, and most doublers (multi-rim) would.
> 
> I could be wrong.
> 
> Jeff
> 
> On 2/7/07, Douglas Ward <dwdraw at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> On Feb 7, 2007, at 11:55 AM, Joshua Hauser wrote:
>> 
>>> I have been doing a lot of free buzzing over the last few months
>>> since Sam
>>> Burtis posted his pictures of the evidence of free buzzing on his
>>> embouchure
>>> and have found it to be very useful.  I also have been looking at
>>> other
>>> pictures of trombone players 'in action' and have been trying to
>>> use those
>>> as a model for embouchure efficiency.  It took about a month or so
>>> before I
>>> began to see any lasting effects, but after doing 5-10 minutes of
free
>>> buzzing per day for several months, I have developed a much more
>>> efficient
>>> embouchure and have found that my breathing is more effective as
>>> well.  I
>>> noticed this in quintet rehearsal a few weeks ago when I realized
>>> that I was
>>> making phrases that were several bars longer than I would have been
>>> able to
>>> last semester.
>>> 
>>> That brings me to my question and a topic that I hope you will
>>> comment on
>>> (especially Sam).  While surfing on youtube the other day, I came
>>> across
>>> this video clip of Arnold Jacobs.  Not to dismiss any of his wisdom
>>> regarding breathing, but this seems to be totally contradictory to
>>> my recent
>>> experience both for myself and my students regarding free buzzing
vs.
>>> mouthpiece buzzing.
>>> 
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqTUwX0OVpM
>>> 
>>> Comments?
>>> 
>>> Josh
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> Living near Chicago and having been around the Chicago crowd some, I
>> know free buzzing is traditionally taboo, and using the rim cutout is
>> still preferred. I've found free buzzing useful, but it's not as easy
>> to do the right way as it is to pick up a mouthpiece.
>> 
>> Perhaps Charlie Vernon has one of the most PC views which,
>> paraphrased, is: I don't free buzz because I think it uses muscles
>> that aren't used when playing, and can be harmful, but, my friend
>> Bill Watrous free buzzes and can play a lot of amazing high licks I
>> can't play.
>> 
>> Alessi doesn't advocate it, either.
>> Alain Trudel teaches it in his buzzing masterclasses.
>> And, the list goes on. Obviously, it works well for some people, but
>> not for everyone.
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> www.jeffalbert.com
> 
> www.scratchmybrain.com
> 
> www.pepperenterprises.com
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