Retro BTB

Retro BTB contains the articles I wrote when first creating this site. They were written – somewhat poorly, I might add – before I knew about embouchure mechanics and the physics of trumpet playing. Think of them as more generalized food for thought and question everything.

Trumpet Embouchure Training – Part 2

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

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Muscular Balance and Stability

As a trumpeter, you are generally expected to be able to play certain things –and well – depending on the various musical situations you find yourself in. The technical challenges presented by particular styles of music test the stabilization of your embouchure to varying degrees. For you to gain the greatest results in muscular efficiency this stability needs to be intelligently practiced.

In his book, Musical Calisthenics for Brass, Carmine Caruso explains muscular control:

“Balance is …

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Trumpet Embouchure Training – Part 1

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

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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

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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

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*** 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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Log It! Keeping A Trumpet Practice Log

March 27, 2021 / 1 Comment / Practice Journal Ideas, Retro BTB / By

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Keep a Practice Log

Not the type to keep a journal? Get over it! Keeping a log for achieving your efficiency goals will help you.

Once your goal is selected (step 1) you are on our way. However, it is often the case that you do not fully understand the process of achieving said goal (unless you’ve done it before) so keeping a journal of your daily progress …

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Trumpet Playing Efficiency: Slowly but Surely, Shirley?

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

Turtle Snail

Practicing slowly is something we know we should do – or at least we’ve been told we should!

Recently, a friend of mine sent me a great article on the benefits of practicing slowly (which you can read HERE). This got me thinking about the various ways we can implement this strategy to improve our trumpet playing. …

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Pitch Bends!

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

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Pitch bends.

Pitch bending is an exercise done of the trumpet where the player bends the pitch (usually down) without the aid of the valves. In other words, starting on a 2nd line G and then bending the note down to an F# without changing the valves.

My introduction to pitch bends was by John Fumo during my graduate studies. The exercise he had me practice was very simple and yielded great results in opening my sound in the middle and lower registers. You simply …

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