Tension-less Playing Made Easy

Copyright 2013
Clint 'Pops' McLaughlin
www.BbTrumpet.com
Trumpet playing is a strange thing. Thousands upon
thousands of amateurs play using lots of facial tension,
yet the professionals don't.

What did you just say Pops?

I said:
Pros don't play with the same amount of facial tension that
average players do. They usually don't use the same muscles
either.

Several studies using infra red photography have shown that

Pros tend to use the muscles within ½ inch – 1 inch from
the lips and NOT the cheek muscles. However; almost all
hobby and amateur players use the cheek muscles more than
any other.
Average muscles used by Pro Brass Players.

Green means the muscles are lightly used.

Next you will see the muscles used by High School, College
and comeback players. You will notice they are yellow and
some red. Yellow is strenuous use and red is severe
overuse.

Average player.

(I used a drawing because I didn't have permission to

publish pictures from the studies.)

One study is:

Bertsch, Matthias; Maca, Thomas. Jean-Pierre Mathez
(Hrsg.). Visualization of Brass Players´Warm up by
infrared Thermography. Brass Bulletin: International
magazine for brass players, 114. Vuarmarens (CH): BRASS
BULLETIN, 2001.
The 2 groups are using different parts of the face. This is
the 1st thing I change in every student I get.

Tension from the side prevents tongue arch from working

because it locks down some of the movement. Remember arch
helps when it causes the angle of lip alignment to adjust.
If the face is stiff and locked down then this can't
happen.

Tension also tires you out and it hinders the lips and
makes it hard for them to vibrate which prevents resonance
and harms range. OK I know most won't believe this so:
place your finger on your resting lips and then make your
embouchure. Did you stretch the lip out, flatten out the
cushion, cause it to become tense itself. For 9 out of 10
the answer is yes.

This tension comes from several reasons. 1st we are all told
to keep the corners firm but there are 2 problems. The
corners that teachers talk about are the corner of the buzz
and NOT the corner of the lips. And when we talk about firm
corners we mean to use the frown muscles that go from the
top lip to the chin and NOT the cheek muscles.

Sadly in the 6th grade you didn't ask for clarification and
so the confusion happens.

Another place comes from teachers using sloppy phrases like

tighten up instead of saying use lip to lip compression.
These sloppy phrases cause 90% of our playing problems but
they are widely used anyway.
For 30 years I have talk about people over-dampening their
lips and killing resonance. What happens is you make the
lips tight and they are hard to vibrate. This prevents the
buzz from being big enough to give our upper harmonics.

Buzzing the stiff tissue for the desired note means the
upper harmonics have no place to form and so there is no
resonance.

Most Pros are resonant. That is a combination of being

relaxed in pitch center AND allowing vibrations to happen
inside the aperture tunnel. Most hobby players fight to
keep the vibrations outside but that prevents the upper
harmonics from being strong enough to make you resonant.

If you record a professional player and look at their sound

through a spectrum analyzer, you will see that there is
more intensity in the 2nd – 4th harmonics than in the
fundamental. The octave above the note being played is
stronger than the fundamental as is the fifth above that
and the octave above that.

A resonant players loudest frequency is NOT the note being

played but an octave above.

Because the average player plays on the stiff tissue only

their loudest frequency is the fundamental and they have no
resonance. When you force the note to be played on stiff
tissue there is nothing left to vibrate for the higher
harmonics. Vibrating inside the aperture tunnel allows the
higher harmonics to automatically vibrate on the outer
stiff lip tissue and BOOM you have instant resonance.
So I am telling you what you always knew but didn't want to
admit.

Pros play trumpet differently from everyone else. This

can't be a surprise to anyone.

Pros play 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 hour days and the average
player has already lost some range at the 30 minute mark.
You knew that they did something vastly different. You just
didn't know how to get there.

Well with some help everyone can get to the point where
they have a decent range for 2-3-4 hours. You can do what
you need to do and enjoy it with just a few changes.

I am going to tell you how to change to a Pro player

embouchure in this book. If you need visual help my trumpet
course shows clips of us doing these things.
http://www.bbtrumpet.com/vseriesall.html

Relaxing the facial tension and becoming resonant takes

several steps. I normally teach this as an all day lesson.
That is 6 hours with me, on your own it could take twice as
long.

1st Step
I start by having them anchor tongue. That is when the tip
of your tongue is always behind the lower teeth and you do
your tonguing with the TOP of the tongue against the top
teeth or gum line.
This causes a natural and constant tongue arch. (You will
need this later.)

I make them practice anchor tonguing too too on the top

teeth for notes from low C to 3rd space C. Tee tee for notes
4th line D to G on top of the staff (around the gum line.)
And finally tiss tiss for all notes higher than G above the
staff. This tiss is when the TOP of the tongue hits the
ridge about ½ inch higher than the gum line.

I have people tongue scales and the tonguing exercises in

the Arban book I like the ones starting on page 28.
However; there are many good tonguing exercises, Brandt,
Clarke Supplemental, Williams...

2nd Step
After they can tongue using the anchor tonguing, I have
them play a didgeridoo. I do this because it is the only
thing we can blow that is pass / fail. You either relax and
play the drone note or you don't.

Some examples are you can play pedal tones but 9 out of 10
people actually tighten their face to play these and so
pedals don't relax the offending muscles. We could even
play a trombone mouthpiece but again we can keep tension in
the face when doing this.

You simply can't have tension and play the drone note on a
didgeridoo. I want you to play the didgeridoo wrong
however.

I want it centered on your lips like playing tuba.

You relax and allow the lips to slightly go into the
didgeridoo and vibrate the INSIDE of the lips.
A.
Imagine a horse blowing through its mouth and flapping its
lips. Do this yourself without the didgeridoo by loosening
your lips and blowing with enough air to let them flap
naturally. Keep your lips flapping evenly and constantly.

B.
Place the didgeridoo to your lips with just enough pressure
so no air escapes from the sides. Relax your lips and blow
gently, allowing your cheeks to puff out as you blow. Your
lips should start vibrating to produce a drone sound. If it
helps, start your lips vibrating by moving your tongue as
if you are spitting out a watermelon seed.

If you make a tooting sound, your lips/face is too tight.

If you make a whooshing sound, your lips are too loose.

Here are 3 videos on youtube about didgeridoo and trumpet

with me and my student Keith Fiala.

http://youtu.be/qCTwioRxsSQ

http://youtu.be/31TeKiYACL8

http://youtu.be/owq3bue4fjg

If it isn't working then this and others are also on my

website.
http://www.bbtrumpet.com/buzz.html

Didgerdioos are cheap and easy to find. I have seen them on

Ebay for 10-15 dollars and at stores for 25. You can even
get a 1 dollar golf club bad tube but it will take longer
to relax into it because it is smaller in size.
Once you can play the drone. (This can take 10 minutes to
10 hours depending on how tight you are.)

Anyway; once you can play the drone note on the didgeridoo
you are ready for step 3. The lack of tension you feel
playing the didgeridoo is the same as what your low C
should feel like.

I have had people tell me that their low C is 10 times as

tight and it was but they learned.

3rd Step

Play the drone on the didgeridoo and then with the same
relaxed face try to play a note on the trumpet. 9 out of 10
will play well below low C often even below pedal C.
Stop.

Play the didgeridoo again and then when you try the low C
on the trumpet, keep relaxed but use tongue arch (whistle)
to find and center the pitch for low C. (This can take a
few tries for some people.)

Don't rush this step everything else builds on this. Stay

relaxed for Low C go back and forth playing the drone on
the didgeridoo and playing the relaxed Low C. Do this until
it starts to feel more natural.

4th Step

Play the drone on the didgeridoo again and play your new
relaxed Low C. Now with just using slightly more tongue
arch, play a Low D. Master these 2 notes relaxed and then
play a relaxed E, F, G... Up to Middle C.
You now have 1.5 octaves of effort-less and tension-less
notes. Low F# to Middle C.

5th Step

Play some exercises and songs in this 1.5 octave range.

Your Arban book is full of them.

6th Step

Using the tee syllable and anchor tonguing at the upper gum
line you can work the tension-less playing up to G on top
of the staff.

Somewhere in the D, E, F and G at the top of the staff you

will of course start to add some tension back but it should
be ½ or even ¼ of the tension that it was yesterday in this
same range. Let the trumpet play rather than force it to
play.

This is the step that sometimes throws people. When you

need to add a little and that means LITTLE tension, do NOT
use the side of your face.
You want to use the frown muscle slightly.

So we need to FIND how it feels to use that group of

muscles. I like people to experiment with holding a pencil
with their lips. Feel the different muscles doing the job
and focus in on the frown muscles. IT can take a few tries
but once you feel them contract you will notice that they
don't tighten up the top lip. The frown muscles create lip
compression without lip tension because the lip muscles
don't get pulled on from the sides.
 7th Step

Using the tiss tonguing syllable work on playing easier

notes above the staff up to High C. Again we want to start
at Low C really relaxed and let arch, hiss and finally
compression play the notes. We don't want to use the
muscles on the sides of our face to do this.

This means that getting a relaxed G is vital. Then getting

a relaxed A, then a B and finally a relaxed C. This means
don't rush to the end, work on the process. The process is
what changes your playing NOT finally getting to High C.

8th Step

OK now you can play with much less tension than before. In
a month you may want to do all those steps again and reduce
the tension even more.

However; you do want to work on playing in the aperture

tunnel and getting more resonant.

I mentioned the aperture tunnel 12 years ago in a book and

the idea seemed to surprise some people.

Too many people think of the lip vibration as going 1 way.

It has a length side to side. Well the vibration has a
height top to bottom and more importantly a depth front to
back.

If you were a normal player, then you spent years or

decades holding your lips tight against the teeth because
facial tension does that.
This means that you vibrated the outside of the lips but
never inside between the lips.

Playing in the aperture tunnel is vibrating in-between the

lips.

Here is a youtube video of me showing the difference

between the 2.

http://youtu.be/OAib4KorZVg

If it isn't working then this and others are also on my

website.
http://www.bbtrumpet.com/buzz.html

You get this feeling when playing the didgeridoo.

You also get this feeling when playing really LOUD on a

mouthpiece.

I often let people over-blow the mouthpiece so they can

feel it and then have them try at normal volumes.

More about Aperture Tunnel

Many of you have already noticed that as you play higher or

lower notes that your compression moves your vibrating
surface. I know this because some of us have discussed this
in email.

Some embouchures put it way toward the inside. For example

if we use a pucker the outer part of the lips can always
remain open but between the cushion and mouthpiece pressure
the aperture tunnel itself closes.
The buzzing or vibration closures would in this case be
closer to the teeth than to the mouthpiece. This is why
some people don’t like puckered embouchures. For them the
buzz moves in too far and the soft tissue inside the lips
doesn’t give them the sound they want (or are used to).

The reverse is also true. Some people don’t get the sound
they want (or are used to) from a curled in embouchure
because it vibrates so far out into the stiff part of the
lips.

The lower lip pushes against the top lip making both a
smaller lip aperture and a longer aperture tunnel for the
air to go through. This takes the place of tension/
pressure of people who do not roll in and can be done with
less muscle mass and less fatigue.

The lips can change pitch by making a smaller vibration

(length), by becoming stiffer and more reluctant to vibrate
(tension) and by making a longer aperture tunnel to resist
the air better (compression).

If the vibration is on the outside of the lip it is a

different length than if it is allowed to be inside the
aperture tunnel.

Different tissue stiffness affects this a little but the

strength supplied from the tunnel supporting itself
accounts for much of the difference.

We normally make these changes in where we vibrate to

change resonance or tonal color but some people always play
in front (BAD a great many skills are missing this way) and
others always play in the tunnel. (Not Bad but boring
maybe).
 There is a reason why some players can easily do things
that others can't do. But to understand it and gain the
skills you have to look into things that you don't already
do.

Generally speaking curl and tension keeps the vibrations in

front of the aperture tunnel. Pucker and relaxing moves the
vibrations into the tunnel.

Now our natural jaw position which affects the lip

alignment alters this so it varies from person to person.
You will notice that moving the jaw will move the vibration
point.

The tissue inside the aperture tunnel is much softer,

always moist and allows bigger vibrations to happen easier.
This is why vibrating there produces more vibrant sounds.

Once you allow the vibrations to happen in the tunnel

simple things like compression won't move them out.
(Compression AND tension or curl WILL move them out.)

Yes this is repeated. So remember it!

If you record a professional player and look at their sound

through a spectrum analyzer, you will see that there is
more intensity in the 2nd – 4th harmonics than in the
fundamental. The octave above the note being played is
stronger than the fundamental as is the fifth above that
and the octave above that.

A resonant players loudest frequency is NOT the note being

played but an octave above.
Because the average player plays on the stiff tissue only
their loudest frequency is the fundamental and they have no
resonance. When you force the note to be played on stiff
tissue there is nothing left to vibrate for the higher
harmonics. Vibrating inside the aperture tunnel allows the
higher harmonics to automatically vibrate on the outer
stiff lip tissue and BOOM you have instant resonance.

Conclusion

I hope that this as opened you up to some new

possibilities. That is what teaching is all about. Like all
things in life some people will read this once and they are
off and running. Some will have to read it several times
and practice the ideas.

As always I am available for lessons on Skype and can lead

you through it if you need the help.

A little patience and a lot of practice can work wonders.

Along those lines I rewrote the Arban book to include all
keys on the exercises. Look at the scales. C major has 16
exercises but most keys only have 3 exercises. I use every
key and I also raised the range up by steps so you have
practice material for E, F, G... up to double high C.

There is also a lot of new exercises I wrote that fit

today's playing better.

In all it has over 950 pages so it should last forever.

Check it out. http://www.bbtrumpet.com/NewArban.html

Good luck and enjoy playing an easier way.

Clint 'Pops' McLaughlin

http://www.bbtrumpet.com/