Mastering good breath control is essential if one wishes to improve on one's instrument --- for, most aspects of playing rest heavily on good breath support. Sound, style, range, endurance, lip flexibility and even musicianship cannot reach a high level of performance without it.

Sound and Style

When one watches an athlete hit a home run, punt a ...beautyo, serve an ...aceo or drive the ball ...a mileo, one is impressed with the follow-through motions in each activity. So too, after the commencement of a note, we must follow through with our air. Failing to do so makes a phrase sound disjointed and choppy. It also makes it difficult to develop a warm sound because the sound seems to stop at the bell and doesn't project throughout the room we are playing in.

When we play we should think of making a clothesline with our sound which is only interrupted by our tongue as we articulate --- much like clothes-pegs would divide the line. The sound should be straight unless you are specifically asked to do otherwise, or you choose to shape the note out of choice and not out of habit.

One problem resulting from poor air control is the ...TWA TWAo effect1/2 that is, the note balloons so that the loudest and most resonant part of the note is in the middle of its duration. Unless a special effect is called for, a note's volume and resonance should be consistent throughout. If one were to stress any part of the note, it should be the beginning of the note and not somewhere after the attack.

Assuming that one's embouchure is reasonably developed, supporting a note with your breath will make the tone full and rich. You will be amazed at how just thinking of air control and support can improve the way you sound.

Range

In addition to influencing the sound and style, breath support will also aid range. Blowing really fast through the instrument isn't a magic formula for playing high if your embouchure isn't sufficiently developed. However, with a strong embouchure, a good air flow can make playing in the high register more precise, taking away the strained pinched sound, and adding notes to your range. To translate air support to range one must think horizontally instead of vertically. For instance, if you are playing a lower note, think of blowing out a candle one inch away. While blowing a high note, think of blowing out a candle twenty feet away. Try it first using your hand. Breathe slowly into your hand while holding it one inch from your mouth, feeling the warmth of your breath as you do so. Now hold your hand further away and blow into it. Notice how the air is now cooler. Translation: Low note = warm air; High note = cool air.

Dynamics

A good dynamic range is essential to good brass playing and it relies heavily on breath support and control.

I find it very frustrating to listen to a good musician play everything at mezzo forte or even quieter. It doesn't matter how fast or high he goes: His playing will lack the excitement and intensity that happens when quieter notes are contrasted with forte or fortissimo. Conversely, a player who just blasts all the time is very tiring to listen to, and it is a waste of energy. Playing loud constantly loses its effect in the same way that screaming at children continuously loses its desired response after a period of time.

Usually a good oil painting will contain many contrasts, especially in colour. The painter has any number of colours available to him and how he uses them is up to him. Imagine how an autumn scene would look if he had only grey and black to work with, or how an evening winter scene would look if he only used orange and red. Like the painter we need to develop sound colours. If we can only play mezzo piano or mezzo forte we will be handicapped as we try to ...paint a pictureo with our instruments.

It takes a lot of energy to play loudly, and it's something that needs to be practiced. Muscles have to develop to push the air out fast for loud playing, while air control and lip sensitivity must be developed to play softly. When you practice, try to push the limits of the dynamic spectrum by practicing some exercises both as loudly and as softly as possible.

One word of caution: The tone should be consistent throughout your dynamic range. When we are listening to a stereo and want the volume to get louder, we turn the volume knob to obtain a louder, but not different, sound. The violins on your CD don't start digging into their instruments as the volume increases. So too, we should not start sounding harsh and brittle as we get louder, or pinched and strained as we get softer.

Lip Slurring and Intervals

How one applies breath control to lip slurs can make the difference between succeeding or failing in this area. The important thing is to change the emphasis from the higher note you are slurring to, to the lower note you are slurring from. In other words, you must pressure the lower note with your air and use it as a springboard to get the higher note. The lower note must also be sustained to the last possible second, eliminating the error time between slurs or intervals.

Example One:

Velocity

It is a common fault in many players, that their fast passages lack the intensity and sound that is evident in the slower passages. What one must remember is that a faster passage requires much more air if it is to sound as clear as a slower passage.

Example Two:

Every note in the fast section must be thought of as a solo. If one were to record a sixteenth note run and isolate just one note of that run, that note should be of the same quality as a quarter note in a devotional solo. This cannot be achieved without air support.

Experiment on technical passages by pausing at random and listening to see whether the sound of the note you have stopped on is acceptable in tone and quality.

Taking a good breath and supporting your playing with a controlled air stream will not only make things easier for you technically, but will also give you better endurance.

God bless you as you strive to develop your skills as a ...King's Minstrelo, a privilege and honour shared by Salvation Army musicians found in the Lord's service.

Bb piccolo trumpet - 4 valves; preferably Yamaha; but will also accept Shilke or Kanstul.

Eb soprano trumpet; preferably Yamaha; but will also accept Bach or Shilke.

C trumpet; Yamaha or Bach

If you have one of these instruments that you would be willing to sell, please contact Craig Rowe at craig_rowe@can.salvationarmy.org

Part One Without the Instrument

When one thinks of playing a brass instrument, one tends to think exclusively in terms of range, finger velocity, articulation, and lip flexibility as being those things which make up brass technique. If we think for a moment about the nature of wind instruments we are reminded of the fact that one thing makes them different from most other instruments --- the element of air flow. Before any of the previously mentioned elements of playing can take place, a stream of air must be set in motion. It is this stream of air which is directly responsible for causing the lips to vibrate, the essential element of sound production. It only follows that learning to control this stream of air is of utmost importance in the development of brass technique.

Taking a Full Breath

It is extremely important that a full breath is taken. Imagine letting out all the air in a balloon. At first the air gushes out, but gradually as the balloon becomes deflated the air speed slows down. To keep the air flowing at the same velocity and force when the balloon is deflated, one would have to apply some type of force to the outside of the balloon.

The balloon here exemplifies how our lungs work when playing an instrument. If we take a full breath, hardly any effort is needed to make a fairly forceful stream of air. If our lungs are not full we have to use more effort to duplicate the stream of air made with a full set of lungs. Muscles which should be relaxed become strained and inevitably the sound suffers. Another reason for taking a full breath is that it leaves you much more flexibility in timing when you breathe. You are no longer tied to taking a breath because you're desperate for air, but can now breathe in the places that it makes the most musical sense.

Many articles have been written on the subject. Some suggest a downward pull of the diaphragm. Some recommend raising the chest. Perhaps the most logical approach is to concentrate on having as much air pass through your mouth as possible when taking a breath. If four litres of air pass through your mouth, four litres of air will end up in your lungs. All you need to remember is to stay relaxed and not tense any muscles not required for breathing: e.g. raising your shoulders. It is common for the throat to tense while inhaling. Thinking of the syllables ...oho or ...awo should help keep your throat relaxed as you inhale.

Letting it Out

Now that we have lots of air in our lungs we must concentrate on controlling an air stream. It is most important that this column of air flow smoothly from our lungs to the end of our instrument. We must therefore eliminate everything that might impede this. One obvious area is our posture. If we slouch or have our neck bent downward we are actually kinking our air passage, like kinking a garden hose. Strive for good posture without being uncomfortable by being too rigid;.

Secondly, we must look to see if other extramuscular activity is interfering with our air stream. The most common culprit is a tense throat. Stay as relaxed as possible.

Thirdly, we need to make sure our mouthpiece and instrument is clean. This is often overlooked by many players.

Suggested Exercises

These exercises should be 'practiced', aiming for improvement through rehearsal. I strongly recommend doing them before playing your instrument for the first time in the day.

1) Take a deep breath, concentrating on keeping all parts of your body relaxed. Hold it for a moment while keeping your throat relaxed, then exhale.

2) Do the same thing as above, except that as you exhale, audibly count to ten. Your voice should sound completely natural, not tense or strained.

3) Take a deep breath, but this time while exhaling whistle a note. Try to keep the tone steady and even. Try to hold the note for as long as possible, keeping relaxed as possible.

4) Stand about six inches away from a wall. Place a small piece of paper against it. Take a full breath and then try to hold the paper against the wall with your breath only, while exhaling. To do this you will need to refine the air stream by making it pass through a smaller area between your lips. How far away can you stand and still accomplish this? Can you feel the extra work it takes when your lungs are becoming empty?

5) Try to follow the following graphs by increasing or decreasing the column of air, while exhaling and counting beats. Remember to keep your throat open and relaxed. Beside each graph are the musical equivalents.

- written by Norman Garcia



Major Norman Garcia is a Canadian Salvationist currently serving as Corps Officer at Old Orchard Beach, Maine, alongside his wife Lois. He is known just as much for his humor as well as his musicianship. He served in The Canadian Staff Band for a number of years, as a soloist as well as a band member.

Who would believe that by making a Bronx cheer into a metal tube one could make beautiful music? But, this is the world of brass instruments!

The intention of this article will be to identify how this hollow tube performs that miracle of sound, and along the way perhaps discover why tuning problems still plague even our most competent players.

Creating sound...

Music results when vibrations create sound waves. The speed or frequency at which these vibrations occur determines the pitch perceived by the ear: The faster the vibration, the higher the pitch.

Just as the string is the source of vibration for the violin, so the lips are for brass instruments. By blowing air through a tube, sound waves are set up inside the tube which acts as a resonator and amplifier according to the frequency of vibration of the lips.

On a violin string only one pitch can be produced, that is, until the vibrating length is altered through pressing the string against the fingerboard. But because of the flexibility and large mass of the human lip, a whole series of notes can be produced on a fixed length of tubing. This phenomenon is known as the 'harmonic series.'

The character of music in our western culture (as opposed to Chinese, say) depends on a system of twelve equal semitones to every octave; equal temperament. Because the basic tube produces an overtone series that conforms to the natural laws of physics and not to this man made system, it must be adapted to make it usable. The addition of a mouthpiece and a bell help to bring the overtone series into something close to our equal temperament.

So far the hypothetical instrument we have considered is something like a bugle, in that it would play only the notes of the harmonic series. You will notice that higher up in the harmonic series the notes become closer together. In the Baroque period when trumpet playing flourished, the length of the trumpet was roughly twice what it is today so that it could be played in the upper register where more notes were available. But, this instrument would only be playable in one key, so additional pieces of tubing (crooks) were designed to make ti possible to play in different keys.

Why we need valves...

To fill in the gaps between the notes of the harmonic series, i.e. to make possible all the notes of the chromatic scale, the length of tubing would need to be variable while playing the instrument.

The trombone uses the simplest method of varying the length by use of an adjustable slide. Other instruments bring extra lengths of tubing into use by valves or pistons which redirect the air flow. The second valve lowers the pitch by one semitone; the first valve by two semitones, the third valve by three semitones.

What about intonation?

To lower the sound one semitone requires a six percent reduction in the frequency of vibration, hence a six percent increase in tube length. The amount of additional tubing needed to lower the pitch for each subsequent semitone would be greater, and this is precisely where built-in tuning problems occur. We can't expect the same piece of additional tubing to alter all notes by exactly half a step; six percent of a 50 inch tube is not the same as six percent of a 60 inch tube.

To accomplish this in a valve instrument we need a compromise. As can be seen in the diagram, valves one and two are made slightly too long so that when they are used in combination, the resulting note will only be slightly sharp.

The third valve is longer to give slightly more than three semitones, so that the combination with other valves will not be too far off.

Obviously, the most out of tune combinations will be those using the most valves: 1/3 for low D, and 1/2/3 for low C sharp.



(Click here for larger picture)

The intent then with compromise tuning is to make some notes a little flat so that others will not be too sharp. Notes using valves will not be perfectly in tune; neither will they be too far off.

When the compromise tuning built into the modern instruments fails to overcome problems in the physical properties of the instrument, it is left to the performer to blow it in tune, using the lips to affect the pitch slightly. This can only be done to a small degree before the tone begins to suffer.

Modern manufacturers, however, have come up with several devices to improve intonation on valve instruments. High quality cornets, for instance, will feature first and third valve slides that are finger adjustable so that notes using valves one and three can be individually tuned.

Compensating Systems...

For larger instruments, finger adjustable valve slides are generally impractical because of the size of tubing. Most large instruments now have a compensating system which brings into use extra crooks only when certain valve combinations are used (see diagram below). This compensates for the progressive nature of the physical problems involved in low end valve combinations.



(Click here for larger picture)

Some euphoniums and tubas have a fourth valve which lowers the pitch by a fourth, making it possible to play low D and C sharp in tune. The fourth valve also makes it possible to play a fourth lower in combination with other valves. The progressive problem of intonation will still effect these combinations.

Get to know your instrument...

Problems of intonation are different from instrument to instrument, and even from model to model. The secret, then, is to get to know your instrument. Find out which notes tend to be out of tune and decide what to do about it. Experiment with the moveable slides and alternate fingerings. You will be able to improve certain notes immediately. To help you further unlock the secrets of your particular instrument you might use an electric tuner.

Temperature also can affect intonation. Anyone who has done outdoor serenading at Christmas time will realize that the cold air does funny things to their tuning. Since sound waves travel more slowly through colder, denser air, we actually hear a lower pitch. A change in air column temperature from 2.7º C to 32.2º C will cause a difference in pitch of a full semitone.

A discussion of intonation must include a word on centered sound. To truly get the best from the instrument a player must find the center of each note and in so doing the whole instrument will resonate in a characteristic manner. This 'sweet-spot' effect is the player's first clue that he is on his way to playing tunefully. No, the instrument can't do it all alone.

Musicians will never be totally free from problems of intonation. However, understanding the instrument and the basic reasons for these problems is the best step to eliminating them. In the final analysis the ear is the most important tool we have. When we can understand, listen and apply what we know, we are well on the way to making tuneful music.

This is not only a great personal question, but it is a great question to ask when it comes to worship services and church vision. Many Army churches are still sorting out issues regarding tradition and innovation. How much tradition do we keep? How much innovation can our congregation handle without becoming too disgruntled?

This balancing act is actually played out in scripture in a variety of ways. In the Old Testament tradition was established through the Levitical laws. Tradition was played out through the daily sacrifices and rituals, and annual festivals such as Passover and Day of Atonement.

Yet throughout the Psalms we never find King David beginning with ...Let us sing an old song unto the Lord.o He was definitely a believer in continually introducing new songs and prayers.

God Himself harbors the dichotomy of being an unchanging God whose attributes include creativity. When He created man in His own image, we inherited this creative drive to be continually inventing, and trying out the new.

One of the most interesting scripture passages takes place in Isaiah 43. To put verses 18 and 19 in context, one must begin at verse 16: ...This is what the Lord says He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: 'Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!' Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.o

It is as if God is saying, ...Remember all the great things I did for you in the past? Well, forget about them! You are spending so much time looking back that you are missing out on what I am doing for you now, and what I about to do for you in the future!o

This pattern of tradition and innovation is continued in the New Testament, at the table of the Last Supper. In John 13:34 Jesus says to His disciples, ...A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.o It is at this same table that Jesus introduces us to a 'new' tradition, that of communion: ...Do this in remembrance of me.o (Luke 22:19).

Peter and Paul, also, do away with old traditions by not requiring circumcision for the Gentiles (Acts 15:5-11; Romans 2:17-29; Galatians 5:6 & 6:15, 1 Corinthians 7:19), but endorse the 'new' traditions of communion and baptism (1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Acts 10:46-48).

Paul, in Hebrews 8, discusses the Levitical sacrifices by quoting from Jeremiah 31 where it says, ...The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel1/2o and finishes the chapter with ...By calling this covenant 'new' he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.o

But perhaps the connection between old and new is best summed up by Jesus Himself in Matthew 5:17: ...Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.o Thus the new covenant sheds light on the old, and the old is best understood through the lens of the new.

So how does all this relate to worship? I like to use a metaphor of 'anchors' and 'sails' to illustrate. Pretend you have signed up for a cruise. Exciting, eh? But if the whole cruise entailed of sailing from port to port without stopping, after awhile you may feel like you're missing out on something. Likewise, if you got on the ship and it didn't go anywhere, but stayed anchored right in the port where you embarked, you would be pretty disappointed how boring! The whole point of the cruise is the balance between sailing and seeing new sights, and taking time to anchor now and again in order to thoroughly investigate and appreciate the port you are sailing through.

In our worship we need enough 'sails' new experiences, new music, new formats, new instrumentation, etc. to keep us from becoming bored. Too much repetition causes people to 'tune out', to recite by rote, and a loss of appreciation for the meaning in the worship.

But we also need 'anchors' traditions, familiarity, and predictability in order to feel a sense of belonging and security. Too few anchors causes confusion and alienation a worship service may be exciting with all the new stuff happening, but I can't participate because I don't know any of the songs or the liturgy. I am out of my comfort zone.

The challenge in creating a meaningful worship environment for your congregation is to find this balance between 'anchors' and 'sails'. Are there enough sails to prevent boredom? Are there enough anchors to prevent alienation? In future THEME articles we will explore some creative and practical ways to find that balance.

- written by Kim Garreffa, Contemporary Music Consultant, THQ