Playing "up there"

[Atoastedtrmb]

For the past couple of months I've been having a fair amount of difficulty consistently playing anything above the D above the D above the staff in a way where it doesn't feel forced. I can arpeggio up to double F sharp, but not gracefully all the time. And it seems like I've tried every tactic under the sun in order to remedy this and watched every video and read every post concerning the topic and still haven't found anything that helps. At this point I've started to think about just giving up as it's hard seeing my peers make continual progress without them seemingly trying anything at all. Any advice as to how I may be able to work on this would be greatly appreciated. For reference, I'm playing on a Bach 42 and a 5GS mouthpiece.

[VJOFan]

If you had posted this in “teaching and learning” you would have already git the usual “take a lesson with Doug” reply. That would be Doug Elliot who owns this board. It’s as good advice as any. He dies them by Skype. Otherwise you’ll get a lot of well meaning guess work about what could be happening and some general advice on tactics that others have used to good effect but may not apply to you.

For example I like mouthpiece work and lip slurs. Others would nail me to the wall for talking about mouthpiece buzzing.

[Doug Elliott]

I don't own this board... I'm just a moderator.
I can give you good advice in a lesson but I'm pretty much totally busy for the next 2 weeks.

[KingThings]

I find forcing and throwing my slide lube at the wall helps me......plus panicking before performances. The emotional stress leads to a resignation and calm when the actual moment arrives with orchestra. At least, that's my method. Later, I reward myself with chocolate and ice cream.

[tbdana]

For the past couple of months I've been having a fair amount of difficulty consistently playing anything above the D above the D above the staff in a way where it doesn't feel forced. I can arpeggio up to double F sharp, but not gracefully all the time. And it seems like I've tried every tactic under the sun in order to remedy this and watched every video and read every post concerning the topic and still haven't found anything that helps. At this point I've started to think about just giving up as it's hard seeing my peers make continual progress without them seemingly trying anything at all. Any advice as to how I may be able to work on this would be greatly appreciated. For reference, I'm playing on a Bach 42 and a 5GS mouthpiece.

Well, if you've "tried every tactic under the sun in order to remedy this and watched every video and read every post concerning the topic and still haven't found anything that helps," I think you're just doomed. Otherwise, I'd offer the following thoughts:

No trombonist ever has to play above high D (this one ), other than the rare reaching up to grab a note. There is no literature requiring tenor trombones to regularly play above high D. If you want to play in that range all the time, buy a trumpet.

The way to play "gracefully all the time" above high D is to play above high D all the time. Doing arpeggios to get up to the note as a small part of your practice routine won't do it. You need to play music up there, exercises up there, etudes up there, scales and patterns up there, flexibility exercises up there, etc., all day long. Everything you play, play up an octave. Just live up there. Otherwise, if you're just visiting, you won't get the skills you're looking for.

A Bach 42 with a 5GS mouthpiece is not the ideal setup for playing above high D. That rig just doesn't have the core and sound that make it sound good, and it won't slot as well or allow the facility of a smaller bore horn. I'd suggest a .525 bore or smaller.

[slidesix]

Honestly, for a long time even F4 was a chore (5th-8th grade). In grade 9 I finally got a private teacher. Once she corrected a bunch of my issues--embouchure, posture, holding the instrument right, breathing--I found C4-F4 was easier without pressure, fatigue, and having to push (jam??!?) the mouthpiece and horn into my face just to play high. I could just barely seal the mouthpiece to my face and be very relaxed about it all. Next my mom bought me a pro horn as up until then I was on a student horn.

Soon after that I found I was able to play 2 octave Bb major scale (Bb2-Bb4). Once I could hit C5 I could play Blue Bells of Scotland and that for a long time was the highest note I ever saw written. Still I continued to practice. After a couple more years I gradually extended the range up and down and found I could "max out" the trombone and euphonium at F5 pretty consistently, cleanly, and effortlessly. A5 was my reasonable limit on both instruments before I stopped playing years ago.

I think Joseph Alessi has a youtube video about how to manage your air steam to play Bb4. If you can find it--he is spot on. Playing D5 above that isn't too much of a stretch once you can play Bb4 pretty consistently. Just keep adding one more chromatic note every week or every month and soon you will be there!

Reference:
https://www.allaboutmusictheory.com/mus ... lef-notes/

[Atoastedtrmb]

I don't own this board... I'm just a moderator.
I can give you good advice in a lesson but I'm pretty much totally busy for the next 2 weeks.

Any advice would be really appreciated! When do you think would be a good time to have a lesson?

[dershem]

If you had posted this in “teaching and learning” you would have already git the usual “take a lesson with Doug” reply. That would be Doug Elliot who owns this board. It’s as good advice as any. He dies them by Skype.

"DIES them by skype? Sounds intimidating!

[VJOFan]

I shouldn't type without my glasses. I shouldn't have said owner- I just knew him as one of the good people who made sure this board got started when the old Trombone Forum was disappearing and made a mental leap because of his influence here.