Practising High Notes Options

[Roseau]

My daughter had top braces put on at the beginning of July and lost all her high notes on the trombone. She had her braces tightened at the beginning of September and a thicker piece of wire inserted where she has a gap between her teeth and this seems to have improved things somewhat since the following day she could once again play a top F (after struggling for two months) but the G remains elusive.

Does anyone have any tips as how she can practise to improve the tone of the F and get the G back?

She is somewhat stressed by it as she had her first lesson last week and her teacher said that she had to get these two notes back or she wouldn't be able to take her exam (which in France only happen once every four years). He didn't offer any helpful advice - just said that two months was ample time to have got used to the braces and that she obviously wasn't trying hard enough.

[Minstrel]

AAArgh - how gallic.

Commiserations to you both .... concentrate on 'cello ?!?

[x-music-fairy-x]

Well I play the cornet and have braces for 2 years and still have them! So can imagine how annoying this is. Personally, I don't struggle too much only on top B's upwards.

The best advice I can give is probably don't worry about it. Also, I used to have a temptation to tighten my lips possibly more than needed, I found this actually doesn't help much and if you have the support of the air its actually easier and means you don't need to force the note out. Another trick also is that everytime you need to play a high note try imagine the highest note you could possibly play and sometimes it works. If the exam isn't possible to do comfortably I would say she could maybe concentrate on techniques of playing instead of taking the exam.

Hope some of this helped and good luck =)

Lisa x

[Roseau]

Also, I used to have a temptation to tighten my lips possibly more than needed, I found this actually doesn't help much and if you have the support of the air its actually easier and means you don't need to force the note out.

Thanks for this. I suspected this was the case but wasn't sure.

If the exam isn't possible to do comfortably I would say she could maybe concentrate on techniques of playing instead of taking the exam.

This is, of course, the logical answer. Unfortunately the French system is terribly unflexible and not taking the exam is not an option (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif) (Which, of course, is why my daughter is finding it very hard not to worry about it).

[Juniper]

Also try to put as little pressure on the lip as possible. It's surprising how little pressure is actually needed and it's natural to want to add extra pressure on the higher notes.

Good luck (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Bobilleg74]

As a brass teacher, braces are the bain of my existance!

If your daughter can play high F in a balanced and comy way, she should try playing the same note in a slightly short 4th position and sliding up a semitone at a time. Try F - F# first, then F - G. Don't try to secure the note on the lip by tightening or tensing up, just support by blowing a little stronger and pronouncing an "ee" vowel.

Picure notes floating below the bell, not above the head!

With a brace, there's not a great deal you can do to improve tone. A relaxed and balanced production is about as much as you can do.

G is a funny note anyway but good luck!