Brass finals, What message does it send out. Options

[briantrumpet]

and like the ex used too much pressure when playing in the extreme register. No need for that to happen if good technique is applied (i.e. non pressure)

Two different things going on here:

Pressure of the mouthpiece on the face - that is avoidable to a degree (though the 'non-pressure' is a misnomer, as you need a certain amount of pressure to avoid air leakage between the lips and the mouthpiece)

Air pressure inside the player - totally unavoidable - one of the prerequisites of playing a brass instrument, especially the trumpet in the high register. That's not to say that some players might overdo it, but it is necessary. If Wikpedia is to be believed, the typical air pressure a normal person can exert is 1.4psi, and a trumpet player playing high staccato notes is 1.9psi. Then imagine doing that for a long extended high fortissimo passage, and you're asking your body to do something that it wasn't designed for. And in some people, at certain times, that can have unintended consequences. Even in experienced brass players with good technique. Even ones who play period instruments.

[corenfa]

I wonder if some people are just better suited to different instruments and so would have to work less hard to get good on them? That isn't a "fact" couched as a question, it's a real one. So maybe people who weren't naturally made to play certain things might have to work very much harder to the point of damage, to get to the same level as others more naturally gifted.

For what it's worth, I've got quite a few professional musician brass player friends who have never had to have any sort of operation or medical treatment for injuries resulting from brass playing. Another anecdote to even out the balance?

Edit - the only brass player friend I know who had surgery to do with brass playing had it to repair a muscle tear in the lip that happened for some other reason.

[KixMusic]

I spoke to a friend yesterday whose husband is a professional brass player and her daughter is at a specialist music school playing brass. Her husband has had to have two operations on his lip and mouth because of the damage caused by brass playing.

1 person that you know has had damage but thousands of brass players don't as with good technique pressure to the lip is minimised. Your friend's husband may well have had an underlying condition or poor technique or anything, and presumably they don't see brass playing as a danger as they have allowed their daughter to attend a specialist music school playing brass (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[Maizie]

You could be right corenfa. I mean, if you look in the world of sports, you can see that some sports better suit certain physiques than others. A jockey is not likely suited to power lifting, for example.
To an extent, characteristics can be developed. If you are a short and small person, that doesn't mean you can't lift weights - you can learn to lift weights, but you will probably never lift weights like Arnie. while Mr Schwarznegger possibly could have lost weight (rather than gained muscle) to go all lithe and ride in horse races, but his height and build would probably put him at a disadvantage to an average jockey.

As different musical instruments make different physical demands, then people could easily be suited more to one than another. The differences may not be as extreme as the example I've given, and it would be an extreme case to say 'you will never be able to paly instrument X due to a physical limitation', but I don't see why you can't be suited to one thing more than another. If you have a smaller lung capacity, for example, perhaps brass and woodwind won't suit you so well...

[Misti]

I'll never be a great pianist, because I have small hands and can't reach an octave. My wind playing and singing aren't so great either, due to combination of asthma and snotty-nose inducing allergies (what breathing points are required changes every day!). The RSI in my right write probably rules out strings, and I found playing the guitar just too uncomfortable - I don't like mutilating my fingertips if I can help it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

Clearly, I am just not cut out to be a musician! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

More to the point in question, boyfriend-one used to use lip salve for chapping which came as a result of prolonged brass playing. Frankly, though, I did much more damage to his poor lips when we first started going out, and we discovered how much fun kissing was! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif)

[briantrumpet]

Frankly, though, I did much more damage to his poor lips when we first started going out, and we discovered how much fun kissing was! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif)

Obviously bad technique. You should have tried the non-pressure method.

[Misti]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

I was a teenager! What did I care about technique? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)

[owainsutton]

I wonder how you feel about sport? I can't think of any sports that carry no risk at all of physical injury. I was a rower at Oxford, and if you saw the state of many rowers' hands I think you'd forbid your children from taking up rowing too.

Absolutely. Not to mention the massive self-inflicted damage done by thousands of people each year in the name of the London Marathon.

Might I suggest that you seriously consider banning them from playing the violin and viola? Many, perhaps most, of my peers who played the violin and/or viola had permanent red marks on their necks

I had such a mark for several years when at high school, and thought it to be a badge of honour. After a few months with a new teacher at university, and a complete technique overhaul, it disappeared, despite doing more playing than ever and still having the same violin and chinrest. The same happened to several of my peers, which led me to suspect that a lot of these marks are not inevitable results of playing the instrument.

Regarding the tuba player's lips, I suspect the multiphonics he was playing would cause all sorts of strains on the lips that normal playing would not.

[Cyrilla]

Frankly, though, I did much more damage to his poor lips when we first started going out, and we discovered how much fun kissing was! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif)

Obviously bad technique. You should have tried the non-pressure method.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

I was a teenager! What did I care about technique? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[Crotchetymum]

My uncle is a professional brass player (LSO, London Philharmonic, tutor at the RAM...) and has reached his early 80s without ever having a problem with his mouth at all. My father played a lot of brass up to the age of about 40 and the only operation he ever had to have on his lip was when he got hit in the mouth with a cricket ball.

They both have/had, as far as I can remember, well-shaped mouths but thin-lipped rather than thicker-lipped. I have no idea whether that has anything to do with it, but it might.

Come to think of it, my father was also rather thick-skinned - perhaps this applied to his lips as well (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)