Finger Flexibility Exercises
Clean breaks between notes require fast and coordinated valve action and for that reason you should practice finger or valve exercises daily. I have included a few exercises which will help increase this area of your performance. Playing fast material will hide many fingering faults where slow material will quickly expose weaknesses. For that reason I have included two slow song “I Wonder As I Wander” and the lesser known “Humoreske”.
A musician may have the best tone in the world and still be rated poorly for sloppy valve work and for that reason it is a good idea to practice some sort of finger (valve) exercises. The best book to work from is the Herbert L. Clarke Technical Studies
for it contains everything you need to know about acceptable finger development.
Acceptable finger (valve) coordination begins with a firm and positive down stroke and an equally rapid and firm up stroke of each valve. If you find that your valves bounce as they come up, you may want to check the condition of your valve springs. Older instruments sometimes have weak springs and all the practice in the world will not help you develop a clean break between each note. If this is the case with your instrument, check with an instrument repairman for newer and more resistant springs which are very easy to insert in your instrument.
For those who might not realize, springs are available in different resistances. The weak springs feel great but sometimes return the valve too slowly and the stiffer springs may be too much for you to push down. A short visit with your local instrument repair shop will help you to decide on valve spring strength. You can also order most trumpet valve springs on line.
I have had students who needed to strengthen their fingers for better valve control and one solution is to place additional springs in the “bottom” of each valve thereby substantially increasing the resistance. This is an extreme measure and I only mention it for those who feel they need to increase strength in each finger. It is amazing how much faster your valve speed increases after you remove the extra springs.
Clean valve action is needed for clean passages and as two well-known trumpet players told me…
“Bang the valves down” ….Doc Severinson
“Make your valves POP between notes” ….Don Jacoby
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