You might wonder why these three techniques are grouped together. The reason I am discussing them as a group is because they are all three related. The shake is just an extension of a vibrato and the proper use of lip trills (tongue trills) is the bridge between an applied hand vibrato and a shake.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ EACH OF MY INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ORDER THEY HAVE BEEN POSTED.
Introduction to the application and use of vibrato
Performing a solo without vibrato is similar to eating a perfect steak without seasoning. Even the best steak will be improved with just the right amount of seasoning. Vibrato can be described as “the icing on a cake”. We all know what vibrato sounds like and most believe they know how it is produced or applied to the sound of their instrument. Vibrato is used differently on each instrument as well as the human voice. Vibrato on a trombone can be made through the use of the slide (slide vibrato) or the lip (lip vibrato) or even the use of the air stream (diaphragmatic vibrato). On a euphonium, vibrato can be activated through the use of the air or jaw vibrato. Vibrato, when applied to a trumpet, can also be done by many techniques and I will try to explain the advantages of each in my next posting (Application and use of the hand vibrato).
Through the proper use of vibrato, the performer is able to add an additional dimension to his/her sound. A non vibrato note has a single dimensional sound and has its proper application in many of our performances. As an example, a straight (non vibrato) tone is expected when playing in a trumpet section of a big band. The responsibility of a section player is to play the notes in tune with no vibrato so that there is no conflict of vibrato with that of the lead player. You may have also run into material which has printed n.v. (no vibrato). Practicing tones with no vibrato is also a great way to break your sound quality (timbre) down into its most basic elements. When trying to improve the openness of your sound or improving your tone, there is no better way than playing long tones without the use of any vibrato.
As stated before, there are several ways to add vibrato to your sound and each has some advantages over the other. It is my opinion that the best vibrato for trumpet playing is a hand vibrato and in the next posting, I will explain why and how to execute it properly.
Introduction to the application and use of a tongue trill
Please note that I have used the term “lip trill” only because this is the most recognized and most often used term for what I am about to explain. Even though this term is the most widely used description of the technique I will be using a far more accurate term- “tongue trill”.
Developing a tongue trill can be of great use to every trumpet player and achieving a high degree of ability is not very difficult if you follow my exercises in later postings. Whether you are performing tongue trills on a Baroque solo or just showing off on a theme and variation, its use can add tremendously to your over all performance. After you have accomplished a tongue trill, the mystery and amazement will be made clear- “it ain’t that hard”.
Introduction to the application and use of a shake
Shakes are most often encountered in jazz music and most particularly in big band literature. I can remember the first time someone showed me how to do a shake. It seemed like the whole world opened up to me. Until that moment, my shakes were something of an embarrassment. If it weren’t for the fact that they were so bad, I would have found them comical. My moment of awakening occurred during one of my lessons with Don Jacoby in Dallas. I remember distinctly everything that transpired that day in his home. “Jake” asked me to play a shake on top space G. My teacher was too nice a person to laugh out loud but I could sense a slight snicker in his voice when he asked politely, “Who taught you to do that”? Now he had my total attention. In the next four hours he told me, and showed me how to accomplish your next goal. When I say that my lesson lasted four hours, you need to know that your one hour lesson would be interrupted by several phone calls, golf matches and baseball games on his television as well as people stopping by to visit. If you were lucky enough to finish your lesson near dinner time, most often you would be invited to share dinner with both him and his wonderful wife Dory. Please excuse my ramblings but thinking back to my visits with Jake bring back recollections of precious moments with a great man and teacher and friend to many of us. We miss you Jake. Now back to the lesson. At the end of my lesson I was given the concept and the suggested exercises to build on and within a week, I had a shake even I was proud of. As you read my last posting in this series, you will also gain the wisdom from that lesson, even if it is second hand.
I feel that these three techniques are very important to learn properly and for that reason I have decided to describe them individually even though they are related techniques. I do want to restate this point- IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ EACH OF MY INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ORDER THEY HAVE BEEN POSTED.
You may also find this helpful- Shakes
