John Irish, Reporter
One of England’s jazz legends presented a fascinating class on addressing concepts concerning all facets of trumpet playing. From his own observations, notes, and lessons collected for many years, Severn put these thoughts
together in writing to form an accessible publication which he titled, Trumpet Solutions. He wisely commented that the study of the trumpet is an ongoing journey. During the course of this lecture, he summarized the contents of his book.
His primary concept is one of self-awareness—we’re our own best teachers. When we pay close attention to our playing, we can make great strides. Examples of teaching young players make the perfect example. In our pursuit of trumpet performance, we have to break old habits. Severn further commented on the problem young players have when they must learn how to read music as well as learn the trumpet. His book is full of easy studies that can be memorized—allowing the student to focus on what it feels like to play the trumpet. We develop our reflexes and concentrate on internalizing our playing.
He breaks down playing into three areas: 1) Controlled, forced exhalation of air; 2) Use of the air to make a sound, transmit vibrations; and 3) Organize the sound, articulation—tongue and fingers. He divided his book into three main areas:1) Mental, 2) Physical, 3) Equipment such as mouthpieces, books, instruments, etc.
Severn made the following comments derived from his book.
Mental
The mental aspect of playing is the most important. Players need to accept and enjoy our playing to avoid fear and stage-fright. We also need to get into our heads to free up our thinking; getting rid of mental garbage is critical.
• Practicing should involve breaking down things into the smallest increments. For instance, he used the Clarke technical study #2 in F# as an example. He recommended doing that particular exercise repeatedly to focus on one simple reflex, as opposed to practicing all the exercises in Study #2 (some of which we can probably play very well). Practice in shorter intervals and rest between is important to lip preservation.
• Ego and self-esteem. Stop trying and start succeeding. He advised against setting goals that are too high which will not bring about success
• Guilt-based practicing. The demands of material some students must meet is too overwhelming and we think we have to practice all of it; when we don’t guilt sets in. But when we work on one aspect, it’s at the expense of something else we should be doing. Severn again recommended doing the minimum; perhaps practicing one of the harder scales, or just the first five notes, then adding the sixth, and so on. Once that is mastered, it will help one’s playing and allow the player to build on this success in the other parts of one’s practice regimen.
Physical
Physical aspects of playing vary from person to person.
• Tongue Position: tongue movement is different from player to player.
• Posture: must be able to breathe efficiently whether sitting or standing.
• Holding the instrument: he advocates splitting the 3rd and 4th fingers of the left hand where it achieves a better balance for him. He also mentioned the position of the right hand advocating the fingers need to be curved and able to bang the valves down cleanly.
• Sound production: we all should feel what it’s like to play well.
• Lip aperture is important: one can’t put too much air through a too small hole. The aperture is the point of exit of the air and he recommended opening up the size of the hole a bit. The player should be able to open up the aperture and adjust it for various needs. The tongue position then can be adjusted accordingly.
• Resonance: players should play in the “sweet spot” where there are maximum vibrations and resonance. We need to experiment with making a bad sound and closing everything down to show the negative side of sound production. Then we can increase the lip opening (with increased air support as well) and find the spot where the sound is best. We need to keep the nice, big sound throughout the entire range of the horn.
When one plays successfully, one is thinking of something specific. Severn concentrates on the opening and air. We should never forget the reason behind all this is to play music, and be free to express ourselves and enhance our musical life.
Equipment
•Trumpet: We’re always trying to find the “right” trumpet. However, changing the instrument and mouthpiece is going to have an effect on our body. We develop muscle memory and the body is conditioned to react in a certain way. Playing other instruments and equipment will have an effect.
• Mouthpiece: this is the crucial point at which the air goes through the horn. Its several components, the cup, backbore, and throat all affect what type of sound and compression we desire.
Severn plays a mouthpiece close to a 3D; demonstration on his shallower mouthpiece (similar to a shallow 7) necessitated his changing of aperture and setting. In fact, he practices the same material on both mouthpieces to reinforce the muscle memory of both.
• Tonguing serves three roles: articulation, changing pitches, and supporting the notes. He also spoke on putting the tongue wherever we need to in order to articulate notes; we should have ability to tongue a lot of different ways in different situations. Try “spitting a hair off the tongue” because that’s where it’s most natural for him. He moves his tongue backwards and forwards and recommended that we should experiment with various positions as well.
A period of Questions and Answers followed. Following is a summary of them.
•Mouthpiece selection in the Big Band section.
Playing a lower part is one thing. Playing lead is another. Mixing the two can be difficult because of the two separate equipment set-ups—breathing is a bit different, too. Moving between chairs is difficult.
•Flugelhorn concept.
Flugelhorn needs a slower air stream and more mellow, non-trumpet approach. Most of all we need to have the sound in our head and then the body will produce that sound.
•Vibrato.
Move the bottom jaw. We are just dancing around the center of the note
•Hand and Finger Position.
We do see other configurations in players but one can’t argue with success. Teachers should continue to stress what they know to be correct.
Trumpet Solutions is published by Eddie Severn Music. Colin Publications, New York, is distributing it in the USA. It can be also be ordered through Severn’s web site: www.eddiesevern.com
