Elisa Koehler, reporter

Scott Whitener, professor of music at Rutgers University, thanked the sizeable audience for attending and joked that the title of the clinic was indeed a most attractive subject for a trumpet conference. Whitener was joined by one of his former students, Travis Heath, a busy professional in both jazz and classical idioms who is currently working on a book on high register playing.

Whitener began the clinic with an overview of the physiognomy of breathing. He stressed how “tension is the enemy” because it “interferes with everything” related to the breathing process as a defective coping mechanism. Whitener emphasized the mechanics of the respiratory muscles through illustrations on a handout taken from his book, A Complete Guide to Brass: Instruments and Technique (Third Edition, Schirmer Thompson, 2007).

Focusing on the embouchure, Whitener said that Maurice André believes that the French have better embouchures because their articulation syllable is “tu” (as used in the Arban book), which naturally forms an embouchure. He also referred to the work of acoustician Benade who pointed out that the trumpet's characteristic bell shape causes the production of higher notes to require more effort. Most importantly, he stressed the concept of “pitching the air,” or using vowel sounds to manage airflow (toe, tah, too, tee, etc.).

Travis Heath emphasized the “Three F's” of Trumpet Playing: flow, flexibility, and phrasing (spelling aside). In terms of flow, Heath (an experienced lead player) discussed anchor tonguing (putting the tip of the tongue behind the bottom teeth) and a variation called the “snake tongue” which both feature a raising of the back of the tongue. This creates a funnel and increases the velocity of the airflow for high playing. For flexibility, he prescribed the “Yo-Yo Concept”; using the Y consonant to aid slurs and lip trills (say “yee yee yee yee”, for example). For phrasing, Heath recommended a vocal concept and demonstrated by playing a excerpt from Hertel's Concerto No. 1 (third movement) on piccolo trumpet as well as double C's on a B-flat trumpet with enviable ease. The clinic ended with a fertile Q & A session than ran overtime as the curious audience eagerly sought the advice of these two fine professionals.