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Thread: Building Strength and High Range

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    Building Strength and High Range

    One strength-building technique that was popular while I was in college (many years ago) was to blow through the overtone series. You should press all 3 valves and start on a low F-sharp at ff. (Or press all 4 and start on treble clef D or C# an octave below the staff, for bass clef that would be low C or B natural below the staff.) Then slur at that volume up and down the overtone series trying to hit every partial along the way. It sounds pretty gross but does help build strength.

    I learned a great technique for building range from jazz euphoniumist Rich Matteson. He would use 2-octave major scales, starting on a low, comfortable note at about mf and doing a crescendo to the top of the scale. He tried to keep the tone quality about the same as he went up the scale. Then he would start a half-step higher and do the same thing, continuing this way until he reaches the highest note he can play. The trick is to keep the crescendo and tone quality as you go up. Because of that, you need to slur the scales - you want to keep the air uninterrupted all the way up.

    As you get stronger and better at doing this exercise, try sustaining the top note longer. Also, when you get to the top note, hold it for a couple seconds and then continue by playing down the scale. That helps develop control of your new-found strength. As you turn around and start down the scale, you'll find that you have more "opportunities" to lose control of the notes. It's much better to have the control to do something flexible with those high notes rather than just getting there and stopping.

    The "Matteson technique" will force you to use lots of air and will build your high-range strength like nothing else I have found. Not using enough air means that the horn is acting more as a megaphone. But as you use more and more air strength, you are encouraging the horn to resonate. Once that happens you will find that your high notes are "slotted" into a real pitch, which makes you sound dramatically better!

    I demonstrate this in the video below:

    https://youtu.be/VTJ4Gb9aBTE

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Keyword: highrange
    Last edited by davewerden; 01-08-2024 at 05:54 PM.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
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