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Thread: Physiology of playing

  1. Physiology of playing

    Thanks, Dave. I’ve been reading your suggestions for warm-up and range extension carefully, and have found them valuable. However, I believe that I’m fundamentally sound in both areas.

    But the best warm-up in the world isn’t going to allow me to play a high double Bb; I don’t have your chops. Or turn it around: what do you, Dave, sound like when you try to play above a double Bb, even with a good warm-up? When your chops reach the point of refusal to comply, what is no longer working? I guess I’m more interested to learn the what rather than the why.

    And regarding the swollen lip feel, the failure to establish a tone, this can happen -- for me -- even during a careful warm-up, during slow lip slurs, for example, so I’m wondering if we’re not talking about two distinct phenomena here. I suspect in this latter case that there may be some edema left over from previous heavy playing the day before, perhaps without a proper warm-down. (One teacher recommends a few minutes of pedal tones at the end of each practice to relax.) And you sometimes hear the same sort of failure to sound even on easy notes when a warmed-up player is tensed up, like during a solo, which makes me suspect that additional nerve-induced muscle tension interferes with good vibration in some way. But these are just my suppositions; I’m not an exercise physiologist.

    Any further thoughts about the what of what’s happening rather than the why would be interesting.

    Dave




  2. Physiology of playing

    Sorry, Pam. My response to Dave was posted before seeing your response. Many thanks for the input.


  3. #13

    Physiology of playing

    Originally posted by: PatRyan44 Or turn it around: what do you, Dave, sound like when you try to play above a double Bb, even with a good warm-up? When your chops reach the point of refusal to comply, what is no longer working?
    Just to clear up this one point, when I've warmed up well, there is no hard-limit ceiling. If I can get a B-flat, I can usually go a bit higher. The response (or vibration) doesn't just stop suddenly. It's just that at some point I no longer have extra strength to go any higher. On the best days my absolute strength limit is around C or D-flat, but I don't usually see the need to push beyond B-flat.

    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
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  4. Physiology of playing

    Pam,

    The results of your interesting experiment:

    Pedal Bb: 14 seconds

    4th partial Bb: 22 seconds

    6th partial F: 28 seconds

    What does this tell you? We can take this off-line if you'd like.

    Thanks. Dave






  5. #15

    Physiology of playing

    Originally posted by: PatRyan44 Pam,

    The results of your interesting experiment:

    Pedal Bb: 14 seconds

    4th partial Bb: 22 seconds

    6th partial F: 28 seconds

    What does this tell you? We can take this off-line if you'd like.

    Thanks. Dave


    I've never put myself on a stopwatch, but I have noticed that, all other things being equal, higher = less air needed.

    Please don't take it off-line; this is a very interesting thread.



    David Bjornstad

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