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Thread: Mouthpiece recommendation

  1. #1

    Mouthpiece recommendation

    Hi, I know a lot of people ask for similar mouthpiece recommendations, but I just want to ask for myself since Christmas is around the corner!


    For the background, I played trumpet for two years, switched to euphonium in 8th grade and have been playing it since. Freshman year I played on XO 5G mouthpiece for a couple months, then switched to Schilke 51D and have been playing it for 3 years now. I consider myself a descent player but I have a couple flaws when playing.



    I don’t know if a new mouthpiece can possibly help my situation, but I tend to frack a note often. I have a good tone and vibrato, but it gets frustrating when I frack a note while playing a solo piece. Also my high range isn’t as consistent as it could be.


    I am aware I need more practice on note control(?) and high range, but I was wondering if a different mouthpiece would help. Shilke 51D feels a little small on my lips.



    Can someone give me suggestions on what I could do to improve note accuracy/control(?) or what type of mouthpiece might help?



    Thanks

  2. A note frack/chip (outside of something mechanical like a sticky valve) can be due to not hearing the note or interval clearly enough in your head and/or not buzzing the right pitch into the horn.

    Something you can try is singing the note, interval or phrase that is giving you trouble (using a piano or drone for a pitch reference if needed) focusing on pitch accuracy. Then, after singing it a few times, move to buzzing the same thing on the mouthpiece. When buzzing the mouthpiece, I like to gliss to each note, so it sounds like you're using slide glissando on a trombone. Finally, play the same passage on the instrument.

    Basically what the singing and buzzing both do is help strengthen your internal sense of relative pitch, so that when you're playing the instrument, you're more confident at how the music should sound. The buzzing has the added affect of helping you buzz the right note on the mouthpiece, which in turn helps your accuracy on the instrument. The mouthpiece glissando helps with ensuring your air stream and buzz is constant through an interval or musical phrase.

    Let me know if you have any questions or if any of that was unclear/confusing!
    Willson 2900 TA-1 Euphonium - Denis Wick 4AM
    Yamaha YSL-643 Trombone - Bob Reeves BrassArk 5G "Gladstone"
    Yamaha YSL-8440 Trombone - Denis Wick 5BS
    VMI 3301S BBb Tuba - Schilke Helleberg

    Past:
    York Preference 3067 Euphonium - Denis Wick 4AL
    Benge 165F Trombone - Benge Marcellus
    Wessex BR140 Baritone - Denis Wick 6BS
    F.E. Olds Special Trombone (ca. 1941)

  3. #3
    Welcome to the forum!

    When you miss the start of the note, may I assume it is from above where you intended? That is the most common problem for brass players. We often call it a "clam."

    The 51D is a respected mouthpiece, but it is not very wide. Possibly a wider cup would help...possibly. It would be most likely to help at first, but as your strength develops you may have the problem back again.

    My personal theory on this, and it is true in my case, is the syndrome characterized by "I'd rather be sharp than out of tune." If I practice for long periods without the tuner I find my self going sharper, more than should be explained by the horn warming up. I WANT to be sharper, apparently. It helps cut through in ensembles and can make one's emphasis on a note more brilliant. So that is part of the problem, I think.

    Depending on context, the other part might be overdoing intervals. Making a jump up by, say a fifth or more, seems hard to us instinctively so we may overreach for the top note.

    See if paying attention to these tendencies might help. And do run a tuner as you practice, at least periodically each day. If you keep going sharper, don't pull your slide (once you're properly warmed up) to compensate - it is your chops pushing the pitch; if you pull the slide without fixing that tendency, you will start to push high from the new slide position as well.

    And some slow practice on pieces/exercise that jump around might help. Really slow, and the goal is to play each note with good tone and excellent centering. Even 5-10 minutes a day of this can help.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  4. #4
    In addition to the great advice above, I would recommend two other things:

    1. Make sure you're tuning all the slides on the instrument every time you play. Unlike trumpet, where you have throw slides to adjust the pitch, euphonium is an instrument where it pays to pre-set all the slides. This helps with cracking notes by making sure the fingering combination will be resonating about where you expect it to.

    Here's Dave's excellent guide on the subject: http://www.dwerden.com/forum/entry.php/112-How-to-Tune

    2. Practice scales and arpeggios to drone pitches. For example, if I'm working on a Bb major scale, I will play against a sustained Bb or F generated by my tuner app. I use those notes because they are the first and fifth notes in the scale. Anyway, what I'm aiming to do as I play is get each note that I'm playing as in tune as possible against the drone pitch. Some notes in the scale will be more dissonant than others against the drone, but that's OK.

    Here's a little explainer video on the concept: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGuG9tN9ems
    Adrian L. Quince
    Composer, Conductor, Euphoniumist
    www.adrianquince.com

    Kanstul 976 - SM4U

  5. #5
    Thanks everyone for great suggestions! I'll definitely try more mouthpiece buzzing, working with tuner more, and some slow practices. Those are great advices, I really appreciate it. And I had no idea it was important to slide each tuning slide, I thought they were just kind of there. Thank you guys for being so kind and helpful

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