17th Feb 2018
Added post (30) in the 'Personal Development' section.
This give more detail for those starting out and may add clarification for advanced players too.
About Me
- David
- I started playing the trumpet 40 years ago and used the conventional embouchure method (tongue between the lips - both lips vibrate) up until 12 years ago when I learnt about the Superchops method from Jerome Callet. Since then I have never looked back. I play lead trumpet in a local Big Band and am Principal Trumpet with the Hertfordshire Concert Band.
14 comments:
great bog david i have got a lot from it
but i dont get the order - you say the harmon bit is new but its way down - whats going on
david - like anonymous i also confused - i look frequently but see no change now it seems changes way down - why
david me too - why is it so difficult to find new stuff?
great blog by the way - good tips
Really sorry about that. I was doing my best to keep the Blog in an order that would make sense to a new reader i.e. intro at the top and then move down for later info. I now know that Blogs are traditionally the other way up (latest things at the top). This would make it much easier for me to update it so will, by popular demand, change it to the expected Blog order.
Thanks for your valued comments.
David.
Hi David, It's great to discover that there are other players in the UK who take Superchops seriously. I've been learning this technique since 2001, and I've been over to Statan Island about 5 times. For the first 3 years I got nowhere with SC, but then it suddenly clicked into place when I got the 'feel' of how to compress the air. Since then I haven't looked back. I'm only an amateur, but people often ask me whether I'm a pro. Us Callet fans should stick together.
Robert
david me also gt blog but soooo confusing
Hi Robert,
Very interested to hear you have been over to see Jerry 5 times and had lessons with him.
I have had telephone lessons with him, but have never been over to see him.
I would be interested to hear more about how you have progressed and if your method and progress has been similar to mine.
David.
Dear David,
what you’ve managed to do with just having a few phone lessons is very impressive. I’m sure I wouldn’t have made as much progress as you have without meeting Jerome in person. The 23 points you make are very interesting and most of them I can identify with you and say that’s what I’m doing as well. The breakthrough that I had (on 13/12/03) after 3 years of practice sounds very similar to your step 8. This was when I got the feel for the compression of the air at the front of the mouth. I knew I had made a breakthrough, not because I could immediately play any higher – I could still only play a G at the top of the stave – but because compressing the air at the front of the mouth meant I could suddenly play without constricting the throat at all. Five months later I could play a strong G above top C. My range hasn’t increased much since then. I can now play a strong Bb below super C. My super Cs are still a bit squeaky, but then I don’t practice them very much – there’s not much point because I’m mainly into baroque and that doesn’t really go much higher than A below super C. I only went to see Jerome when I was stuck, so I haven’t felt the need to see him since the end of 2003, though I did phone him to tell him that things were going much better. My breakthrough occurred a couple of weeks after my last visit to New York. Here is how I would technically describe my breakthrough:
1) place the upper rim of the mouthpiece on the upper lip
2) tilt the mouthpiece very slightly upwards
3) at the same time, move the mouthpiece vertically slightly upwards so that you feel the inner fleshy bit of the upper lip slightly entering the mouthpiece
4) also at the same time slightly pucker your upper lip, so that when looking in a mirror, you see too vertical wrinkles either side of the mouthpiece in the upper lip
5) as it stands, because you’ve tilted the mouthpiece up, the lower rim of the mouthpiece isn’t touching the lower lip. Therefore create a bulge in the lower lip by pushing the wide tip of the tongue forward and down onto the inside top of the lower lip, touching the inside top of the lower lip all the way across,
6) Push the lower lip upwards against the tongue tip so as to make the lower lip buckle outwards into a bulge.
7) The bulge in the lower lip meets the lower rim of the mouthpiece to make a seal.
8) Keep your jaw wide apart.
9) The position of the tongue is against the upper teeth and the inside upper gums.
10) A bit of the top of the tongue just in from the tip (which is touching the lower lip) should feel to be in contact with the inside of the upper lip.
11) (Step 9 and 10 can be described as the two stage compression. The air is compressed twice – against the teeth and against the upper lip. This super compression helps create a very fast air stream that is needed for playing high)
12) The lower lip is very, very nearly, but not quite touching the upper lip because the tongue is in way.
13) Now spit buzz into the mouthpiece. It feels like the lips have a lot resistance against the air, but yet at the same time it still easy to make the lips vibrate.
14) Because there is so much resistance at the front of the mouth, there is no longer any point in creating resistance by constricting the throat.
15) To play higher, push the tongue harder against the top teeth and the top of the lower lip, push the lower lip up harder against the tip of the tongue and bring the top lip further down, so that more of the fleshy inner part of the top lip is in more contact with the bit of the top of the tongue just in from the tip.
Playing this way I could play up to G above top C. However, for a long time I had a double embouchure – my high embouchure wasn’t compatible with my low embouchure. They gradually became compatible when I learnt how to role my upper lip in and out. I found this very tricky for a long time, but now it has become very natural. I learnt how to do this by starting every exercise and piece of music I played with a G above top C with my upper lip very rolled in. The upper lip is rolled in by first setting up the embouchure as I’ve described above, then push the tip of your tongue out so that it actually touches the inside upper part of the cup of the mouth piece. Then pull the tip of the tongue back so that it is again pushing against the top of the inner lower lip. As you pull the tip of the tongue back into place, you should feel the upper lip rolling in against it. It’s kind of like licking your upper lip after completing step 12 above, and then putting your tongue back into the position it was in before.
Good luck to anyone who can follow these instructions as I’ve written them. From my experience, I don’t think there is any substitute for having face to face contact with someone who really knows how SC works.
Best wishes,
Robert
Hi Robert,
Thank you so much for your very detailed response. I found it extremely interesting, and at the same time reassuring as it seems that your method is virtually identical to mine.
The one possible difference (I am not sure yet) is what you describe in your steps 2 and 3; I think I may be doing this, but will need a little more time to analyze.
I found your description of the upper lip role particularly interesting as I have never thought about it in quite the same way, or in that much detail. I think I am doing this, but without the precursor of pushing the tongue tip into the upper cup. I assume you don't actually do that when playing, hence it was just what you did while learning to get the feel of the upper lip pulling/rolling down?
I would be interested to know which mouthpieces you have tried, and which you have settled on.
Thanks again, and very best wishes.
David.
Hi David,
Jerome told me on several occasions about the importance of getting ‘the meat’ of the upper lip into the mouthpiece, but it was only on my last visit that he told me about doing steps 2 and 3. Perhaps he only tells his students to do these steps if they are struggling to follow his more general advice on getting the upper lip into the mouthpiece.
You’re right in assuming that I don’t play with my tongue tip touching the mouthpiece cup – it’s just a way of rolling the upper lip in before I move the tongue tip back onto the inside top of the lower lip. I still do this maneuver whenever I place the mouthpiece on my lips. I remember Jerome showing me a picture of Maurice Andre doing exactly the same thing, sticking his tongue right into the mouthpiece as he was setting up his embouchure. At the time it didn’t make any sense to me, and it was only some years later when I was experimenting that I tried it again, that this time it worked. Before then, I was able to play from high to low, but not from low to high. In technical terms, I was able to go from my top lip being rolled in to rolled out, but I couldn’t go from rolled out to rolled in. With this trick, it seemed to get the upper lip into a position so that just by pushing the upper lip down onto the tongue, it naturally rolled in, and pushing less hard, it naturally rolled out. My endurance also improved. I don’t know whether this trick is appropriate for everyone. I have moderately thick and fibrous lips, so it’s conceivable that people with thinner lips may not need to think about this step so much.
I learnt to play SC on a W46 that I bought from Jerome. I think it’s essential to have a mouthpiece like this (small shallow cup) to learn SC. I switched to a Vincent Bach 10 ½ C a couple of years ago, because I found the W46 just a little bit too bright and penetrating for the kind of music I like playing. Jerome had already suggested to me a 10 ½ C if I wanted to play a Vincent Bach mouthpiece. About 6 months ago I started playing on a Vincent Bach 1C. I suppose I got fed up with other players’ comments on using such a small mouthpiece, as though I were somehow cheating. I know it’s a pretty poor excuse, and I did lose a bit of endurance when I first switched, but my endurance is now back to what it was before the switch, and I’ve still got the focus. I play on a 1C for all my trumpets. I have a Callet Stratosphere, a Yamaha D/Eb trumpet and a Yamaha piccolo trumpet. One of Jerome’s students, Jeff Smiley, in his book ‘Balanced Embouchure’ says a bit about switching to larger mouthpieces once you’ve learnt to focus the lips.
Best wishes,
Robert
Hi again Robert,
I think you could be right in saying that your steps 2 and 3 may only be applicable to people with thicker lips. I would say I have fairly averagely thick lips so it may not be necessary for me, although I am still experimenting.
I also learnt to play SC on a W46 that I got from the web after reading that it was Jerome's mouthpiece of choice at the time; (I believe he played a Callet DT10 before that). And like you, after a while I found that the sound was a bit too penetrating. I then played on a Bach 1¼C for about a year until Jerome released his SC1 mouthpiece. This gave me almost the sound I was looking for, and made the upper register much easier than the Bach 1¼C. The SC2 mouthpiece that I play on now has a richer tone than the SC1 which I feel makes it a better all round mouthpiece. I get a much more even sound throughout the range than I could achieve with the Bach. I may try switching back to a deeper mouthpiece some day, but for now feel very settled with the SC2.
Thanks again for all your very interesting comments,
David.
Hello Robert,
I having been experimenting with your step 3 so that the inner part of the top lip enters the mouthpiece, and found that is works really well. I find that the upper register is more resonant and the lip vibration somehow requires less air.
Thanks very much for taking the time to describe your setup method. I am very grateful.
Very best wishes,
David.
yo davey!
saw all discussion on blog order
if you not want blog why not try google sites not google blogger
sites is for web pages
just idea - keep up gd wrk
Hi David, I discovered this method years ago by accident but stopped because I thought it was wrong! I now know that great results can be gained in what for me is a relatively short amount of time. I don't particularly analyse it, I just do it and experiment which is how I discovered it in the first place. Thanks for your blog and all the useful info. Cheers, Fidel.
PS. A W46 that I got off ebay for a fiver or a Yamaha 13A4a seem to work a treat. Oh yes, if it isn't working for some people I would suggest just relax and be patient it's easier than you think it is.
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