PASSIVE VS. ACTIVE PLAYING... Which Are You?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.พ. 2024
- As brass players I've noticed there's a ratio of active (muscle engagement) to passive (instrument does the work).
In this video I discuss something EVERY brass player needs to know and think about. It's important to find equipment that allows you to be more passive and work less.
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I was a little bit skeptical about watching this video, but I'm glad I did. It's very enlightening. I think I've been mostly an active player and really need to become a lot more passive.
Makes perfect sense. By playing year 25 I had reached passive control up to high Eb. I thought of myself as floating up to notes in the high range focusing on the sound not thinking about what my chops were doing. Then, at playing year 65, I had to have my front uppers replaced with caps. Now, playing year 70, high Bb with difficulty is about it. I’ve tried mightily, but I can’t find my old upper range. Add in worsening Essential Tremors, and things suck! Getting old is not for wimps! I’m 80. One bright spot however is Christian’s new ES5 mouthpiece. I’m loving it! Old, but not dead…..YET!
Keep going, you’re inspirational for all of us.
I feel you. I'm 71, bass trombonist, and retired from professional public playing almost two years ago due to old-age-lip-tremor. It's sporadic, and concentrating on what Christian would called passive playing, between pedal b-flat and high f-g, playing lyric etudes that I love, my mind gets off the tremor and on to the melodic shaping of my playing. Then in the middle of one or the other such etude, I'll notice, that the tremor is gone and I try some arpeggios up to high c and then starting at pedal f going up to that c and back down. If the tremor stays away, cool, I continue. If not, I simply stay with these etudes (Concone lyric exercises for the low voice). I've written them out for high bass trombone and low bass trombone. So much fun and work even with a bit of tremor. What I don't do is ... sweat it. I don't beat myself up for this. It is what it is and can just as sporadically disappear. So I let it.
Great lesson! Thank you!
Thanks for watching. I love your channel and approach. See you around.
Christian, as an amateur tenor trombonist, choir singer, and self-professing audiophile, I relate strongly with your observations. At home tonight I put on headphones and played the ‘bone while attempting to play passively. The result was better efficiency, less tiring, a better centered pitch. Blow, find the sweet mouthpiece placement, and move the slide. With ear phones I could sense pitch but not the spectral balance, meaning one less item to actively control!
I’m always backtracking trying to find this sweet spot. Thanks for watching and sharing your experiences.
Very interesting thoughts!
Thanks for watching
I have an older Ian Bousfield Getzen I bought from new serial number 0486 ,i ordered the new rotor valve cap recently and it definitely made a difference.Ive tried the pillars but I'm not sure of sound difference so dont use them now.do you have any advice about the pillars for the trombone and is the newer Getzen IB with the modifications a different sounding instrument ,when i tried the pillar's i felt the copper one was better than the silver one? I'm using a Doug Elliott XT 102 rim with an H cup (similar to a 4G) i seem to prefer a deep cup rather than a G cup which I also have .I used to play on a Bach 5G with large lettering which l loved but Doug watched a video of me playing way back in 2012 and said my embouchere shape needed a wider 4G rim ,so thats where I am today.Ive had 4 months off playing due to cateract surgery,im now into 2 weeks back playing but my stamina is absolutely shocking,im practicing every day and bands most evenings,i thought i may be doing too much after my break but ive got a very important brass band competition coming up in 2 weeks time on principle trombone and need to very quickly improve my stamina, I will trial your passive way ,(although I feel im doing that already trying to minimise mouthpiece pressure and concetrating on my firm corners whilst trying to relax the active side of my playing.I find this video very interesting, I did try your CS5 mouthpiece that came with the instrument on one rehearsal it was very comfortable but sounded very bright compared to the DE mouthpiece, I feel it would be too soon to change until after my competition, I'm starting to panic a bit now and don't want to confuse my muscle memory.All the best Al
Don't panic this will cause stress (emotional) and tension to start creeping into your playing. It takes me a while to get endurance back after time off, and I focus on resting more than playing. Short practice sessions with breaks that are short and slowly increase the practice session time and diminish the break time. Your endurance will come back, just play smart during this time. Diminish volume by one marking during performances until you have the strength back to go to eleven. Don't change equipment close to performance time, just focus on recovery. Diet is important to aid in recovery, treat your chops like an endurance athlete would with diet and recovery shakes, etc. The deeper the cup the more work in the upper register so just understand this and enjoy the rests and allow the face to recover.
So, a question, then.
How do you become passive in the upper register?
I've seen so many videos and articles about embouchure and how to get the upper register clearly...but NONE of them truly explain and show what to do.
So, again. What do you do to be passive and have a strong upper register? And for that matter, how does a person build an embouchure properly? I'm sure teachers everywhere could use an actual guide.
I'll work on a video for this subject. There's a lot in this question which is why people don't do short video's on the subject.
Not intending to sound sexist, listening to trumpet players, the females often produce better sound. My theory is that they try less to “muscle” the instrument and focus on musical elements.