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Bill Adam
Some of my approaches to problem
solving may seem different to you. I believe that we maintain
the sound, that we maintain our freedom of tone and our relaxation
with copious amounts of air. The sound or tone should always float
in the breath and be covered by the breath. As the air flows through,
it supports the embouchure and is quite responsible for its position
and its relaxation and for the resilience of the mouth. The flowing
air is the means for the relaxation of the tongue and its articulations.
The flowing of air is the means by which we can relax the tension
in the areas of the glottis, the epiglottis, the back of the tongue,
the larynx, and the abdominal wall. Truly the trumpet is a wind
instrument and is dependent upon the breath as a source of motive
power.
As I have matured, my thoughts have
changed about the percentages in a well balanced sound system.
Many years ago, I felt that the mind was probably responsible
for fifty per cent of the playing of the trumpet, and the other
fifty per cent was divided equally into twenty five per cent for
the embouchure. A few years later I still had retained the thought
that the mind was responsible for fifty per cent, but the breath
had increased to forty per cent and the embouchure had decreased
to ten per cent. Today I believe that ninety per cent of all playing
is mental and the last ten per cent of the physical will be divided
into nine percent breath and one per cent embouchure. I really
believe that the acceleration of the air has tremendous value
as to the releasing of the necessary tensions that make it possible
for long time endurance and a beautiful sound.
The mind is the creator of concepts
and attitudes that produce the physical activity necessary for
proper trumpet playing. Wrong concepts can also make playing more
difficult. We are capable of one thing at a time with considerable
ease. When we have to be concerned with two things at a time,
playing becomes more difficult, and when we are confronted with
three things, it just literally becomes impossible. If we keep
our minds on a beautiful sound, on accelerating the air through
the sound, on not forcing the sound, and forget the embouchure,
many problems will disappear.
From 1975 CLINIC ADDRESS by Prof. William A. Adam