Posted by michael on January 01, 1999 at 17:54:57:
In Reply to: Re: more questions posted by Tom on January 01, 1999 at 15:32:00:
Well, its hard to say right now. I have only been playing a few weeks, trying to get in between an 1 or 2 hours a day. I also have to work on the baritone, as the position I am occupying require that I double at times....
But the more I play, the more I WANT to play, I just don't have the chops built up yet to go much more than an hour at a time. I try to do a couple of sessions a day, and am always looking forward to getting back to it.
I wish I had a NEW horn, but I guess I will have to make due with these for a while yet.
I am playing Eflat now, rather than BFlat, and that has been a real trip This has slowed me down a lot. I still get tripped up on accidentals a lot, but that is getting better too, slowly. Speed is coming though, I think I will get my technique back, at least most of it. Doing the treble clef thing adds to my feebleness when I go back to baritone, or a bflat horn... it takes a few minutes to get my brain back into bass clef. Flexibility is coming too, I have changed my embouchure slightly, taking much of the pressure off the upper lip that I used to have, and this, I think will increase my flexibility and range. I am trying to remember what my top note is at this time. Somewhere around the Eflat or F above the staff. At one time, on the Bflat, I could screech out a bflat above middle C... not pretty, but I could get it :o) Like Maynard Ferguson on the trumpet Flexibility in the upper register is coming pretty good, but lower parts are still giving some problems. I play alot of pedals during cool down and that will improve eventually. My biggest problem is the tongue, I have lost much of the speed in double/triple tonguing. I sound like a tuba with the hiccups right now I have only been off the horn about 20 years, but as I taught highschool band for several years, I was playing some trumpet and baritone intermittently for demonstrations, but I haven't played a thing in the last 10 years or so.... will letcha know how it goes...