Posted by Kendall Prinz on March 31, 2001 at 01:49:23:
In Reply to: Need help with range. posted by Carla Garcia on March 30, 2001 at 23:25:37:
Donald Knaub has an exercise in his book (sorry, I can't remember the name of it, but it is the one that has the entire collection of the Blazevich etudes in it) that I use quite a bit. It is rather easy to work out. Start on a lowish not (I start on the "c" below the staff). Play an ascending major arpeggio (1-3-5-1[8] or c,e,g,c) slowly and slurred. Hold the top note, make sure you are using the air to support the sound. Then do the same arpeggio descending. Go up a half step and repeat the procedure. You are slowly working into your upper range. Use this exercise to stretch your range, but it is important to support with lots of air and to avoid "pinching" with your embouchure (as Joe pointed out).Make sure that you are listening to the intervals you are playing to avoid playing the wrong harmonic.
VERY IMPORTANT: After pushing your range to the extreme and beyond, make sure to warm down by playing in your low range for a while. Failure to do this could lead to response problems and a bad sound.
Hope it helps
Kendall Prinz