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Appendix 1

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Christopher Pannell

 
fig.14

Chris Pannell, 17 has grown up in a very musical family. His brother, Tim last year gained a place at the Royal Academy of Music, London as a trumpet student. His mother and father have played in most of the top brass bands of East Anglia. Chris has for the past three years been the solo horn player of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain.

Chris gained grade 8 on his tenor horn and also learns the French horn. He started playing at the age of 4 and was taught by his parents using mostly the tutor book “Tune A Day” (Belwyn Mills). Chris is very confident in his playing style but attributes that to the fact that he doesn’t think “too much” about his playing.

Whilst on the latest (July 2001) National Youth Brass Band course the horn players were rehearsing a particularly difficult passage with much interval jumping. Afterwards the other players were asking Chris about tongue positioning and what he thought about whilst playing. Chris answered that he doesn’t think about things like that and that he prefers to think about tone quality and style. The other players looking for answers to their problems but Chris didn’t know how to help as he didn’t perceive any problem.

Chris has an “unorthodox” embouchure whereas his embouchure is to the side of his mouth but he buzzes his lips in the centre of his mouth. His tongue articulates towards his aperture, which is also to the side of his mouth. This should mean that he, and many other players should have problems due to the angle that the air flows into the mouthpiece and aperture but it seems not to in Chris’ case (see photographs page Chris Pannell).

During my observations I noticed that Chris often is not secure in his upper range, he can play well and high, he can play all the technically difficult pieces but does not always give the impression that his embouchure works all of the time.

Despite this Chris is a wonderful player, very musical beyond his years. He proves that his embouchure works for him even though he is aware that others may tell him otherwise.

Jackson Mathod

 fig.15

Jackson Mathod is a new trumpet pupil of mine from Stretham in Cambridgeshire. He is 11 years old and has been playing the trumpet since the age of 8.

Jackson was taught using the method book “Team Brass” (R Duckett Pub. IMP). Jackson says that in his almost three years of playing he has never heard of or thought about his embouchure, he doesn’t think about his tongue or his diaphragm. Sometimes he thinks of his “tummy” but usually he “just plays” his trumpet.

Jackson enjoys playing tunes and does so at home most of the time with backing tracks. Because of his enthusiasm to play these tunes he often plays (incorrect) alternative fingering in the higher register. This is easy to do because in the upper register the harmonic series are closer together.

My observations of Jackson are that he has taught himself to play the trumpet even though he has had a teacher. Jackson enjoys playing the tunes so he has to pitch each note even if they are too high for his ability. He therefore has squeezed each high note out of his embouchure using the pressure of his mouthpiece against his lips. From the photographs on the “Jackson photos” page this is evident as he squeezes the higher notes to the side of his embouchure.

Robert Domingue

 
fig. 16

Robert is a member of the “Hatfields of Colchester Band” and Colchester Area Music School Band. He is 15 years old at the time of this dissertation and has been playing the cornet and trumpet for approximately eight years. Robert studied the tutor book “Learn as you play, trumpet” by P. Wastall, (pub. Boosey and Hawkes) but learned to play by listening to his teacher and playing along with him.

Robert learned to play on the mouthpiece first, progressing to the instrument after a couple of weeks. He is aware that he touches the mouthpiece first between his lips in order to feel the aperture and he breathes in at the sides of his mouth. Robert rolls in his top lip and smiles at the corner of his mouth.

Robert does not think about his tongue and tongue levels when he plays and says that his teacher has not told him about it. He doesn’t play higher lip slurs to increase his range but uses lip slurs of a third for lip flexibilty.

Like many brass band players Robert uses only the Arban tutor book (Boosey & Hawkes). This book gives a thorough grounding to any brass player and is extremely difficult but it doesn’t help the player who wishes to increase his or her range. Some of my teachers have played only exercises from this book in my lessons but that was before my embouchure began to work.