The 19Sus Exeicise: Twenty Ninutes That Changeu Ny Tiumpet-Playing Life

Rusty Russell

A few months ago I posteu in a thieau on the Tiumpet Beialu about enuuiance,
uesciibing a veiy simple exeicise I call "the 19Sus." It hau, I wiote, been the key
that helpeu iesolve my lifelong stiuggles with enuuiance, iange, consistency anu a
host of othei common playing issues. I know; that's a huge claim to make, but the
simple little exeicise ieally was the key to all that foi me. Since then I've ieceiveu
many PNs anu seen posts in othei thieaus saying that otheis have hau goou iesults
with the little exeicise, many accompanieu by iequests foi me to shaie an expanueu
uesciiption anu open some uiscussion on the subject. I've iesisteu uoing so foi a
couple ieasons. Fiist, I uon't want anyone to get the iuea that I see myself as some
kinu of chop expeit, oi that I think I've uiscoveieu something nobouy else knows
about. I uon't. Seconuly, I iealize that theie aie any numbei of ways to appioach
tiumpet playing successfully. Anu I ieally, REALLY hate the kinu of aiguments that
often gob up foiums with people uefenuing paiticulai methous oi peuagogues oi
techniques as TBE way.

Eventually I figuieu that I woulu make it available to anyone who wanteu to
uownloau it. That way it woulun't take up space on a foium, oi waste time foi
anyone who uiun't want to get too fai into it. If it helps some people oveicome some
of the same huiules I continually stumbleu ovei, uREAT. If it uoesn't make sense foi
you, uoesn't woik foi you, that's fine too. It's not "iight." It's just pioven to be iight
foi me, anu, appaiently, foi some otheis. I have no intention of "uefenuing" it, anu
ceitainly uon't uiscount any opposing iueas that woik foi othei people. But this little
exeicise ieally uiu help me make woikable the things that have eluueu oi confuseu
me foi uecaues. It tiuly has changeu my tiumpet-playing life, honestly has helpeu
enu the above-mentioneu stiuggles. Anu at S4, having playeu foi a living at vaiious
times anu gone yeais without touching a hoin at otheis, that's a lot of stiuggle. I'm
posting this in the hopes that someone who's hau a similaily iough path is helpeu by
it.

Fiist, some backgiounu. This is long. Skip it if you like. I only offei it because I think
that many, many playeis followeu similai, fiustiating paths, anu that the things this
little philosophy "fixeu" foi me aie the same things that many of those playeis
stiuggle with - that many people come to the same place I was at. Beie goes:

I staiteu college as a tiumpet peifoimance majoi in 1974, on a full scholaiship. I hau
a goou sounu, anu foi some ieason hau a iep foi having a goou jazz feel anu a goou
eai. I uiun't have much iange, topping out at a high B oi so, anu coulun't ieally pull
even that off foi a whole gig oi ieheaisal. Still, in a stuuio of aiounu 4u tiumpet
majois, I staiteu my fiist semestei having won the jazz chaii in the seconu (of two)
big banus, a section spot in the fiist, anu the seconu tiumpet spot in a biass quintet
with othei membeis who weie juniois anu seniois. I also playeu in the conceit
banu, but I uon't iemembei wheie I was in that section. I shoulu note that I nevei
2
hau any uesiie to play leau, oi scieam aiounu in the uouble iegistei. I wanteu to be
like Niles, oi Fieuuie. But I still wanteu to cut the paits in fiont of me.



I hau stuuieu with the heau of the tiumpet stuuio (uepaitment) since my junioi yeai
of high school. In geneial, it was a goou school; }ohn Aley was an uppeiclassman,
anu Baviu Bickman hau just finisheu up his giau assistantship. But the piof put
almost eveiyone thiough an embouchuie change. Eveiything was focuseu on
embouchuie. Anu it was veiy physically oiienteu; all about uoing this thing with
that muscle, moving the jaw this way oi that, tuck this, ioll that. I have notes fiom
one lesson, in my ancient Schlossbeig book, that list - I'm not kiuuing - SEvEN
physical things to think about anu "set" befoie playing the exeicise's fiist note. This
became my peispective on how you playeu anu impioveu on the tiumpet.

I woikeu haiu. I wasn't consumeu, but I put in at least as much time anu effoit as
most of the bettei playeis in the stuuio. Anu I leaineu a lot about inteipietation,
tiansposition, stylistic iueas. but I uiun't impiove much in the chop uepaitment. In
fact, I staiteu going uownhill. By my thiiu semestei, I sounueu teiiible, totally caveu
halfway thiough ieheaisals, anu my attituue & self image weie in the ciappei. I was
infoimeu that my scholaiship was at iisk, like I was on some kinu of supei-uouble-
seciet piobation (ala "Animal Bouse"). So I baileu. Noveu back to my olu hometown
of Benvei. Within weeks, I'u tiaueu in a ieally nice Nt. veinon Bach anu a gieat C
Stiau on an aichtop guitai.

Fast foiwaiu. In 1984 I moveu to Nashville, anu aftei a while lanueu a gig with a
majoi-label aitist, playing guitai anu uoubling on tiumpet. Not haiu stuff. I cut the
gig, is about all I can say foi my hoin playing. That job enueu, anu foi moie than ten
yeais I uiun't touch - oi own - a tiumpet.

Foi a numbei of ieasons (mostly, a veiy cool oppoitunity to go to Euiope, toui
aiounu foi a month oi so, anu get paiu pietty well foi it), I launcheu a comeback
about ten yeais ago. Fits anu staits. When theie was a gig, I'u get into it. When theie
wasn't, I'u pietty much lay it uown. Spotty. I'u uig in with the olu appioach when
something came up, usually just baiely cutting it by gig time. Then some big, big
lifehealth stuff happeneu, anu when all the uust settleu I iealizeu that what I ieally
wanteu to uo with the iest of my life was play my hoin. That was about six yeais
ago, anu I have been pietty much obsesseu evei since. I've hau some cool gigs (lucky
me!). Anu each time, I woulu be a ball of neives anu feai, knowing that I'u have
tiouble lasting thiough a set, calculating what paits I coulu "uuck" on to save chops,
uieauing sections that calleu foi goou flexibility. but I wanteu it S0 bauly. I lanueu
a gig with anothei national touiing act. We playeu Bonnaioo. A little Tv stuff. Big
festivals on both coasts anu in between. Anu still, the feai. The inconsistency. The
stiuggle to not folu like an olu wallet thiee-fouiths of the way thiough the set.

S
At a ceitain point, I figuieu it was time foi some seiious self-assessment. I'u uone
this (playing), off anu on, foi yeais. Becaues! It coulun't be TBAT haiu. Cleaily, theie
was something wiong with my appioach. 0theiwise, in all that time, I woulu have at
least stumbleu onto knowing how to builu enough muscle, how to
tuckiolljutflexcompiessmanipulate whatevei physical paits I hau to in oiuei
to get to TBAT place. The exclusive ioom wheie othei tiumpet playeis seemeu to
live, wheie they just ioue on this cieamy stieam of goigeous sounu, seemeu to uo it
with veiy little effoit, to have it all unuei contiol. Bow uo you uET INT0 that ioom.

What followeu was a seiies of switches that weie flippeu, anu light bulbs that came
on. Nost eveiy "bulb" was something I'u heaiu oi ieau about befoie, but hau not
been able to put into piactice - not been able to unueistanu oi make woik foi me.
Each step along the way, each switch anu the bulb it lit, got me a little closei to
unueistanuing the iueas that leu me to the 19Sus. I honestly uon't think I coulu
have aiiiveu at them if even one of these switches haun't been flippeu.


The switch:

I staiteu ieally stuuying clips of the tiumpet playeis I likeu - the guys I most wanteu
to sounu like. Ranuy Bieckei. }eiiy Bey. Blue Nitchell. Claik Teiiy. Aituio Sanuoval.
Chuck Finuley. The ovei-aiching impiession I got was that they weie all veiy !"#$%"&
when they playeu. Bow on eaith weie they putting all those little physical moves
into play anu '() looking like some kinu of coileu spiing by the time the sounu
staiteu (like me).


The light bulb:

Seveial of my sounu mouels hau stuuieu with Bill Auam, so I began ieauing all I
coulu about his iueas. Those openeu some things up, but I wasn't able to contiol
much (I was piacticing about two houis a uay, minimum). I uiu unueistanu that, in
Ni. Auam's philosophy, "all the little moves" that hau been my fiamewoik weie seen
as +,-"&+,"'). to goou playing. Bmmm.


The switch:

I also ieau about "chop uocs," like Lauiie Fiink anu }eanne Pocius. I flew to NYC to
take a lesson with Lauiie. She talkeu to me about keeping the aiistieam steauy. We
uiscoveieu that I was inteiiupting the aiistieam constantly. I began woiking out of
hei "Flexus" book when I got home, concentiating on the aiistieam thing.




4
The light bulb:

A yeai latei, I useu the veiy last uollais on my cieuit caiu to fly to Boston, ient a cai,
anu uiive to a tiny town in veiy noithein NA to spenu a couple uays with }eanne.
Foi the fiist two houis - no kiuuing - she woikeu to tiy to get me to N0T make an
embouchuie. Relax the coineis. }ust uo it - uon't "holu" anything in place. Put youi
lips togethei gently, put the hoin on youi face, anu blow aii thiough it. If you've
playeu foi a long while, you may finu that uoing that is haiuei than you can believe.
It was foi me. Finally, FINALLY, I somehow bioke fiee foi a seconu fiom all the yeais
of holuingtuckingiollingjuttingcompiessing anu playeu my fiist evei tiuly
ielaxeu note on the tiumpet. The sounu that came out was B0uE. Waim anu biight
at the same time. Liquiu, almost. We both staiteu laughing, then scuiiieu to the
bathioom miiioi so I coulu uo it again anu see what it lookeu like. The iest of my
time with }eanne went veiy well. We talkeu about aii, the small, active, "buzzing"
pait of the lips, efficient use of eneigy. things like that. When I got home, I was
thiilleu - anu shockeu - to finu that I coulu play foi /(0!. without tiiing. Contiol was
iffy at times, anu theie was some weiiu intonation stuff happening, but I coulu play
anu play anu play. I also noticeu that, foi the fiist time in my life, I coulu slui entiie
octaves without much effoit at all. Amazing! It was obvious to me that the ielaxeu
thing, coupleu with Lauiie's iueas about keeping the aiistieam going, weie behinu
that.

This was piobably the 1uuu-watt bulb. I uiun't take to oi auopt all of what }eanne
coveieu with me. But finally expeiiencing what it was like to make sounu with a
ielaxeu face alloweu me to see - objectively - anu compaie what I'u always uone
befoie. I hau always changeu notesianges by making some "move" oi anothei with
my chops. A muscle thing. A tension thing. Piess the lips togethei moie tightly (at a
ceitain point, you can't piess them togethei any moie tightly, so you tighten the
vibiating suiface by stietching the "coineis" back, into a smile). Stick the jaw out a
little moie. Change the angle of the hoin. I wasn't uoing any of that, at last.



The switch:

Still a bit stuck in the analytical woilu, I tiieu to assess what 1$. going on, so I coulu
keep uoing it anu builu on it. When I ieally stuck to my guns anu avoiueu tensing
anything oi making some "chop move," focuseu on the aiistieam anu the sounu that
was coming out the bell (still ieauing all the Bill Auam I coulu finu!), the only change
that happeneu when I sluiieu oi changeu ianges was happening with my tongue. 0f
couise I'u known about syllables anu tongue level anu all that foievei, but I'u nevei
ieally maue much of it.

Bisclaimei: I uon't caie why oi how the tongue affects things foi (somemany)
tiumpet playeis. Countless gigabytes have been wasteu on inteinet foiums with
inane aiguments about watei piessuie in hoses, fast aiislow aii, my engineeiing
S
uegiee is fiom a bettei college than youis, my teachei was smaitei than youi
teachei, blah, blah, blah. It uoesn't mattei to me whethei the tongue "channels" the
aii, oi spins it, oi naiiows the stieam, oi foices some unseen physical change in lip
placement, oi whatevei. Bon't play me an X-Ray viueo, please. Beck, I uon't caie if it
woiks by senuing some magical, invisible signal to the Range Faiiy, who instantly
giants a beautiful slui to the playei. When I uon't tiy to make some physical "move"
with my chops, my tongue will faithfully initiate the change. That's all that matteis
to me.

So, having checkeu out most eveiy establisheu methou known to man ovei the
yeais, I knew that Clauue uoiuon was all about tongue level (among seveial othei
concepts). I uusteu off my yellowing copy of his Systematic Appioach book.





The light bulb:

SA iepiesents a pietty seiious commitment. Thumb thiough it anu you'll finu that
actually using it as piesciibeu will take a big, uaily chunk of time. I wasn't suie I
coulu commit to that, but I foigeu aheau anu waueu into Lesson 0ne. Soit of. It's
always been haiu foi me to stick to someone else's plan, especially if it's veiy
involveu. Not suie if it's aiiogance, oi a lack of some kinu of uiscipline, oi an
attention ueficit uisoiuei. I just always seem to stait foiming my own little "take"
on whatevei I'm tiying to follow. I taught myself guitai, bass anu photogiaphy well
enough to make my living with each, anu teach in each of those uisciplines. So it was
almost a given that I'u enu up messing with the piogiam when I staiteu looking into
SA. With apologies to Ni. uoiuon, I have still nevei finisheu all of Lesson 0ne as
piesciibeu, anu have toucheu on piecious little else in the book. It's still on my
gieatei to-uo list, but I got off tiack because.


I stumbleu onto the 19Su exeicise. Yes, gentle ieauei (if you'ie still ieauing!), I'm
finally going to uesciibe the uangeu exeicise. You will likely be stunningly
unueiwhelmeu, at fiist. I know. Theie's ieally not veiy much to it at all. But I put you
thiough all the above foi a ieason.

We tiumpet playeis, foi some ieason, tenu to get stuck on the notes. It's like we
believe that theie's some supeinatuial powei a specific sequence of notes has to fix
oui tiumpet-playing issues, anu if we uon't uo them in that sequence oi we altei
them the tiniest bit oi we uon't follow some iitualistic uictate with them, we'll not
only fail to gain the intenueu benefit, but we coulu actually sciew up oui playing.
Foievei! 0n any given uay, you can finu at least two playeis coming to viitual blows
on an inteinet foium ovei the fact that one teachei saiu to iepeat a given foui bais
('" time, wheieas anothei vaunteu mentoi insisteu it must be iepeateu )1+2". (Then
6
you uo the hokey-pokey anu you tuin youiself aiounu.). You /$3" to play the uppei
octave fiist, befoie playing the peual tone, oi youi kius will be boin with theii eyes
too close togethei! No, no, no, no! 45 teachei saiu you have to play them
contiguously, scale-wise, oi you'll uevelop boils on the soles of youi feet!

Bull. The one thing you can be suie of when you witness that kinu of exchange is
that both playeis aie missing the whole -(+') the exeicise is making in the fiist
place.

Anu that's why I've put you thiough all this. This exeicise coulu just as easily be
calleu the 2uSus. 0i the 172us. 0i the.

These aie long tones. You may iecognize them as a Ciib-Notes veision of Lesson 0ne
in Clauue uoiuon's Systematic Appioach. It uoesn't ieally mattei wheie you stait
them, oi whethei you play them chiomatically, oi whethei you use them as a waim-
up, oi if you only uo them aftei a bit of Bill Auam leaupipe playing (like I uo). I've
founu benefit in expanuing them to incluue peual tones anu an ascenuing pattein -
youi mileage may vaiy. If you ask whethei I iecommenu tonguing the note oi
staiting with a bieath attack, you'ie missing the point (at least the one I'm making).
I tongue them, BTW.

!"#$ "#& '#() $")' *+,- .+, ') /& #00 $") &*/$1")& #2( 3403& ()&1,/3)(
#3+5)6 7$8& *"#$ 78' 9+/29 .+, *")2 7 :0#; $")'6 7$8& *"#$ 7 )<:)1$ $")' $+ (+=
#2( "+* 7 0++- .+, $"#$ $+ "#::)2 *")2 78' :0#;/29 $")'6 >00 ?@>? /& $") ')#$
+. $") )<),1/&)6 ?") 2+$)& $")'&)05)& #,) &/':0; $") 5)"/10) .+, 9)$$/29 #00 $"#$
9+/29.

Reauy. Aie you suie.

Aliight then:

If you stait on the C in the staff, anu play eveiy note uown to low F#, you'll play 19
notes. Play C foi thiity seconus. Rest thiity seconus. Play B foi thiity seconus. Rest
foi thiity seconus. Play Bb foi. (see a pattein emeiging. 19 notes. Su seconus each.
19Sus.

So now you'ie ieauy to kill me, because you've sloggeu thiough, basically, some
iuiot's life stoiy foi one tiny paiagiaph of stuff you've seen a million times. But
wait.







7

Whethei oi not you play them in that sequence, oi holu them longei oi shoitei, oi
tongue them oi bieath-attack them, oi whatevei, uo them like this:

1. Stait by taking a full, easy bieath (without the hoin). Then LET the aii come
out, iesisteu only by RELAXEB, iesting lips. Again, B0N'T BL0W. Let the aii
come out on its own. It's about like what you woulu uo if you weie cooling a
spoonful of soup. Bo that two oi thiee times. When you think of blowing,
you'ie liable to biing a bunch of chest, neck, jaw, lip - even aim muscles into
play. This is about establishing aiiflow. Shaking hanus with the sensation of it
to begin the playing session. Tension is not goou. Tension, muscle flexing, all
that is what we'ie leaining to avoiu. Woulu a iunnei flex oi tense up hei legs
as she came out of the staiting blocks. Woulu a violinist "haiuen" his bowing
aim as he began a passage. You know how you envy those guys who make
tiumpet playing look easy. This is a goou stait to leaining to play that way.


2. When you begin to actually play the exeicise, think of #"))+'6 )/" $+! 7#(1 )/"
",7(02/0!" +')( -#$2"8 This comes uiiectly fiom the teachings of Bill Auam.
I'm suie it comes fiom othei places too, but that's wheie I ian into it.
Remembei that this is N0T about changing youi embouchuie, pei se. But at
least foi this exeicise, foi these fiist few times, tiy to avoiu "making" youi
embouchuie. Beie's why: Nost of the time, when people play long tones,
they'ie thinking of stiengthening something. The coineis. The innei muscles
that contiol apeituie. The "uiaphiagm muscles" (which uon't actually exist).
Whatevei. We'ie not tiying to stiengthen anything. We'ie leaining what it
feels like when a ielaxeu stieam of aii geneiates a big, beautiful sounu by
passing thioughuiiving ielaxeu lip tissue anu continuing into the hoin. (I
know. the "buzz" of that tissue is geneiateu by the stanuing wave, etc.) Bon't
caie. This is what it feels like, anu $"/& /& *"#$ *)8,) 9+/29 .+,6 ?"#$
&)2&#$/+26 That is the point of this. If you've gone thiough some of the
fiunstiating stuff I've uesciibeu heie, you veiy likely haven't evei
expeiienceu that. I know I haun't. Anu if it has the same effect on you as it uiu
on me, you will uiscovei a whole new woilu of tiumpet playing in pietty
shoit oiuei.


S. Bon't think about youi lips (Clauue uoiuon). Bon't think about youi jaw, oi
youi "coineis," oi youi anything else (me). uet youi minu out in fiont of youi
bell. To quotepaiaphiase Bill Auam, "when you take youi minu off the
sounu, pioblems emeige." You aie still N0T blowing the aii. You'ie $##(1+'6
+) )( ".2$-"8 I focus on the sounu, anu am peiipheially awaie of the aii
moving out of me anu )/!(06/ the hoin.

4. This is vERY INP0RTANT, at least when I uo this exeicise: While you aie
focuseu on the sounu, accept it as-is when you stait. If you begin with the C in
8
the staff, unueistanu that it may sounu a little uull. It may be slightly flat oi
shaip. You may have some aii in the tone (if that's the case, anu it peisists, I
iecommenu staiting again, making suie that you put youi lips togethei 6"')#5
(}eanne Pocius). Bon't "holu" them togethei. }ust tiy to avoiu letting them be
any gieat uistance apait. Remembei that you'ie not useu to making a sounu
this way, anu aie likely playing onwith some lip suiface that you uon't
usually play on. You'ie not "tensing" some embouchuie into shape, you'ie not
foicing aii into the setup like you might usually uo. }ust allow youiself to
have the sensation of #"))+'6 a stieam of aii flow out of youi lungs anu
thiough the hoin, iesisteu without tension by youi ielaxeu, iesting lips
which aie "caiiieu" to the sealing point with the mouthpiece by the aii. If
you'ie like me, this will feel a little stiange at fiist. The big temptation is to uo
the things you noimally uo when you stait a note anu it's not quite iight. You
manipulate youi lips, oi youi jaw, oi change the "blow," oi whatevei. B0N'T.
Lemmie say it again: B0N'T. Tiust it. Let it open up on its own. I honestly
believe this is wheie we get into tiouble in the veiy fiist place. Some teachei
oi banu uiiectoi heais a fuzzy note oi an aiiball oi a uull tone anu says, "put
some aii thiough the hoin! Anu buzz youi lips, like this: (makes spitting
sounu). Piess youi lips togethei!"


Anu thus can begin uecaues of uoing all kinus of things with youi lips, jaw,
"coineis," cheeks, etc. to tiy anu oveicome the obstacles you've cieateu by,
well, uoing all kinus of things with youi lips, jaw, "coineis," cheeks, etc. (Alan
vizzutti, moie oi less)

B0N'T B0 ANYTBINu T0 TRY T0 uET IT T0 FEEL ANB S00NB LIKE IT
0S0ALLY B0ES. TBAT'S WBAT WE'RE TRYINu T0 uET AWAY FR0N!


S. By now, you may be thinking, "hey, wait a minute. this guy maue fun of
having a long list of things to think about befoie you play a note, anu now
he's making his own list!" Well, not ieally. This list is ieally just ieminueis of
things you &('9) have to uo. It's a suggestion that you uon't uo $'5)/+'6, at
this point, except foi letting aii escape fiom youi lungs, though youi lips
(which aien't uoing anything) anu focusing on the sounu coming out of the
bell. Anyway.

6. TBIS IS TBE PAY0FF! Somewheie in the seiies - it usually happens foi me
aiounu the A, maybe the u if I'm out of shape - that peiipheial sense you've
kept (without "uoing" anything about it) of the aii passing oveithiough the
lips will change. The buzz will seem to "expanu," the whole system will stait
to feel like it's one single unit, anu you will heai the sounu open up almost
like you took some eaiplugs out of youi eais. At least that's how it affects me
if I've hau a iough stait fiom being out of shape oi having a haiu gig the night
befoie oi whatevei. (If you've tiieu to uo youi usual "moves" to make the
9
sounu happen, you won't get to this point!) If I'm in goou shape, the
uiffeience is not as gieat, as it's pietty close to the goal fiom the beginning.
But it still happens. I've uesciibeu it as being like powei steeiing. When I
staiteu uiiving, many cais still uiun't have powei-assisteu steeiing. You hau
to ciank the wheel with both hanus to tuin a coinei. This is like the fiist time
I expeiienceu powei steeiing. Youngei folks may know what it's like when
the powei steeiing in theii cai goes out; all of a suuuen, it takes many times
the noimal effoit to tuin the wheel. The sensation we'ie looking foi heie is
like when the powei steeiing kicks back in. The sounu opens up. Theie's
suuuenly a "sheen" on the note, but it's fullei, too. You'ie getting substantially
moie (anu bettei) sounu with no incieaseu effoit. I know: Cool. Finish the
seiies uown to low F#. You shoulu be set up, in a ieal goou place foi
whatevei you have to play. That's how it woiks foi me, anyway. It has maue
me sounu anu play bettei in almost eveiy way, neaily fiom the veiy stait.

Couple notes: I'll say again that this is N0T "an embouchuie." Not necessaiily. It has
7"2(," my embouchuie, I guess, in that I uo exactly what I've uesciibeu above when
I play. I useu to look all pietzel-like when I playeu, with this squeezeu anu that
tuckeu anu this pait fiim anu that pait extenueu. Chops flatteneu to the teeth anu
tenseu to the max. Now, by not "holuing anything in place," my face looks like one
of those classic photos of a "goou" embouchuie. A nicely pauueu, iounu-ish aiea
aiounu my mouth on which the mouthpiece sits. That wasn't the goal - just an
inteiesting siue effect. As foi 5(0! embouchuie, all I can tell you is that the iuea heie
is to #") things fall into place. You uiun't have to tiain youiself to blow out canules, oi
cool a spoonful of soup, oi cleai the eiasei uust off of youi uesk with a bieath. Those
aie embouchuies too. If you finu that the setup this exeicise (anu the numbeieu
notes above) piouuces is vastly uiffeient fiom the setup you cuiiently use, you have
the choice of tiusting this, going back to youi olu setup, oi tiying to take what you
can fiom this stuff anu finu someplace in the miuule.

An auueu benefit seems to be the banishment of the uieaueu "closing off my thioat"
issue. (You can't actually "close" youi thioat, btw. Not physically possible. What
actually happens is the valsalva maneuvei, the same thing as when you make a
"giunting" sounu, oi, actually, tiy to foice a bowel movement. The glottis slams shut,
involuntaiily. But it feels like youi "thioat is closing off.") Anyway, many of the
physical "moves" we tiy to make when changing iegisteis oi sluiiing can uevelop
into tiiggeis foi the v. Naneuvei. We've stoppeu ielying on the aii, tiy to uo it with
the chops, then foice the aii to uiive the changeu physical paits. v. Naneuvei.
Choke-o-Rama. When you'ie blowing the embouchuie into place, letting the tongue
affect the aiistieam, anu thinking of the sounu coming fiom the bell, eveiything is
foiwaiu-focuseu. I'm not playing +')( my lips - I'm playing )/!(06/ them. This
eliminateu my uebilitating habit of shutting off the aii as uesciibeu. WAY bettei!

Things will uevelop fiom what's happening when you fiist feel that "iiuing on the
aiistieam" sensation, of couise. Theie is no such thing as absolutely tension-fiee
playing. Foi me, theie ieally isn't any tension iequiieu in the miuule iange beyonu
1u
what it takes to keep my mouth fiom going totally flacciu anu my lips falling away
fiom each othei. As I ascenu, somewheie aiounu high A in my case, I begin to apply
small amounts of fiimness iight aiounu the mouthpiece. This actually uevelopeu as I
tiieu to unueistanu moie about "coineis." I have a small uppei uental palette. The
"hoiseshoe" shape of my uppei teeth is much moie naiiow than my mouth cavity -
my uppei palette is soit of an alligatoi-ish thing. Like many playeis, I hau always
taken "coineis" to mean the veiy coineis of my mouth - wheie the lips enu. That
place. So "fiim coineis," foi me, meant holuing those lip enus in place. Then I ieau oi
heaiu an inteiview with Wayne Beigeion. Be was huiiying thiough a list of
funuamental piinciples he'u been taught as a kiu; it went something like, "blah, blah,
blah. blah, blah, 2(!'"!. )02:"& +' )( )/" "5" )"")/, blah, blah. " WAIT a minute. I
can't get my "coineis" anywheie in the same ;+- 2(&" as my eye teeth! Some
expeiimentation leu to the ievelation that, foi me, the functional piinciple was to
keep whatevei pait of the lips was lineu up with the eye teeth - oi about wheie the
"tuin" occuis in the hoiseshoe - fiom sepaiating fiom the teeth, at least by much.
That clickeu a B0NCB of things in foi me. So, as I ascenu, theie's a slight bit of
fiiming applieu in that ciiculai aiea uesciibeu by my eye teeth. It's just outsiue the
mouthpiece iim with my facialuental stiuctuie. Bas nothing at all to uo with the
enus of my lips. BIu ievelation. No moie tenseu-up smile, no mattei how high I play.

Leaining to feel this sensation uoesn't take long. It happeneu the fiist oi seconu time
I uiu this exeicise, anu I was playing this way pietty much fiom that minute onwaiu.
Anu playing 7"))"!8 Suie, uevelopment takes yeais. But somehow what I've
uesciibeu heie uoesn't negate "3"!5)/+'6 you've built ovei those yeais. Theie is still
a lot that you've built that will continue to woik - some that will even woik bettei -
only you'll uo it without tension. Without the kinu of fatigue that makes you ciash
befoie the enu of the gig.

In my case, within a little less than two weeks, I ciosseu my fingeis anu playeu this
way on a gig. A thiee-houi, no-bieak R&B gig in a L00B banu. I coulu not have maue
it thiough that gig well at all just a couple weeks eailiei. That night, I finisheu fiesh
as a uaisy. Anu uuiing the set (I'll nevei foiget it. it was on "Supeistition," which we
playeu in conceit Eb - the singei was a bit buineu, anu we loweieu the key foi him),
I pusheu my luck anu took a stingei up an octave. Fiist high F I evei ieally -$.)"& in
peifoimance in my life. I neaily ciieu on the way home. No kiuuing. I hau wanteu to
"iiue the aiistieam" like that foi .( many yeais. Now I get to uo it all the time.

I hope you finu all this helpful, oi at least inteiesting.

Rusty Russell