Pops
This whole didgeridoo thing had me intrigued. So I ordered one and to my surprise, I couldn’t get a note (drone) out the thing for the first 1/2 hour. Geez – here I am thinking I am playing so relaxed. I can drone now and of course when I pick up the trumpet the sound is much fatter and more vibrant. It will take some practice – but thanks – a real eye opener for me. I will certainly recommend the ebook to guys.
Thanks again

Jim Manley
PS – The New Arban’s book is a b*itch!

The problem most players have is a simple misunderstanding of how physical actions work for each register. They don’t know what to change, when to change, or how to change their actions. Learning that sets your playing on fire.

Why can Pro players play 8-10-12+ hours a day and other people play an hour and lose their range?
Pros play differently than other players.

Did you know that we have 4 different octave keys?
4 things that help us to produce notes an octave higher but 2-3 are usually never used.

Most of us are too tense on even our low notes. As we play higher we get progressively more tense.

I have talked about this for over 30 years. I often mention that we tend to get tight as we go higher and that extra tension hurts the sound and the range.

Here is an example:
A player uses 10% too much tension to play G on top of the staff. He uses 10% too much MORE for A, B, C, D and E. He tops out there. Sadly if he learned to relax out that extra 10%, then his range would be double high C. His extra tension wastes the strength and compression before he needed to use it.

Sadly almost everyone is too tight even on low C.

I am going to show you how to unlock your endurance and to learn to play with little to no effort.

The main reason we struggle is because we fight the horn and fight our own faces.

Another reason is that we fight, misuse, don’t use, or don’t even know about our 4 (FOUR) Octave keys. I tell you how to use those in this book.

This book shows you step by step how to relax and stop fighting when you play.

Once you see it you will understand almost instantly what has been holding you back.

I use Didgeridoo to help people learn to relax. A usable substitute can be found at Walmart and Kmart for 1 dollar. Didgeridoo could be a surprise but it relaxes you differently than say pedal tones. Pedal tones only relax the center of the lips. To play with less tension, you need to learn to relax the sides of the face. Playing pedal tones doesn’t help you to relax the sides of the face. (We need to learn to get more relaxed than we are at rest. We as brass players are tighter at rest than other people and we need to get back to regular normal resting tension levels.)

Yes we can and should have a tensionless face in the low and mid registers. And a tension-less face (less tension) up high. NO you don’t need a tight face to play low notes.

You need to keep the top lip supple. Using tension from the side of the face stretches the top lip and hinders performance.
You played notes the 1st day you held the horn. They didn’t need tension. Just what are you going to tighten up when you have used those muscles already?

We all know that tension on the side of the face makes us lose resonance. As we get tighter the resonance slips away. Tension from the side of the face, tightens the vibrating lip. The tension is in the wrong place.

We should control the corners and make compression BELOW the lip NOT from the sides. Tensing across the bottom lip doesn’t hinder how well the top lip vibrates.
We know we can touch the bottom lip and play but not touch the top lip. We know we can use more pressure on the bottom lip…. The same is true of tension. We need to shift the tension away from the top lip and to the bottom lip.

I am trying to show you that you have much MORE potential by changing WHERE the tension is used

Tongue arch and anchor tonguing are mentioned but it also talks about how and why it is used to compensate for the tension you relaxed away on the Didgeridoo.

It talks about resonance and tension, resonance and overtones, resonance and the aperture tunnel (TM). The order of the steps is very important.

This is a 28 page Ebook with 19 minutes of video examples and explanations.

Here is why players are too tight and is included in the book (I really want people to hear this).

Hi Pops
I just wanted to say that this the best $12 I’ve ever spent!
-wow- I’ve been banging my head against a brick wall for so many years now and after reading your book its just unlocked all that tension which i thought i needed to play.
Thanks again Pops-and all the very best !

Simon Taylor

For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m playing close to proper low C. I’ve been doing the aperture tunnel lip buzzing, and then trying to play the note using the relaxed face and not trying to create an embouchure. The low C is in tune (a first, since I’ve always played very sharp) and I can feel the buzz. It feels big like a trombone buzz. This is all from your new tension-less playing book.
Thanks Pops!

Marcus Harbaugh

Pops;
When I get this right I sound amazing and my A above High C is as strong as my A above the staff, an octave lower.

Wow Pops
I played an E over double C in Jazz band tonight. I felt loose, relaxed and I just knew it would happen, so I went for it. Those 4 octave keys you talk about really worked.

Dave

Thanks Clint
I purchased a copy of your Tensionless Playing eBook yesterday. While I already had most of your eBooks, I think this latest one is perhaps the most important of all that you have written.
Having read it through a number of times in the past 24 hrs, it’s obvious in my own playing (beginner) that I’ve been using way too much tension in my face to produce notes.
The major ‘A-HA’ moment for me was relistening to your 1st file I had heard that previously on your website, but the penny never dropped that you actually say players should lip buzz from low C DOWN two octaves. Hmmmmnnnnn…. how did I miss that before?
Answer….. waaaaayyyyy too much tension in the lips and face stopping those notes from coming out.

You’re spot on about how the pro players play vs the students and part timers.

I’ve had the opportunity to sit in the audience on about 25 occasions here in Australia, at times within 15 feet of the stage, when James Morrison performs. He plays for hours across an enormous range on trumpet (& trombone) without remotely breaking into a sweat. Beautiful, big, full tone from the pedals to beyond double C. While there’s clear muscular strength evident in James’ face, it is centered around the lips as per your diagram in the book.

Finally, I had an online lesson with Jim Manley recently….. absolutely brilliant player and wonderful guy. Your book reminded me of how relaxed Jim was when demonstrating amazing feats on the horn during the lesson. The epitome of tensionless playing from a pro.

Thanks for writing these ebooks. While it takes time for the penny to drop, I’m sure all round the globe people other than I will be having their own ‘A-HA’ moments from reading your books…. and the global trumpet playing fraternity will be all the better for those moments!
regards,

Brian Hayes