The 4 Trumpet octave keys: TensionLess playing part 2.

We all learn to play by getting next to ZERO real instruction. Then we get told to tighten up. WE all develop a muscle based playing.
A few people do ok this way and the rest of us really struggle. Tightening muscles is very inefficient when it comes to changing notes. In fact it is the last thing a pro player does.

Pros have several tools that they use instead of facial tension and mouthpiece pressure.

Last year I wrote a book called Tensionless Playing and it was a guide or map on how to get rid of tension and rely more on air. I showed how pros use different muscles than hobby players when they play. This explains how they play longer, higher and more relaxed.

I mentioned and talked briefly about what I call the “4 Trumpet Octave Keys” (TM). I have had lots of people express a desire for a deeper look at “The 4 Trumpet Octave Keys” (TM) and how we use them in playing.

In 2014 I did a Thermal Imaging Study of trumpet players.

I finally had proof of things I had been saying for years. Most players do completely the wrong things to play well in the upper register.

There are 4 major things that actually do work like octave keys for us and this book tells you how to use them.

There are 17 pages and 1 hour and 25 minutes of videos showing these things that separate us from the Pros.

Like:
Mouthpiece Seal CAN be an octave key. (It divides the lip in half but if you use tension the the seal doesn’t raise the pitch an octave.)

Tongue Hiss (Special type of arch) CAN be an octave key.(It channels the air and only blows air at a small part of the lip.)

A certain type of breath support CAN be an octave key. (Sadly almost nobody does enough to make it work well.)

The pencil exercise and the frown CAN be an octave key, BUT you have to do it right. Meaning real lip to lip compression.