When I practise playing scales I have a tuner in front of me (as much for something to focus on as anything else), and can more or less get a good buzzy tone even if the pitch wanders a bit. But when I play tunes the pitch tends to go out the window and the tone sounds very unrefined a lot of the time. This is extremely annoying, has anyone else found the same?
Yeah I get the same thing. I can get a great tone practicing bits and pieces and the first half of a tune will go fine but the second half of a tune things start to slip! I’ve a nasty feeling the cure is practice , practice and then a bit more practice to finish up. On the positive side I have found that learning to get the beginnings of a really tight economical emboucher has helped a lot.
Rob
Just learn to love to play. Once you do this all else will follow.
If you don’t love to play then perhaps you are playing for the wrong reason. Practice, and learning new tunes, is not a chore but a source of delight and comfort.
the problem here is that when you play against a tuner and the thing gets outta whack, makes you insure about yourself and takes away much of the fun.
because of a hearing problem I have been doing exactly the same but now I have got the embouchure almost right, I do just PLAY and enjoy the music, and practice tunes…some days I check how I am doing but not very often…
berti
Learning is always a mixture of pleasure and pain. A bit of dogged graft has always, I’ve found, paid off in the end. It is also vital just to play for the joy of it… why else would we bother!
Practice, practice, practice. Play, play, play. Continuously refine your technique for years. Then you’ll have it. Or rather, everybody will think you have it while you’re still dissatisfied with your tone. That’s the path, and it’s perpetually joyful.