Hi guys, I am having trouble getting distinct note production with a nice “schwung” to it when jumping between octaves interchangeably in fast music.
Examples:
G2dG eGdG|G2dG …, or
BAeA f#AeA|BAeC# df#ed|…
As you know, a LOT of music is based such phrases…
So, how to produce them properly and make it sound cool and how to be able to emphasize that rhythmic effect that such phrases are so good for?
Suppose you need to change the embouchure for every note, adjust breath power maybe…can one use fingering to help get distinct notes?
I feel good octave separation is important, I dont want every note to sound like they’re feeble excuses for notes from the same octave; as they often do when you try to do it faster than you really can…
Oh, and dont go “practice, practice, practice” on me, I know that part
Tonguing harder is actually probably resulting in a faster “burst of air,” and pushing that higher octave into alignment. I have found that this works for me, as well.
But the main thing at work here is air speed (in addition to embouchure), and so you really have to think about how much pressure you’re putting behind each note. If I’m having trouble with a passage like this, I normally play it with all the top notes tongued (as ninjaaron suggested) and then slur down to the lower notes. Sometimes this creates a tonguing pattern that doesn’t really work for the music, though, so you’ll just have to play with it a little.
I’m sure someone else has something slightly more intelligent to say.
I would tend to try to push with the breath (from the diaphram, that is), but I would not tongue the high note. If I’d tongue at all, it would be the low note (the rocking pedal). YMMV, I’m a beginner.
Oh, and I try to practice octave jumps with minimal breath adjustments, just tightening the emboushure. I think one is supposed to be able to get the second octave with out blowing harder (more air) but just by focussing the airstream more.
I find that the only way to play something like “Gravel Walk” up to speed is to tongue the high notes. .. This is, in fact, about the only reason I ever tongue anything. It sounds decent to me but I’d be interested in hearing more experienced players’ takes on it.
I think the key in these particular passages is to stop the low note just before you attack the high note. I close off the end of the low note by closing my throat and then go for the high note.
Try playing the same note in two octaves, going from low G to high G, for example. Just playing those two notes on their own you can flow from one to the other, but in the middle of a tune you pretty much have to stop the low G before you do the high G, it’s hard to just go seamlessly from one to the other. You need to separate the notes.
Even trickier is going from a high note down to the same note in the first octave…again you have to stop midflight in order to re-attack the low note.
It may also help to try jumps that involve changing register but are not the full ocatve… my current favourite is to vary the third section of Trip To Pakistan…
Original |:FGBF GBFG|EFGE FGFE|DFAD FADF|AGFG E4:|
Variation |:fgBf gBfg|efGe fGfe|dfAd fAdf|agfg e4:|
Didn’t Kevin Crawford have some exercises he gave you at The Burren in Boston, Brad? I only heard about it on the cd you gave me, but he seems to have had some tunes or something to work on this kind of jumping between octaves.
Yes, come to think of it that’s where the “stop in mid-flight” expression came from too – from Kevin!
He demonstrated it on a modern composition called “The Almost Reel,” maybe Lunasa recorded it; I think it was composed by a piper whose name escapes me at the moment.
