- In trombone lip slurs, achieving smooth note transitions requires avoiding the habit of notes changing with extreme ease
- Practicing broken lip slurs (black tone, forced overtones) helps develop the difficult control of maintaining continuous lip vibration while the air stream continues
- By performing broken lip slurs every day without fail before lip slur practice, you can condition your embouchure and connect it to natural lip slurs
In trombone playing, lip slurs are one of the most important fundamental techniques for brass players. While understanding the concept of lip slurs is important, true improvement comes from physically experiencing them in actual performance and integrating airflow and lip vibration holistically. In particular, understanding the causes of unsmooth lip slurs and overcoming them through physical sensation is the key to achieving natural lip slurs.
The Concept of Lip Slurs: Aiming for Smooth Note Transitions
In lip slur practice, achieving smooth note transitions is the most important goal. However, a common problem arises where notes change with extreme ease, resulting in unsmooth lip slurs. This is caused by playing with a sensation of forcibly contorting the embouchure when changing notes. To achieve smooth lip slurs, the difficult control of maintaining continuous lip vibration while the air stream properly continues is necessary.
Experiencing Broken Lip Slurs
As a practice method for achieving smooth lip slurs, there is an approach called broken lip slurs (black tone, forced overtones). This involves forcibly contorting the embouchure, which is not the most comfortable sensation, but it is a practice of forcibly moving and transitioning between notes like a glissando. This practice cannot be done without continuous airflow, so it develops the sensation of maintaining air stream. Additionally, it requires the quite difficult control of maintaining lip vibration throughout, and once you can perform this perfectly, lip slurs such as C-F-C-F-C will connect smoothly.
Causes and Solutions
Let us explain in detail the causes of unsmooth lip slurs and their solutions. We will introduce specific approaches for resolving issues such as the habit of notes changing with extreme ease, problems with airflow being interrupted, and problems with being unable to maintain lip vibration.
Problem 1: The Habit of Notes Changing with Extreme Ease
In lip slur practice, the problem of notes changing with extreme ease, resulting in unsmooth lip slurs occurs. This is caused by playing with a sensation of forcibly contorting the embouchure when changing notes.
Solution: By performing broken lip slurs every day, you can avoid this habit. The practice of black tone, forced overtones, which involves forcibly moving and transitioning between notes like a glissando, should be performed without fail before lip slur training to condition your embouchure. This practice may not sound very polished, but it is an extremely important exercise for conditioning your embouchure.
Problem 2: Airflow Being Interrupted
In lip slur practice, playing without proper continuous airflow makes it impossible to achieve smooth note transitions. Especially if the air stops at the moment of changing notes, the sound cuts off and a smooth lip slur cannot be achieved.
Solution: Broken lip slur practice is a practice that cannot be done without continuous airflow. Through this practice, you can develop the sensation of transitioning between notes with a slur from a state where the air is continuously flowing. It is important to practice gradually until you can change notes from the same state as when playing long tones.
Problem 3: Unable to Maintain Lip Vibration
In lip slur practice, the difficulty of maintaining continuous lip vibration becomes a problem. Especially when changing notes, if lip vibration stops, smooth lip slurs cannot be achieved.
Solution: In broken lip slur practice, the quite difficult control of maintaining lip vibration throughout is required. Once you can perform this practice perfectly, lip slurs such as C-F-C-F-C will connect smoothly. By gradually expanding the practice range, such as after completing all seven positions, starting from the next higher overtone, you can develop the sensation of moving through all seven positions again across one octave.
- ① Perform broken lip slurs every day: Without fail before lip slur training, practice black tone, forced overtones to condition your embouchure
- ② Maintain airflow: Develop the sensation of changing notes with continuous airflow, from the same state as when playing long tones
- ③ Maintain continuous lip vibration: Through broken lip slur practice, master the difficult control of maintaining continuous lip vibration
- ④ Gradually expand the practice range: Develop the sensation of moving through all seven positions again across one octave by starting from the next higher overtone after completing all seven positions
In trombone playing, understanding the concept of lip slurs is important, but true improvement comes from physically experiencing them in actual performance and integrating airflow and lip vibration holistically. By performing broken lip slurs every day to avoid the habit of notes changing with extreme ease, you can condition your embouchure. By mastering the difficult control of maintaining continuous lip vibration while the air stream properly continues, lip slurs such as C-F-C-F-C will connect smoothly. By putting these methods into practice, you can naturally express smooth lip slurs and achieve musically expressive performances. Translating concept into physical sensation is the key to improving trombone playing.
