Horn Matters | A French Horn and Brass Site and Resource | John Ericson and Bruce Hembd

To conclude this short series I will step away from old horn methods and focus in on my take on the exhale and points of resistance.

There are two main problems commonly seen with the exhale. One is a hitch in the cycle of breathing. The other problem is over-conceptualizing the points of resistance. Both problems are often fueled unfortunately for horn players at least in part by reading what Farkas had to say on the topic.

Considering the exhale again

A normal exhale outside of brass playing involves simple relaxation. In brass playing we need a more forceful outflow of air. What we want is a natural control of this outward flow guided by the ear and the sound coming out the bell.

The exhale is a natural turn-around of the inhale. Where the process breaks down is usually related to tonguing issues. The inhale, exhale, and articulation all happen in one motion and I personally suggest the thought of it being an attack rather than a release which will help avoid the development of a hesitation attack problem. For a bit more on tonguing, not part of the Hornmasters series, check this article.

Disclaimer: As in parts I and II, if you have this cycle down and have no other problems with your tone quality and range please feel free to skip the rest of this article. I would almost prefer that you not read what follows, as it can lead to over-conceptualizing the points of resistance.

The tongue and tongue arch as a key element

The primary point of resistance to the general flow of air is in fact, at least for higher brass players, the tongue. There is a certain amount of air that is needed to make the lips vibrate at any given dynamic and pitch. Rather than regulating this flow of air directly at the lips or way down in the lungs and chest, the flow of air is regulated at least in part by the tongue. The tongue is a large organ and can actually stop the flow of air in multiple locations if desired—front, middle, back, and even way down at the back. That last location is commonly thought of as “the throat” but I believe I am accurate in saying that the controlling mechanism is still the tongue.

The above may seem like a somewhat radical statement in relation to traditional pedagogy but take a second and think about your tongue. Really try to feel it in your mouth and throat. Where does it end? What directions can you move it? What shapes can it make?

If things are otherwise totally open the tongue can easily regulate speed of the flow of air from nothing to full flow. One impression of how this regulation works is by changes of vowel shape in the mouth, as in the difference between “hee” and “haw.” Observe the tongue arch changes. The tongue is capable of practically an infinite number of very specific formations of which we have total control.

Discussions of the topic of resistance usually include a discussion of the instrument and mouthpiece as a point of resistance and also the glottis or the area near the vocal chords. The instrument and mouthpiece are minor players in the process and are fixed constants. The glottis is a space next to the vocal chords which we have control of; it is the “valve” that closes when we cough or clear our throat. While it could theoretically close partially to control the general flow of air, MRI studies have demonstrated that it is active in relation to tonguing, closing with every articulation up to a point when it is not active in rapid tonguing. It is open when playing though, and for purposes of this discussion of resistance is a minor player and a fixed constant.

Returning to vowel sounds, the way I perceive the extreme ranges are “hee” for high and “haw” for low. In the Third edition of Horn Playing from the Inside Out by Eli Epstein he suggests high to low “tee,” “tseh,” “thuh,” and “thaw,” vowels clearly matched to the MRI horn studies. As unusual as they may sound to readers on first hearing, clearly vowel changes are done in a similar manner by all elite horn players, even if the players think they are doing something else. To not do so goes against something that is very natural for managing notes in the range we play.

The tongue is the key player

In summary, the main point of resistance as I would define it in relation to the Farkas discussion of the topic– that we can use to any advantage as a performer is the tongue, and it is controlled to regulate the flow of air to the lips primarily via the mechanism of what we perceive as vowel shapes in the mouth.

This is not quite the same as players of other brass instruments seem to perceive things. As I noted in part II of this series,

When you go outside the horn you can see there are even more divergent opinions on the general topic of points of resistance. My general take on the big picture of this is that the lower brass are looking at a lower resistance setup (Jacobs: “blow to the lips, not the tongue”) and higher brass often are looking at the tongue arch as a key element (see for example the series of illustrations in David Hickman, Trumpet Pedagogy, of tongue arch placement and focal points in different registers).

Finally, as repeatedly noted in the disclaimers, there is a danger in over conceptualizing all of this. If your sound is on track and you can manage your way in and out of the extreme registers you are more than likely managing this element in a natural, correct manner. But do give vowel shapes in the mouth some thought, perhaps you will perceive things you are doing that you never previously realized. And in the end don’t look at any one book as being your Bible for horn playing. Be willing to break a rule or two and let your ear be the guide toward finding the place where your sound production is the best.

Continue in Hornmasters series

Return to Points of Resistance PART I

As I have noted elsewhere, horn teachers of days gone by seem to rarely have attacked each other directly. But if you read their methods critically you can tell they could not possibly have agreed with each other on many things, which is certainly that case in relation to the exhale and the points of resistance.

Disclaimer: if you feel you have the breathing cycle down and have no other problems with your tone quality and range please feel free to skip this article. I would almost prefer that you not read what follows, as it can lead to over-conceptualizing the points of resistance.

Additional Note: To avoid the long, complicated quotes that will be seen in Parts I and II of this series I will get to my personal bottom line in Part III. And, as a final note, the part of this topic that has to do with the points of resistance is in general is a bit of a can of worms, but it was a can opened wide by Farkas in the “Bible” and other teachers followed his lead. As my goal with this series is to work through all the topics in the Farkas book I can’t pretend the topic does not exist. In the words of the Borg, “resistance is futile.”

There should never be any hesitation

Starting with the topic of the exhale, Gunther Schuller in Horn Technique is primarily concerned with the relationship of the exhale to the music being performed. He is especially concerned that players not have any hesitation between the inhale and exhale.

The end of the inhaling process should be as closely connected as possible to the beginning of the breathing out of air…. Both inhaling and exhaling should be thought of as a single uninterrupted act.

Hesitation between breathing in and expelling the air again serves no purpose other than to tighten the various body muscles which should remain in a state of ‘relaxed tension’ for free natural playing. There is one exception, however. In the upper register, most players on an initial attack like to hesitate for the purpose of tightening the diaphragm into a strong supporting position. However, I wish to emphasize that this momentary hesitation is measured in fractions of a second, and is not long enough to choke back the air stream, unnecessarily tightening the neck and shoulder muscles.

[UPDATE: An excellent and related discussion of the same topic may be found in Christopher Leuba, The Rules of the Game. Leuba certainly feels the inhale and exhale are to be done in one continuous motion. One quick quote: “Although I am in complete agreement that preparatory timing should be as consistent as possible, regardless of the tempo of the music, I feel that a slow preparation … may cause the player to over-prepare, perhaps to ‘stall’ or ‘stutter’ on the release….”]

Later Schuller speaks of the lungs and the muscles that control them being “a kind of bellows” that we must learn to exert absolute control over to provide exactly the correct flow of air which is steered by the embouchure.

The principle involved is a very simple one: the flow of a steady unchanging stream of air fed by the source (the lungs) can be increased by closing the opening through which it issues (the embouchure), just as, in a stream, a sudden narrowing of the river bed will cause a relative acceleration in the flow of water.

Another view of resistance

In explaining this concept further he turns his discussion toward four points of resistance which mirrors Farkas and opens up his perspective on how he visualized the topic.

The air stream, and in turn, the tone, are also controlled by another organ, the larynx, which functions as still another element in this four-way chain of pressure I am attempting to describe. The larynx (situated in the trachea) is used in horn playing almost to the degree that it is used in singing. And of all the points of control I have mentioned it is probably the most versatile. The larynx is a valve-like organ which at one extreme can shut off air from the lungs completely, at another (when open) can let the air rush out completely unrestrained, and can, of course, adopt all graduations between these two extremes. To illustrate its function briefly: in playing a loud sustained note the larynx must be wide open; on a very soft sustained note it must close sufficiently (again the ear is the final judge) to slow down the flow of air to the proper volume. The larynx’s other important function is to end a note. This is achieved by closing this valve still further to the point where the air stream being allowed to pass is not sufficient to vibrate the lips and horn. This feeling can be easily practiced by singing a sustained ‘Ah’ syllable and gradually choking the sound off with the larynx….

All four points of control (diaphragm pressure, larynx pressure, embouchure pressure, and the unalterable resistance from the mouthpiece and the horn) function in a completely integrated inseparable manner, and only diligent and analytical practicing will give the player the necessary control assuming that he is not—as some players indeed are—a ‘natural’ talent, to whom all these technical processes are already second nature.

Just say “no” to hesitation attacks

Milan Yancich in A Practical Guide to French Horn Playing noted that he believed “strongly in the use of a demonstration to solve a problem rather than a lengthy explanation.” He did however present some thoughts on the topic of hesitation attacks. These he feels must be eliminated, but it is not easy.

A positive method of eliminating the hesitation or stuttering type of attack is doubtful. This problem attacks a minority of performers and the aggravation of such an attack or articulation beginning often occurs in the late stages of the development of a performer. I have seen colleagues of mine in orchestras who can enter on a note without fail when the conductor gives a down beat of a baton. I have also seen the same performers hesitate or “freeze” or produce a faulty attack because of the lack of a down beat.

… It is interesting to note that when a delayed entrance on a note occurs it is usually on a note requiring a piano attack rather than a forte dynamic. From this circumstance we can deduce that articulation[s] in forte dynamics are more apt to be free from hesitation.

To address this problem Yancich presents an exercise in sforzando sixteenth note attacks.

The open throat?

One concern of Fred Fox in Essentials of Brass Playing was keeping the throat open. For sure this paragraph has something behind it related to a different understanding of the points of resistance than that presented by Farkas.

The throat must be open at all times when playing. The sound should have a constant flowing, singing quality. This can only be accomplished if the throat remains open. A tight throat creates a bottleneck in the vibrating column of air from the lips down to the chest cavity…. This bottleneck can be heard in the sound just as surely as it would be heard if there were a large dent on one of the pipes of the brass instrument. Removing the dent opens the sound. Learning how to keep the throat open opens the sound just as effectively.

And let’s think about the glottis more

For a final, classic horn method perspective on this issue we turn to Farquharson Cousins in On Playing the Horn. He has an interesting perspective on the glottis and the mechanics of the inhale and exhale and the points of resistance.

The air column is formed by the lungs and the mouth cavity. These two chambers are linked by the glottis, which, in very general terms, is the muscular valve controlling air inflow/outflow between lungs and mouth cavity. Such a cursory excursion into physiology may be helpful to the understanding that at the moment of tonguing the glottis has to be already open. It is quite possible for it to open simultaneously with the tongue movement. (This latter is not a common fault and is not entirely crippling to note production, but it is rather like starting a car ride with the brake at half-cock.)

The difficulty about controlling the glottis (in our context) is that the mechanism has no conscious feeling. We must therefore resort to finding out what it should do and ensuring that it does it. Its functioning can best be demonstrated by inhaling and then holding the breath. The glottis then closes and we cannot exhale until it opens. When sustaining a note the glottis must obviously be open; it is at the moment of tonguing that the fault can occur.

An analysis of what we do from the moment of taking a breath to the moment of releasing it into the instrument will clarify the point in question. The sequence is

i. inhale
ii. close the glottis
iii. contract the respiratory and intercostals muscles until a slight air pressure is built up
iv. release the air into the mouth cavity (i.e. open the glottis)
v. contract the respiratory and intercostals muscles a little more to make up for the lowering of air pressure when the air cavity is added
vi. release the air into the instrument by the tongue movement.

These actions are so automatic and so dove-tailed that to go through them in slow motion risks difficulty and confusion. However, by doing so we can emphasize the importance of not missing out (iv) and (v).

Confused yet?

Overall what we get when horn teachers try to address the topic is a mixture of common sense with regard to the exhale and discussions that are of questionable physiological accuracy on resistance. The authors must have felt that they served as visualizations but certainly they have also led some readers astray.

Which may be part of the appeal of a simple approach like “song and wind,” as advocated by the great tuba and brass teacher Arnold Jacobs.

Beyond the horn

As implied above, when you go outside the horn you can see there are even more divergent opinions on the general topic of points of resistance. My general take on the big picture of this is that the lower brass are looking at a lower resistance setup (Jacobs: “blow to the lips, not the tongue”) and some higher brass are looking at the tongue arch as a key element (see for example the series of illustrations in David Hickman, Trumpet Pedagogy, of tongue arch placement and focal points in different registers).

In 2012 comments to Part I  of this article Arnold Jacobs also came into the discussion thread so I took the time to reference Song and Wind for any specifics from him on the topic of the points of resistance. Jacobs pedagogy is widely known and respected and can actually be summed up in just a few words (“song and wind”). But with that said I would like to give readers a small taste of his thoughts focused narrowly on the subject of the points of resistance, these two quotes giving some sense of his take on the topic.

I do not want more space in the mouth than the space of the pharynx. I need the resistance to air at the lips, not at the throat. If we take air comfortably through the lips, there will still be a moderate friction in the pharyngeal region. If too much air is taken in, there will be a massive resistance in the throat, which is very hard to cope with.

And a couple pages later,

If there is insufficient air volume moving up the trachea, the glottis will close and the tongue will have too much pressure behind it and there will be starvation of air to the embouchure.

Of course these quotes are so short that you can’t hope to get a true view of his pedagogy in relation to points of resistance but I think it is fairly clear for our present purposes that he did not have the same view on the topic as did Farkas.

When we return to the final part of this series I will present my take on a practical understanding of the exhale and the points of resistance for the horn player in relation to the initial discussion of the topic in The Art of French Horn Playing.

Continue in Hornmasters Series to PART III