can anybody help
Im a soprano player who can reach the upper register of notes but have problems with tuning. Severe problems. I am very sharp in the upper region and alway getting picked up from adudicators for this. tuning slides does not help much as I end up getting flat with anything under a middle C. Would a different mouthpiece help, its not a problem with stamina nor position of mouthpiece,
Thanks
Jen
Mouthpieces for soprano
Hello Jen,
First of all it's a good thing to find out if your soprano is in tune! Instruments can be out of tune when they come from the factory, but in most cases the very first player of the soprano made it out of tune. That is for all brass-instruments of course.
ABout the sharpness in the upper register. Maybe your mouthpiece is too small. You may need a bigge one. Wich one are you playing now???
I believe its a combination of an instrument out of tune, your lips and your mind. You have to hear the note before you play it. If you don't hear it before playing the note will always be out of tune.
First of all it's a good thing to find out if your soprano is in tune! Instruments can be out of tune when they come from the factory, but in most cases the very first player of the soprano made it out of tune. That is for all brass-instruments of course.
ABout the sharpness in the upper register. Maybe your mouthpiece is too small. You may need a bigge one. Wich one are you playing now???
I believe its a combination of an instrument out of tune, your lips and your mind. You have to hear the note before you play it. If you don't hear it before playing the note will always be out of tune.
You are welcome.
Take a look at http://www.geocities.com/cornetsite/Mouthpieces.htm for more mouthpieces
Take a look at http://www.geocities.com/cornetsite/Mouthpieces.htm for more mouthpieces
I wrote this for another part of the forum, but I can't be bothered to edit it, the bottom has some links to info on bach mouth pieces. Just for curiosity I use a bach 7D mouthpiece for on Sop.
I've been playing in my band for about 11 years and been on Sop for about 7 ish years.
Obviously how well you play is dependent on how often you practice coupled with what you practice (that may sound obvious, but people tend to practice the things they're good at). Also on Sop it can depend on the model of instrument you have and the mouth piece type.
I have been using a yamaha sop all the time, which is ok, I havent played anything else so I would know, but you can get better ones, with brighter sounds but they beome very expensive.
I changed my mouthpiece a year ago partly because I just couldn't get high enough as I wanted. From what I know everything is a compromise with mouth piece choices, you can get a brighter sounding one, but is really hard to play quiet (impossible) and your tone doesnt sound so good or you could have the opposite.I know of some brilliant sop players in other bands, but in a quiet piece they do not have the ability to play quiet, so you have to compromise somewhere, unless your got natural talent for it.
I use a bach 7D at mo, 7C is the most widely used but D is lil shallower as I'm not the loudest of players anyway. I found this out from resources on internet and two great PDF documents which give you lots of info on bach mouthpieces.
To read them you need Adobe Acrobat Reader. from www.Adobe.com
1) Different mouth piece models and info:
http://www.normans.co.uk/pdfs/Vincent%20Bach.pdf
2) History of Vincent Bach, Mouth piece info and a lil more in depth:
http://www.selmer.com/products/accessor ... hmouth.pdf
I've been playing in my band for about 11 years and been on Sop for about 7 ish years.
Obviously how well you play is dependent on how often you practice coupled with what you practice (that may sound obvious, but people tend to practice the things they're good at). Also on Sop it can depend on the model of instrument you have and the mouth piece type.
I have been using a yamaha sop all the time, which is ok, I havent played anything else so I would know, but you can get better ones, with brighter sounds but they beome very expensive.
I changed my mouthpiece a year ago partly because I just couldn't get high enough as I wanted. From what I know everything is a compromise with mouth piece choices, you can get a brighter sounding one, but is really hard to play quiet (impossible) and your tone doesnt sound so good or you could have the opposite.I know of some brilliant sop players in other bands, but in a quiet piece they do not have the ability to play quiet, so you have to compromise somewhere, unless your got natural talent for it.
I use a bach 7D at mo, 7C is the most widely used but D is lil shallower as I'm not the loudest of players anyway. I found this out from resources on internet and two great PDF documents which give you lots of info on bach mouthpieces.
To read them you need Adobe Acrobat Reader. from www.Adobe.com
1) Different mouth piece models and info:
http://www.normans.co.uk/pdfs/Vincent%20Bach.pdf
2) History of Vincent Bach, Mouth piece info and a lil more in depth:
http://www.selmer.com/products/accessor ... hmouth.pdf
Update to anyone reading this post looking for a mouthpeice for sop.
Ive not shifted to a Vincent Bach 10DW which I found a good compromise between sound and ease of use in the high register.
http://www.goldchops.co.uk - sells mouthpeices mail order which he will gold plate to your specifictations. Very cool
Tiggs
Ive not shifted to a Vincent Bach 10DW which I found a good compromise between sound and ease of use in the high register.
http://www.goldchops.co.uk - sells mouthpeices mail order which he will gold plate to your specifictations. Very cool
Tiggs