Pronounced "Bad Trumpet" Style Pivot

[Despot]

I have a young lad in our beginner band who recently moved with his parents from New York. He played trumpet in elementary school, so we gave him a cornet.

He has what some people would call a "pivot". It's very, very extreme. (Think of Dizzy Gillespe). How he can see the music on the stand in front of him is beyond me, his face is almost parallel with the floor! I tried to straighten it but to no avail. It's VERY ingrained.

It's what I would consider bad technique. Any advice on how to correct it, or even just "soften" it?

 

[neiltwist]

well, can't help you with the problem, but 'pivoting' is a good technique, although no where near as extreme as it sounds in your case. to get low I pivot like mad!

 

[neiltwist]

thinking about it, it's more like dropping the jaw.

 

[Mike Saville]

I would agree that pivoting is not a good idea (although most players do it a tiny bit). The goal is to keep everything the same throughout the range of the instrument and therefore make it easier when flexibility/big leaps etc are required.

If I have any students with bad technique/posture like this I make them either sit in a high backed chair or stand against a wall and press the back of thier head against it. The idea is then to play without taking your head off the wall.

Seems to work for me.

 

[Emb_Enh]

Mike Saville's post above is correct.

Although in your original post you describe it as a PIVOT but I get the impression it is a constant angling [up?] of the instrument?

Answer=lip buzz/mpc buzz...

upon getting students like this to do it you'll find that they don't angle the mpc in the same way they do an instrument.

With the instrument in front of them they have the PINNOCHIO effect --ahhah ya know...they feel like it is acres stretching out in front of their face.

Anyhoo --try lip/mpc buzzing for a while before transferring it [slide it on while they play] back on to the instruiment.

I hope some of this helps..

 

[Okiedokie of Oz]

A tiup from my singing lecturer at uni *shudder*. It works with my kids!

Explain that thje body must feel like it is hanging from a single thread. Head held straight but high, shoulders firm, straight back.

If it doesn't work, pull a few hairs formt he top of their head...they'll slowly get it

 

[Naomi McFadyen]

Get him to stand up straight against a wall!!
and tell him that unless he wants to have a very bad case of the HunchBack of Notre Dame he better start working on his posture!

;-)