Flaux Studies

From the book

“There are several purposes to these exercises- training the lips to be “set” (as in revert to default) at G on top of the staff, to promote relaxation throughout all registers of the horn, to expand dynamic range, to develop a continuous, uninterrupted airstream able to navigate any register of the horn, to make the extreme ends of the trumpet feel close together, and to dial in on finding your unique sound as a trumpeter.  

These ideas are a combination of several different schools of trumpet pedagogy. It is their combination that I find makes them the most efficient for gaining advanced proficiency on the instrument. It is of utmost importance the dynamics and rests are carefully observed. The lips must remain responsive during practice- if at any point the notes feel forced or strained, it’s time to stop and rest.  

The upper notes should feel like they’re floating out of your horn. Maybe around Double C you’ll start to give a little extra “umph” (just a little, though!) to lock in the pitches, but in the natural range of the trumpet, which extends up to Double G (4th ledger line), it should be of almost no strain to produce any pitch on a whim.  

The trumpet is a static object with a set of overtones and partials. The reason so many people “top out” (can’t go any higher) at Double G is because to break past that range is like singing in falsetto. I’ve heard many forms of the same argument/excuse “everyone has their own range. Not everyone is built to play that high.” Not true! All trumpets have all the notes in them, and it’s simply whether or not you understand how to access them.

 Almost anyone can eventually muscle out a Double G with force, as it’s a note that naturally exists on the instrument. To go beyond that requires an understanding of how little air it actually takes to produce a note on the trumpet. To help learn that feeling of how little air it takes to produce a note on the trumpet, I’ve developed these exercises.