Practicing lip slurs on a brass instrument is crucial. Most players do them to some degree and most teachers assign them. They are crucial for flexibility across registers and learning to move from note to note with ease. One of the first things I notice in my students’ lip slurs is that none of them are slurs.
“What is a slur?” That is a question I pose to many of my students. Many answer “It means don’t tongue.” I ask them “If a piano player or a violin player has a slur written in their music, does it mean they don’t tongue?” Inevitably, they answer “No”.
A slur is a marking that refers to the sonic characteristics of the way notes connect. It is not a physical command. It means that the notes transition smoothly, in a legato fashion- or at least smoother than the notes that are not slurred. If you can make smooth legato while tonguing- that’s fine. Most great trombone players do just that. Many military bandsmen do so to get the “junk” out of their slur. In general, my beginner students are not tonguing when they are “slurring”, but they are not slurring. The notes are not smooth! For many years I wasn’t slurring either and I still work on this every day!
Common Problems in Slurring:
Articulating with the face- Many students jerk or puff the face on every note transition. Other students let their corners move too much. This creates a push at the front of the notes. This could be accompanied by jaw motion.
Articulating with the air- Many students push the air on their ascending slurs causing a jerk at the front of their note.
Too much or too little tongue motion- Too much tongue motion and the face and jaw jerks. Too little and the face becomes stiff and tight. I do not really think about tongue motion or syllable change in my own playing but it could be helpful for some. However, I do think about minimizing the tongue motion and keeping it loose and facile.
Exercises and concepts to help facilitate smooth slurs:
Awareness- This is the most important part. Many of my students are surprised when I let them know that none of the slurs they played for me were slurs. After I tell them this and let them know that they are not slurring, they often get a lot better due to demanding a higher quality of sound! Song and Wind!
The “note between the note”- This is a figurative concept that I use. There is an infinitely small “note” that occurs in the transition from note to note in a slur. This is not generally tangible or empirical but by drawing a student’s attention to this figurative concept I have good results sometimes. I ask them to make the “note between the two notes” as beautiful as possible.
Minimize and find efficiency in motion- Find the least amount of motion that you need to facilitate a slur. If you are not using the right speed of air for the next note, your face will have to do more of the work. Some exercises for finding the right air speed are below.
Smooth air- Pushing the air for each note creating jerky air causes jerky articulation. Yes, air must get faster for high notes and slower for low notes, but we must arrive to those speeds through smooth air transition. Wind patterns while pretending to do a simple slur and learning to move the air faster and slower in a smooth way is extremely beneficial.
Smooth buzz- When many players buzz slurs, they tend to slot the notes into place. This slotting creates a pushed articulation. If a player practices buzzing a slur with some slow glissando between each pitch, it can aid to smooth out slurs. Eventually this glissando can be sped up in a smooth fashion to facilitate a clean and in time slur.
Playing in time- Learning to coordinate the slur precisely in time and thinking about that aids in the process of growth because you are demanding a more specific product.
Patience- Smooth slurs take a long time to develop just as marathons take a long time to train for.
Conclusion:
The most crucial information for developing great slurs is that a slur is not a physical command. A slur is a sonic indication for some degree of contrasting smoothness or legato. If you approach slurring with this information, you and your students may find your way to smooth slurs without ever using any of the exercises or concepts I mentioned! The best thing I was ever told to improve my slurs was simply “I’m sorry. Those are not slurs.” I didn’t really understand at the time but hopefully I understand (and execute) a little better today! I do know gently informing my students of this and raising their standards is the first step to better slurs!
Brendan Ige