
Still, what was it about those pedal tones that had created such a loyal camp of followers?įlash forward years later, when I was working with students on their downward slurs. Everything else he taught was based in a solid grounding of the physical laws that govern trumpet playing, so I had a lot of faith in his logic from first hand experience. Roy was not a fan of pedal tones at all, saying that playing in that range would only encourage a lack of embouchure focus, leading to problems in the upper range. Over the years I have heard of other players who have had the same lack of success, but have always wondered why this method worked for some and not for others.Ī few years later I began studies with Roy Stevens in New York City. However, there was no change whatsoever in my upper range. Learning of all of the great musicians who endorsed the Claude Gordon method increased my dedication, and inspired me to develop pedal notes below double pedal C. Of course I wanted to be able to play those high notes too, especially since I’d lost much of that range when I began trying to play with less mouthpiece pressure.

All of this was done independently of their trumpet lessons at the university, but once one player heard that the routine was great for developing the upper register, many others followed suite.

Proper lip setting for trumpet pedal tones series#
Years ago when I was in college, many of the school’s trumpet players began to follow the Claude Gordon Method, which started with a series of long tones chromatically descending into the pedal register of the instrument (named after the lowest pitches of the organ, which are played with the feet).
