Do you stutter on the trombone? You are probably doing the Valsalva maneuver, learn to control it!

This article will provide useful information to help improve stuttering control on the trombone. I’m going to discuss a condition that quite a few wind players (including myself) have faced. It is known as VALSALVA MANEUVERS, a condition that causes stuttering. If you don’t stutter on the trombone, this article is not for you. It is intended for people who have trouble starting a note on the trombone during stressful situations. Stuttering is a very complicated subject and the remedies are so numerous that I can only list a few in this article.

MY DISCOVERIES ABOUT THIS TOPIC MAY BENEFIT THE FOLLOWING:

Trombone players who have trouble starting with the notes.

Other stuttering metal musicians (French horn, trumpet, tuba, etc.).

Band teachers who have trombone students (or other wind instruments).

All other stutterers (music or not).

ABOUT THE VALSALVA MANEUVER

The Valsalva maneuver (VM as I will call it now) is a natural process that occurs when the muscles in your body create high levels of air pressure, while retaining air in your body. In normal life, VMs occur naturally during bodily functions such as sneezing and coughing. But during the speech or performance of metals, virtual machines can cause major problems that cause stuttering.

When the brain mistakenly activates these muscles, they work together, tensing up, creating additional pressure and making it nearly impossible to start a note on the trombone. Problems like these often occur in nervous situations (such as during a solo in a band, a silent passage in the orchestra, or even during tuning time in a band rehearsal).

The Valsalva muscle network (muscles used in MV) includes the throat, tongue, mouth, abdominal and rectal muscles.

To get an idea of ​​the Valsalva muscles and how they work together, try this exercise: 1. Close your lips as if saying the “M” word. 2. Keep them slightly closed and do not allow them to open. 3. While keeping your lips closed, try whispering the word “TOE.” 4. Remember not to let any air escape your lips while whispering TOE.

The moment you try to whisper with the “T” part of your toe, pay particular attention to how the ABDOMINAL MUSCLE (the muscle of the abdomen) is activated and tensed. Try whispering TOE even louder and watch the throat and tongue tighten as well. You may also have noticed that the muscles in your rectum tightened. These are the muscles of the Red Valsalva.

After trying the above exercise several times, I want you to try adding a fifth step: After getting stuck in your toe, fully relax your abdomen, paying particular attention to how your tongue and throat follow suit. Notice that when you RELAX YOUR ABDOMINAL MUSCLES, the rest of the VM network does the same. This is a very good exercise to touch those muscles and learn to relax them.

In the rest of this article, I want to show you some of the exercises that I have acquired from various books to control the Valsalva maneuver by performing:

DO THESE EXERCISES EVERY DAY BEFORE PLAYING THE TROMBONE (helps control the Valsalva).

PHYSICAL EXERCISE: At least 20 minutes of relaxing exercise (walking is best in my opinion, but other good sports are swimming, running, biking, and aerobics). As we all know, exercise helps to relax the body; so use it to your advantage.

RELAX: 10 minutes of deep breathing exercises a day. Find a nice, quiet place to sit. Breathe deeply, open and relaxed. Breathe strong and relaxed.

STAYING RELAXED: Stay calm throughout the day (wherever you are and whatever you are doing) by breathing deeply and relaxed (also, try counting 4-8 to inhale and 4-12 to exhale). If you are walking somewhere, count your steps and breathe with them (see if you can walk 8 steps as you inhale, then exhale for 8 steps). You can also count your breathing rhythmically while cycling, swimming, jogging, and many other rhythmic sports.

DO THESE EXERCISES EVERY DAY WHILE PLAYING THE TROMBONE

PRACTICE WITHOUT THE TONGUE: Practice 15 to 30 minutes each day without the tongue. Most trombonists who stutter (or don’t produce a good trombone sound) don’t use enough airflow. When you take your tongue out of practice, it becomes a matter of “AIR FLOW” to play well. Later, you can add a smooth, relaxed tongue to your performance. Play some scales, some petal tones, some songs and other assorted music without your tongue; then play them all as before, but with your tongue. When you put your tongue back in, the focus is still on blowing very relaxed. We want to maintain a natural air flow with no pressure anywhere.

FOCUS ON PROPER BREATHING: Always protect yourself against the use of pressure when inhaling. Just allow your body to expand naturally (make sure your abdomen is always relaxed). Focus on breathing in relaxed and taking in lots of wind (breathe in relaxed, breathe out more relaxed). When you are about to start a sound, relax your abdomen while blowing. Breathing should always feel like ONE CONTINUOUS BREATHING MOVEMENT.

PLAY 5 MINUTES IN YOUR MOUTH: Try starting a single sound at your mouthpiece. At first, don’t use your tongue at all (as in the last exercise). First sound a few sirens (start low and siren rise very high, then lower again). Also, play some easy songs (or Christmas songs) on the mouthpiece without using your tongue. Then play them again, adding the tongue.

OTHER USEFUL TIPS

All these tips that I am showing you are for practice, not for performance. When you act, you must stick with what I call “automatic pilot”, which means that you let your unconscious mind do the details (that you practiced so much). This allows you to focus on making music! During performance, if the focus is on technicalities like starting a note, it gets in the way of more important things like being a brilliant artist.

Count yourself (silently) when a song begins. Feel free to tap your toes with the beat to help you stay rhythmically grounded. You can do it as 1 – 2 – Ready – Go. Or even better, make it like: 1e & a 2e & a Ready & a Goe & a. This is called subdividing your heartbeat and it helps you stay stable. Always keep a steady pace, even if you stutter.

Always BREATHE TO EXPAND rather than EXPAND TO BREATHE. By doing the latter (Expanding to breathe), it is possible to fool yourself into thinking that you are breathing, when in fact you are not.

As you inhale, you can pay attention to how cool your throat is, which is a good indicator of whether or not the wind is coming in. If your throat feels cold when you inhale, you are probably blowing a lot of wind.

Practice at least 1 hour EVERY day.

The Valsalva maneuver is never good for trombonists. A recent study has shown that professional trombonists never use Valsalva when playing.

There are many great books written on the topic of stuttering (as it pertains to stuttering during speech) that can be really helpful for trombones. I recommend reading all the books you can on the subject.

The act of trying not to make a VM will make it more likely to happen. Therefore, it is better to let it happen. Don’t make a big deal out of it if it happens. Instead, try to relax and remember what you were doing and thinking just before it happened. When you get home, immediately write down everything you have noticed in your journal. Were you too tense? Did you breathe hard? Were you worried that other people might laugh at you? Write down everything that comes to mind.

There is a book that is considered one of the best books ever written on stuttering (for conversationalists) that works the same for trombonists. If you read the Amazon reviews (at the Valsalva link below), you’ll see that some trombonists have testified about this book (as well as many talking stutterers). It absolutely works if you read the book cover to cover (the end of the book has a gold mine of information). Customers rate it 5/5 stars. To see it, go to this site: [http://www.ValsalvaManeuver.net]