Throat tension

[Bonetaku]

Throat tension is usually not a problem for me, but when I play a pattern or a phrase that consists of an ending and descending slurs and staccato, my throat really tenses up (specifically kopprash 43). I’ve tried playing the kopprash 43 with only slurs, only staccato, and tensed up on both. But when I played it only with air, I had no tension in my throat. So I’m 70% sure it has to do with my articulation. How do I tackle this problem?

[Burgerbob]

Sounds like you have all the tools you need!

Change up your articulation bit by bit to see what is causing the tension. Isolate things that seem to do it a lot, and play other things to see perhaps why it's not tensing up.

[baileyman]

Try a wrong articulation, too. Like, a slow dugah or whatever, as it may reveal a difference.

[harrisonreed]

When you play there has to be resistance placed somewhere to make sure that the airflow is correct for the playing you are doing.

It could be the kind that stays the same, on the horn side, in the mouthpiece, leadpipe, bore, rotors, etc.

It could also be the kind that you can change, on the human side, in your chest/diaphragm, throat, tongue, or lips.

Without seeing or hearing what's actually going on, here are some things to try, and some ideas I have about why there might be tension:

Throat tension usually comes in when everything else in the system is completely open. So if you have spread chops, low jaw, low tongue after each articulation, and are playing open equipment, your body MUST create resistance some other place. In your case it's in the throat. Instead, you should regulate the airflow using the length of your tongue, and also with your jaw position. If throat and diaphragm tension is unsustainable, then tension in your chops is even less sustainable. So you really only have two other places to place the resistance. The tongue, and in a related way the jaw.

Try raising your jaw a bit, using the back of your tongue in a higher position to shape the slurs, and coming at the articulations from a higher "resting" tongue position.

Try whistling the passage with the articulations you are trying to use (an octave higher than written usually gets you close to where your tongue needs to be). It will be nearly impossible to do if you keep your tongue too low, so this might give you some insight.

Alternatively, you might think about using smaller equipment. You should feel some amount of "pushback" in your horn when you're playing well, regardless of the dynamic.

Hope this gives you some ideas!

[UrbanaDave]

1st Post (tryin to earn my 3!) - Thanks for posting this question, Bonetaku. I've wondered about this same thing. Occasionally, I sense a slight vocalization within my throat. In particular it is apparent on quicker flexibility exercises from lower notes (in the bass clef) in particular. I've worked to alleviate this, but I still feel movement in my throat that makes me wonder if I am doing something that prevents better starts to shorter separated notes in succession (different problem, I know). So I guess I'm wondering about others and their experiences with throat sensations, vocalizations, tension while playing.

[tbdana]

I don't have as much knowledge about this as some folks do. Aiden and Harry are probably better at this stuff than I am, as well as Doug and others who haven't posted yet. But it seems to me that it all comes down to relaxation. All the work should be happening inside the rim of the mouthpiece and your mouth, and everything else should be relaxed. So if you're slurring/tonguing down and getting tension, but not when you simulate it with just air, I wonder if maybe mechanically you're inadvertently using throat tension as part of your method for making the change over partials, instead of embouchure and tongue? Like, it's not a bug, it's a feature of an incorrect approach that mostly works, but not on this?

Kopprash 43 doesn't really have any big jumps over multiple partials, if I recall it's more just one partial after another, so maybe you're using your throat to make the partial changes?

Like I said, I'm no expert at this, so if this doesn't resonate just ignore it.

[baBposaune]

Don't even think about your throat at all. Move air. Continuous stream. "Rain Bird" tonguing.

https://bobsanders.net/rain-birdreg-tonguing.html

[tbdana]

Don't even think about your throat at all. Move air. Continuous stream. "Rain Bird" tonguing.

https://bobsanders.net/rain-birdreg-tonguing.html

Love Bob. Have known him since the '70s. Very smart guy. Great player. Had a struggle with focal dystonia. Amazing man. If he's talking, I'm listening.

[baBposaune]

Don't even think about your throat at all. Move air. Continuous stream. "Rain Bird" tonguing.

https://bobsanders.net/rain-birdreg-tonguing.html

Love Bob. Have known him since the '70s. Very smart guy. Great player. Had a struggle with focal dystonia. Amazing man. If he's talking, I'm listening.

Bob and I are good friends and I find his trombone teaching goes right to the core. Thankfully he overcame the focal dystonia and is still playing. Like you, Dana, I started hearing him play live in the 70s and started chatting with him whenever I got the chance.

[SimmonsTrombone]

I used to play with a lot of tension. The only way I got rid of it was to focus on relaxing and using the self-suggestion "Whenever I play trombone, I relax.". It took months, but it worked. I also worked on " tonguing on an air stream" as Bill Hill taught.

[2bobone]

With sincere concern : You are experiencing "Paralysis by Analysis". Cool down and just make music. Air is the fuel of sound. Air must be in motion, never static air pressure. Pretend that NO ONE is listening. Visualize the bow of a cello in motion. No motion --- no sound. Have a beer !!!

[blap73]

Let me try to remember.... I had big issues with choking off my throat for much of my high school playing. Finally cured at Band Camp ... on the first lesson. That was oh, 50+ years ago? What did he do...

I think we started by standing.
No horn, just blow through my lips.
Then progress to blowing (not buzzing) with the MP.
Then progress to buzzing, and then to play.
Rinse and repeat whenever I'd start to gag the throat.

Oh how I regret not getting this cured earlier! My HS director / teacher's primary instrument was trombone. He tried many times but never was able to get me fixed.

Not sure this helps you but thought I'd share.

[fetterbrass]

Without the horn, breathe in through an open AH. Sit or stand tall with your head high. Check your posture by standing with your back against a flat vertical wall. Take an AH in and out with open consistent breath. At some point, sing an AH to hear your vowel while remembering that you don't want the voice to join in when you're playing. Take an open AH in and add a T(AH) as you breathe out, keeping the tall deep AH. Start some long tones.