Flexibility and lip trill exercises

The pitch is adjusted with lip position and the speed of air. They control the aperture size between lips, which sets the pitch. You can affect the air speed by raising and lowering the back/center part of your tongue. You can notice this by whistling high and low. Do not raise the tip of your tongue, this prevents the air flowing freely between your teeth.

Playing these exercises will train your lips to adapt to current pitch which helps you to hit the right notes. Slur (no tongue attack, except for the first note) the notes and use the same fingering throughout the whole phrase. Breathe in on the last beat of the last bar of each phrase, do not hold breath. Keep your posture straight yet relaxed. The first exercises are also good for warm-ups.

Remember to use the metronome.

Sound example, Flexibility 1, Tempo=60

Lip Flexibility Exercise 1

flexibility1.png

created by jjsjjs

Sound example, Flexibility 2, Tempo=60

Lip Flexibility Exercise 2

flexibility2.png

created by jjsjjs

Sound example, Flexibility 3, Tempo=60

Lip Flexibility Exercise 3

flexibility3.png

Sound example, Flexibility 4, Tempo=60

Lip Flexibility Exercise 4

flexibility4.png

created by jjsjjs


Lip Trill Exercises take the same idea further, this is more like "fine-tuning". These are not as ideal as warm-ups as the previous exercises. You can change the pitch rapidly by raising and lowering your tongue as described at the top of the page.

Sound example, Lip Trill Exercise 1, Tempo=100

You can click the image to get a bigger view.

Lip Trill Exercise 1

liptrill1.png

created by jjsjjs

Sound example, Lip Trill Exercise 2, Tempo=100

Lip Trill Exercise 2

liptrill2.png

created by jjsjjs

Sound example, Lip Trill Exercise 3, Tempo=60

Lip Trill Exercise 3

liptrill3.png

created by jjsjjs


Next we'll go even further and try to leap over notes. Again, this will train your lips to hit the right notes. Remember to use the same fingering throughout the phrase and use no tonguing.

Sound example, Leaps 1, Tempo=60

Leaps 1

leaps1.png

created by jjsjjs

This is a longer version of the previous exercise.

Sound example, Leaps 2, Tempo=60

Leaps 2

leaps2.png

created by jjsjjs


further_reading.png

Further studies: Colin, Charles: Advanced Lip Flexibilities

en.png
fi.pngSuomeksi
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Works with most up-to-date browsers (older versions and Internet Explorer may work inadequately). Adobe Flash Player -plugin is required for metronome and audio player.