harpdude61
2137 posts
Sep 13, 2014
12:41 PM
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I hope someone has experienced this. Any of us can speculate, but...
I played trumpet in high school and was pretty good. Did nothing musical for 25 years until harp. Picked up a trumpet the other day and had no chops like I remember.
Would it hurt my harp playing to pick the trumpet back up and build the chops? Please respond if you play both.
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Rgsccr
280 posts
Sep 13, 2014
3:06 PM
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I can't respond from personal experience but I have a good friend, Jeff Mason, who plays both trombone and harp as a professional. I can tell you that whether or not one instrument helps the other, he certainly comes up with some interesting music on both. His harp playing, in particular, seems to be influenced somewhat by the 'bone and is certainly different than most harp players (in a good way). Jeff says he isn't conscious of either instrument contributing to way he approaches the other, but he's been playing both for over 40 years so that makes sense.
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JustFuya
490 posts
Sep 13, 2014
3:18 PM
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My situation is the reverse of yours with the flute. I put the harp down for the most part and find it challenging to go back. I have some great music in my head but lack the expertise to pull it off on harp. I don't OB with expertise.
I think you'll have an easier time going back to an instrument with all the notes built in without detriment to either one.
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harpdude61
2138 posts
Sep 13, 2014
10:09 PM
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Thanks, but I should have been more specific. I'm more concerned with effect on muscle, embouchure, and the fatigue that goes with practice that might hurt me at a harp gig.
On a side note I actually do think about the fingering for trumpet sometimes when I play harp. Really not meaning to. I don't think transposing would be a problem if I needed to. Just worried about trumpet muscle development affecting harp playing.
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JustFuya
500 posts
Sep 13, 2014
11:02 PM
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I worked as a welder in a big shop one time. It was 4 big buildings that were frankensteined together. At one point during my employment there I would hear what sounded like an elephant in the room. Huge, resounding and loud. I eventually learned it was some guy blowing into a one inch stainless pipe that was 20 feet long. Three buildings away. He was a trumpet player that knew how to make his sound in a makeshift way.
I tracked him down, he pointed to the pipe stock and invited me to have at it. I maybe got off a two bulding sound after many tries but it was his gig and I didn't want to ruin it for him with my feeble attempts. I could be easily found and did not shake the walls like he did.
My point being, trumpet takes more wind and a more controlled embrouchure. It can only improve your harp playing. And like singing, soulful sound comes from the diaphragm.
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nacoran
8000 posts
Sep 13, 2014
11:14 PM
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Except for some very half hearted attempts at learning trumpet my brass years and my harp years were separated by a very large gap. I think it's useful to play as many instruments as possible. You pick up a ton of theory that way. The only problem I ran into is that as a baritone tuba player as a kid I learned to grab a breath, and as big a breath, as I possibly could at any opportunity. It took me a while to learn that you need actually plan ahead a little on harp so you have room left in your lungs for long draws. It, interestingly, has made my whistling suffer a bit. I used to be a fairly strong whistler, but I always have a harp with me so I don't practice much, and on top of that I never had a really strong inhale whistle when compared to my exhale whistle (being an ex-baritone player I'd just suck up all the air and whistle away) but the harp breath patterns get me now, and I find myself sometimes making a weak inhale whistle when I should be blowing out.
That said, I really don't practice my whistling and even still my harp playing has improved my whistling intonation, and similarly, I find switching tunings on the harp to not be confusing after the first couple minutes. You can even cheat sometimes. Play a tune a major tuned harp and it sounds like an Irish Jig, transfer it to a harmonic minor and suddenly you have something Klezmer. You just have to be open to the possibility of cross-contamination.
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Nate
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STME58
1066 posts
Sep 14, 2014
1:10 AM
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I play trombone and harmonica. I think they complement each other well. Most of the musculature involved in buzzing into a brass mouthpiece just needs to be relaxed to play the harp. There is no reason a well toned muscle can not be relaxed, and relaxing muscles will probably hep the muscle tone rather than hurt it.
Harp gives you something musical to do while you are giving your brass chops a rest. I also think that the harmonica makes it much more obvious when the resonance of your vocal cavity does not match the note and this new sensitivity improves you brass playing.Harps also fit in you pocket better than trumpets (even so called "Pocket Trumpets") and so it is easier to practice more frequently.
Brass tonguing articulation techniques work quite well on the harp.
I can agree with Nate on the potential breathing pitfalls. That is taking, out of habit, a big brass players breath before your solo and realizing to late it starts on a draw note! :-)
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boris_plotnikov
999 posts
Sep 14, 2014
2:08 AM
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I think the main thing is to keep practicing both intruments and find a way how to go from one to another. It may take some time and give a bit discomfort but I think it's possible.
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FatJesus
57 posts
Sep 14, 2014
5:30 AM
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Harpdude: I have a very similar sounding background to yours, musically. Also had the same concerns when I picked up my trumpet after 20 years.
SMT's, Nate's and Boris's advice is where I shake out as well; puckering into a mouthpiece will only affect your harp embouchure if you stay tense, and tight; it's not like you'll develop Hulk Lips! If you make a point to relax and open your jaw on harp (especially if you play more pucker than lip block), and really play from your belly, you should be fine. (That's what worked for me, anyway.)
And, as noted by others, there are crossover benefits--like your articulation, the way you approach scales/notes/riffs, etc.
So... blow on!
Last Edited by FatJesus on Sep 14, 2014 5:33 AM
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