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Foot tapping-cure for Valsalva?

Last post 12-03-2007 12:39 PM by apc. 5 replies.
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  • 05-25-2006 12:24 AM

    Foot tapping-cure for Valsalva?

    For about the last year and a half, I've had a bit of a Valsalva issue...I just can't seem to pick up the beast (bass trombone , and start a note. When I'm playing in orchestra, it's fine...no problem. But when I'm playing an excerpt or a solo for my teacher Phil Brink (have you heard of him), I have a problem.

    BUT...

    I have found that tapping my foot to the first note has enabled me to nail every attack...even those that are ppp at the very beginning of the piece and are out of breathattackabitily...

    I would of course like to not have to rely on that foot tap to start the note. So my question is...

    Can foot tapping while practicing (a la Carmine Caruso) help get rid of VSM because it provides more confidence in attacks?

    Thanks,
    Daniel Carroll
    Chicago

    Daniel

  • 05-25-2006 6:24 AM In reply to

    Re: Foot tapping-cure for Valsalva?

    I think it helps you focus on timing. If you inhale too quickly, you are full of air before its time to play, so you hold your breath until it is time to attack the note. Focusing on your timing gets all the aspects coordinated to happen at the correct point in time.

  • 12-01-2007 8:25 PM In reply to

    Re: Foot tapping-cure for Valsalva?

    If foot tapping helps you getting rid of VSM, just do it. Many teachers can tell you its not ideal (they would be right) but anything to prevent it from happening is a step in the right direction and focuses the attention on something more worthwile then analyzing the tongue and throat (which, in general, amplifies the VSM triggering). That's the conclusion I came to.

  • 12-02-2007 3:49 PM In reply to

    • glangfur
    • Top 10 Contributor
    • Joined on 04-20-2003
    • Boston, MA USA
    • Posts 302

    Re: Foot tapping-cure for Valsalva?

    Tap away.

    Charlie Vernon taps his foot pretty much all the time while he's practicing, and anything (attack, slur, whatever) that doesn't happen at EXACTLY the time he intends is something to go back and do again.

    Timing is SO important, whether or not you've accepted a diagnosis. In my lessons with Ray Premru in college, I often had problems starting a quiet middle D, and since he often had me working on the Prelude of the 2nd Bach Cello Suite it came up often! Ray never gave a name to the problem, he just showed me - over and over again, with infinite patience - how to start a note with a simple breath and a simple puff, timed beautifully and naturally.

    I think that over time you can reduce the foot tap to a motion of a big toe, that won't be noticeable to other players or an audition committee, but the tap is a useful tool - IMO, there's no reason not to do it.

    Gabe Langfur
    Bass Trombonist
    Rhode Island Philharmonic
    Vermont Symphony

    Adjunct Lecturer of Bass Trombone
    Boston University
    Guest Artist/Teacher in Trombone
    University of Rhode Island

    Artist Representative
    S. E. Shires Co.
    gabe@seshires.com
  • 12-03-2007 2:33 AM In reply to

    • Mancini
    • Top 50 Contributor
    • Joined on 07-26-2003
    • Brisbane, Australia
    • Posts 93

    Foot tapping

    Further to Gabe's comments, strong internal subdivision combined with the foot tapping has help combat this problem. I found that time spent thinking about the problem only made it worse and added to the anxiety associated with the problem, which reached the point where a note simply wouldn't happen in any register.

    Another thing i did was work on air articulations to remove the tongue all together. When in a situation where I feel a hold will eventuate, I use the air attack. That way, I don't get stressed about an uncoming entry (making the prob worse), and focus on other things.

    Finally, in conjunction with a teacher, I focused my energy away from the hold and concentrated on other aspects of playing like flexibilty. Again, I just used air attacks to start the exercise.

    Taking my mind away from the hold and concentrating on other aspects has helped kill the problem.

    Regards,
    A

  • 12-03-2007 12:39 PM In reply to

    • apc
    • Top 150 Contributor
    • Joined on 03-20-2004
    • uk
    • Posts 17

    Re: Foot tapping-cure for Valsalva?

    Hi
    there has been lots of good advice on this topic already, I would like to add- as an intermitant sufferer of this condition - that I take the problem away from the instrument, and practice releasing air as I take my fingers off the back of my hand,this gives a physical similarity to the tongue movement in articulation and can be transferred to barely a finger twitch of the right hand when actually playing.....hope this is of some help to a very common problem.
    Alex C

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