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One of the most extended chapters of A Creative Approach to the French Horn by Harry Berv is on the topic of “Lip and Valve Trills.” He noted that “Discipline, patience, and consistent and correct practice will help you master the trill,” and that
Basically the lip trill is nothing more than a lip slur between two notes a whole step apart. The single aspect that sets the lip trill apart is the speed at which the slur must be executed…..
Sit on the ridge between the notes
He gives the example of a C to D trill fingered on the F horn.
As you slur back and forth between these notes, you should feel a “ridge” or a “bump” between the two notes. In practicing the whole tone slur, the feeling of this obstacle against and between the notes is always felt by the lip. Ideally your lip should “sit” on top of this “ridge” and rock back and forth between the notes.
Picture in your mind the action of a rocking chair, rocking back and forth evenly. If you were to place a small piece of wood directly in the center of both rockers creating an impediment, you would naturally have to physically rock a little harder to get over the obstacle. Similarly, the lips and airstream have to exert a bit more pressure in order to get over the “ridge” to maintain the trill. It is my feeling that it is easier to build the control on the trill if it is practiced in an even rhythm.
Berv presents exercises that increase in speed in the typical manner. In triplets he recommends accenting the strong beats of the pattern as an aid to mastering trills.
Jaw movement?
William R. Brophy in his Technical Studies for Solving Special Problems on the Horn also has exercises for developing lip trills. He is in favor of keeping the face still but notes that this is not the only approach.
Concentrate on keeping the air stream absolutely steady with enough speed and intensity to support the upper note. Keep the mouthpiece pressure lightly comfortable, resisting the temptation to use additional pressure for the upper note. Contraction and relaxation of the embouchure should ideally take place entirely inside the mouthpiece keeping the corners of the lips and the chin motionless. The tongue level may change, “aaah” for the lower note and “eeeh” for the upper, but this “aaah-eeeh” movement should be confined to the tongue and not accompanied by the changes of the lip and jaw position that are normally associated with these syllables. It probably should be said here that some fine players do not object to jaw movement on a fast trill, in which case the lip trill becomes an exaggerated jaw vibrato.
Myself, I would as noted in Part I tend to disagree about visible lip movement being bad, as will others in quotations later in this series. Jaw movement might be viable, but only if it relates to or is an extension of the tongue movement concept as an aid to trills. In terms of the MRI studies, the note from Brophy to think “aaah-eeeh” with the tongue is clearly a point on the right track toward helping produce a good trill.
Speaking of good trills, next time we hear from a master of the trill, Barry Tuckwell.
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