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The big entrance is coming up. You have prepared for weeks and weeks and this is your shining moment. You take a large breath of air and then…
… nothing happens. Your chops and tongue feel locked down and frozen. The harder you try the worse it gets.
Occasionally, a scenario like this will haunt a musician. The tongue, embouchure, neck or throat might spasm or cement itself into place. For some, this might even happen on a regular basis.
Putting aside previous discussions of focal dystonia, this might be what Dr. William D. Parry calls Valsalva stuttering.
Stuttering (or stammering) is often characterized by forceful closures or blocks in the mouth or larynx (either sustained or repetitive), as well as delays in phonation.
There is anecdotal evidence that such behaviors may involve the stutterer’s instinctive activation of the body’s Valsalva mechanism in an attempt to force out words when he or she anticipates difficulty or feels the need to use extra effort to speak properly.
In short, the Valsalva manuever is the raising of internal pressure in the abdomen. For brass players it is something that Arnold Jacobs has warned about.
From Julia Rose’s masterclass notes:
G. Blowing air out freely is the physiological opposite of childbirth and defecation
- Do not stabilize the diaphragmatic and laryngeal regions, or else you may trigger the Valsalva Maneuver
- Do not confuse your body by tensing up these regions and blowing
- As long as there’s tone, there’s wind
What is most interesting to me is that Dr. Parry’s anecdotal evidence may suggest a link between the Valsalva maneuver, stuttering and something we might call embouchure lock-down, for lack of a better term.
I have seen a handful of colleagues and have taught a few students over the years whose symptoms seem to fit this pattern. Eyes and throats bulge. Faces turn red. Facial muscles contort.
Much like focal dystonia too, it is a syndrome that can cripple performance in brass players.
Case studies
Brad Howell writes about his own personal journey through Valsalva stuttering.
There are also a few other studies out there that might add some teeth to this discussion.
- Journal of Fluency Disorders
Volume 17, Issue 4, 1992, Pages 257-264
Horn stuttering
Ann Meltzer
- Journal of Fluency Disorders
Volume 24, Issue 4, Winter 1999, Pages 293-298
Fluency disruption in speech and in wind instrument playing
Ann Packman and Mark Onslow
Australian Stuttering Research Centre, The University of Sydney, Australia
A case of an adult who stutters and complains of a similar fluency problem when playing the trombone is reported. This is the fourth such report, with previous cases involving trumpet, flute, and horn playing.
Access to these articles is in progress; meanwhile this might be a good place to invite some discussion.
- Have you ever taught a student with a problem like this?
- Have you experienced this yourself?
