Listed directly below are the key guidelines or principles that must be followed.
1- Lips must be together and touching in an "M" position.
2- Corners must remain as relaxed as possible.
3- Compression comes from the center of the chops.
4- There can not be any spreading (vertical separation) of the lips, (please read - "How does it Work"), nor can there be any horizontal separation of the lips. (please read - "How does it Work")
5- Pressure must be kept to a bare minimum, and favor the bottom lip.
6- Jaw must remain flexible. i.e.- The ability for the jaw to move up/ down and in/out along its natural arc.
If you are following the six principles that are set forth then the Caruso Calistheics routine will work wonders for your playing. Just remember that pressure must be kept to a bare minimum!! In other words: Disregard the phrase in Caruso's Calisthenics Book, "Play with abandon".
Now, let's talk about how and why they work.
The Caruso exercises work on the premise that in order to correct problems, you need to eliminate the causes for them. It's the very simple "cause and effect philosophy. Caruso set up four rules when doing his exercises. These rules eliminate extraneous variables. I have listed the four rules directly below:
1 - Tap your Foot - This establishes the timing necessary for muscle synchronization.
2- Keeping the mouthpiece in contact with the lips for the entire exercise. A - This eliminates the possibility of changing your lip setting. B - It trains the lips and muscles to rely on one embouchure from low notes to high notes. C-Reduces the amount of muscular activity needed for the exercise, thereby eliminating variables that could be creating problems for the player.
3- Steady Blow - Teaches the lips how to ride the airstream, and trains the muscles to resist the airstream.
4 - Breathe only through the nose (Please note: Breathing through the nose is used for the Caruso Exercises Only!!!) - Fewer moving parts(variables) means that you have as in number two reduced the amount of muscular activity needed to produce a note.
By eliminating extraneous variables which could be creating embouchure deficiencies amongst different players, developing a strong steady blow, and training the lips and surrounding muscles with exercises which develop strength through extreme range of motion, you now have a series of exercises that develop a strong healthy embouchure. Range, endurance, and breathe control develop fairly rapidly, and the results begin to become very noticeable to the player after approximately two weeks.
Very simple, very effective, very good!
A -The first exercise taught is the "basic" six notes. This exercise quickly focuses the lips, and prepares them for the slurred interval exercises. B - The slurring exercises work on the principle of elimination of extraneous variables, and through a range of motion take the player as possible without changing their initial setting. These exercises build range and endurance.
C - Caruso then takes the same exercises and adds extreme dynamic changes to them (ie: soft-loud-soft; loud-soft-loud). These exercises develop range, endurance, and breath control.
D - Caruso introduced tonguing exercises when the student was familiar with all the interval exercises.
E - Pedal tone exercises were also added to the routine once the student finished all the interval exercises, and was given a daily schedule of which interval exercises he/she should play each day of the week.
As you can see, the approach is extremely systematic, and works well, IF the student uses common sense and follows the six principles that I laid out earlier in this article.
I find it truly amazing that someone unfamiliar with the trumpet could devise such an effective approach to trumpet playing. I remember a fellow musician telling me that Caruso originally wrote these exercises for sax players, and that may be true, but then you have to remind yourself that Caruso added pedal tones to his approach. This was done for his trumpet students, and oh, what students he had! The list is tremendous, and the names are big. Many top studio, orchestral, jazz musicians from all over studied with Carmine. Waiting in his apartment for a lesson was like watching a circus of the stars. It was truly a remarkable experience, and I'll never forget it as long as I live. Carmine was just an ultra-special teacher, and I will always be intrigued by one of the greatest teachers I have ever met.
Sincerely,
Wayne
PS - Any questions? Send me an E-mail!
