7 Tips for Practicing Lip Slurs / Flexibilities on Trumpet

Main ideas / lessons (trumpet lip slurs & flexibilities)

Lip slurs and flexibilities are highly effective exercises because they:

• Build endurance and range by strengthening the muscles around the corners of the lips and face.
• Train efficient air usage and efficient muscle movement, making it easier to travel between trumpet registers.

The speaker’s approach is grounded in the Caruso method, learned through Lori Frank and especially John McNeel, and aligned with related modern method books (e.g., Flexus, Scott Belk’s flexibilities).

Structured progression (from the speaker’s book)

The speaker’s book, Progressive Flexibilities for Trumpet, includes a structured progression:

• 50 exercises designed to be melodic and fun.
• Increasing difficulty across chapters by:
  • expanding range
  • widening intervals
• Over time, you slur across more partials.

Overall practice goal

The goal is to build good habits, including:

• efficient air
• accurate note placement
• stable tempo
• appropriate technique
• smart rest

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Method / tips (7 tips from the video)

Tip 1: Emphasize air support first

• Make air support the foundation of flexibility work.
• Caruso principles to follow:
  • keep a steady airstream
  • take a big breath before playing
  • control the exhale using the abdominal muscles and external obliques
• Practice idea:
  • start with a “full tank of air”
  • use a steady airstream so you feel air “propelling” you across registers
• Avoid:
  • erratic, inconsistent air (often causes volume changes and accuracy problems)

Tip 2: Move as little as possible while playing

• If your airstream is consistent, it becomes easier to reduce unnecessary facial motion.
• Practical check: practice in front of a mirror to monitor motion.
• Allow movement (muscles will move), but minimize excess motion.

Tip 3: Keep the mouthpiece in contact with your lips

• Keep the mouthpiece position stable throughout the exercise (or each segment).
• Why: switching/shifting the mouthpiece is an easy way to “cheat” register changes.
• Your job is to move through the range without shifting the mouthpiece.
• Caruso-related suggestion:
  • breathe through the nose rather than the mouth when possible
  • if you must stop to breathe: stop, leave the mouthpiece on, and breathe through your nose

Tip 4: Play in time (consistent tempo)

• Train your muscles to move in time.
• Use a consistent tempo so the body learns timing within a given timeframe.
• This is framed as a key revelation from the Caruso method.

Tip 5: Play as slowly as needed for accuracy (accuracy first)

• Practice flexibility exercises slow enough to be accurate.
• No tempo is “too slow” if it supports accuracy.
• The goal is to teach correct movement patterns first; speed comes later.
• Practical approach:
  • when learning slurs across 2 or 3 partials, move slowly enough to hit the center of each pitch and land precisely
• Avoid:
  • practicing faster than comfortable, which risks building bad habits

Tip 6: “Play with abandon” (use efficient physical power)

• Caruso concept: play with abandon rather than trying to be overly delicate.
• Rationale: efficient airstream use often requires embracing the instrument’s physicality.
• Practical interpretation:
  • start with more air
  • allow a rougher connection if needed
  • aim to connect partials fluidly; transitions can be cleaned up later
• Example concept:
  • don’t detach notes just to sound “musical” if it undermines efficiency
  • better to use air to connect—even if there’s some slop early—then refine later

Tip 7: Practice until tired, then rest (don’t push fatigue)

• Rest between flexibility sessions because they’re strenuous.
• Rule of thumb:
  • if an exercise takes ~10 minutes and you start getting tired then, rest about as long as you played (or enough to recover).
• Fatigue can cause:
  • moving more than desired
  • unnecessary facial motion
  • pinching notes off
  • inefficient air use
  • excess pressure (e.g., jamming the horn into the face)
• Rest reinforces good habits instead of locking in fatigue-driven technique.

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Speaker / sources featured

Speakers

• Bobby Spelman (trumpeter; presenter)

Referenced teachers / authors / sources

• Carmine Caruso (Caruso method / teachings)
• Lori Frank (studied/learned from; co-author of Flexus)
• John McNeel (studied/learned with; co-author of Flexus)
• Scott Belk (Modern Flexibilities for Brass)
• Flexus (authored by Lori Frank and John McNeel; referenced)
• Bobby Spelman’s book: Progressive Flexibilities for Trumpet (referenced as the basis for his 50-exercise progression)