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A Psychological Investigation of the Role of Mouthpiece Force in Trumpet Performance

Patrick Kenny

Department of Psychology, University of Strathclyde, 155 George Street, Glasgow, GI IRD, UK

Joe Barbenel

Department of Bioengineering, University of Strathclyde

Amongst beginning trumpet players, signs of physical stress are frequently observed especially when the player attempts to explore the higher register of the instrument. Preliminary interviews with teachers of trumpet revealed a general concern about development of an easy and relaxed playing style, and with the reduction of mouthpiece-to-lip forces to a low or minimal level. An apocryphal story amongst many trumpet players concerns individuals who can, reputedly, produce double-high Cs on an instrument merely suspended by a couple of strings. The present research programme investigated the physical, psychological and psychophysical manifestations of mouthpiece force amongst groups of trumpet players of different degrees of skill. Our results in fact differ rather sharply from the introspections of trumpet pedagogues. All players, skilled and less skilled, used varying but substantial amounts of force; less-skilled players could not be differentiated from skilled performers in terms of forces used; and skilled players were no better than less skilled (or in some cases unskilled) subjects at the task of judging how much force was being used (a) by themselves, and (b) by other players, all judgements being prone to considerable error.

Psychology of Music, Vol. 17, No. 1, 48-62 (1989)
DOI: 10.1177/0305735689171005


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