Playing High

The desire to play high has been with us a long time.  It's a quest for most trumpet players (and to a lesser degree bone players ) to have a very good upper register. Lately some musicians think it's a goal that may have gotten out of hand. For a lot of trumpet players it has become an obsession.

There are many reasons why having a good upper register is (may) be desirable. The music in Big Band charts keeps getting higher and higher. (Not necessarily more musical.) The higher the notes at your command it can be assumed that the easier the other registers have become. Upper register is part of your vocabulary and it stands the more notes you have at your disposal the more you have to say.

In my beginning days I witnessed some wonderful Big Bands.  It was the "Swing Era" and some of these "show case" bands had trumpet players that had "high chops."  

In those early days the bands called these high register "specialists" screech players. The emphasis became more on screeching than playing. (You don't hear that term anymore these days but alas you still hear these distorted, strangled sounds every once in a while.) 

However, playing in the extreme upper register does impress some people including fellow musicians.  In some circles the guy with the high chops is considered the top dog.  He's like the gun slinger in the old west with the fastest draw.  He may not be admired but he sure is noticed.

 

People don't necessarily know artistic playing when they hear it but can recognize high register playing on these occasions. (You can always tell high register playing by the redness on the player's face, the bulging eyes and the bursting veins in the guy's forehead.) To judiciously use the upper register seems to be a forgotten rule of good musicianship. 

A friend of mine took his wife to see a "hot" Jazz Band (17 musicians) one day.During the course of the concert a trumpet player came to the microphone and proceeded to display his acrobatic skills in the extreme upper register.No doubt some of the audience were in awe but my buddy's wife (somewhat annoyed) asked, "Does he have to do that?"   In other words,not everybody likes this kind of playing.

I'm of two minds on upper register playing.   There are few artists today that have great musical skills that can encompass the upper register tastefully. When it's used in this tasteful context it can be quite exciting and does add an emotional dimension to the solo.

One trumpet player that didn't have "high chops" was the designated jazz player in this band.   His solo's were creative, lyrical and mellow and he added another spectrum of colour in contrast to the writing in the "punching" back-up figures. It became evident that he admired Chet Baker and others of this style. (The fact is a lot of us do.)

Unfortunately a  lot of guys that can't play high are not impressed with the guys that can.

This young player approached the lead player that evening that was warming up testing his altissimo register. 

The "young buck" asked, (no doubt intending it to be a subtle put-down) "Is there any reason you're playing this high?"   The lead player sensing the up-start's posturing rebuked, "Yeah, because I can."