Practice mute for dummies!

[Tbarh]

I have owned a Yamaha silent mute since its lunch, but never got to use it much.... I find it (all generic practice mute also) to be rather uncomfortable to play.. Heavy (front heavy especially) and resistans, and i find that it changes the way i blow..
How ever, because of beeing on leave because of Covid i want to expand on my practice, but since i dont live alone i must use some kind of mute...
Subsequently, i have some questions:
1. What to avoid when using a practice mute?
2. How much prosentage of total practice? (max)
3.How about pushing mute practice to the last session?
4.soft or loud? /high, low/Long tone, flexi etc.?
5.many short or few Long sessions?
6. Alternatives?
7. Mute practicing has more resistance, should I use mouthpiece /practice rim use to compensate?
Etc. Etc.

Thanks!

[Windmill]

Hi

I personaly like the resistance of the practice mute, it's a great warmup tool for me. Because if me lips are pretty easy to wake up, it's different for the mouth-corner muscles and the abdominal muscles, they take a while till they're ready to go. The resistance gives them a harder job to do and wakes them up way quicker than just softly playing.

[baileyman]

There is huge variety in the behavior of the various mutes. They all establish limitations on the horn. The Yamaha is right at the top in terms of playing in tune and not interfering with how the horn works, but as you note it is front heavy. I suppose one could add a weight behind to balance that a bit. For myself, if it feels good doing whatever on the mute, it is good.

[Kdanielsen]

I use my practice mutes in the evening and on the weekends when im not at my office. I’ve found that only some things are worth practicing with it. I avoid some things because the mute makes the technique too different. I play large tenor/alto mostly.

I only play from low Dd to high C. Beyond that in either way is too wacky in the mute so I just don’t bother.

I don’t play orchestral excerpts or legato studies.

I don’t play fast lip slurs, and barely play slow ones.

I do practicing things that are mostly issues of slide technique. Fast tricky passages, scale fluency, shedding hard etudes and technical solo stuff.

I do practice sight reading.

If I have a pit orchestra gig coming ill play along with the show with headphones.

p.s. the rejano mute is really great. Intonation, fit, and slot consistency are all superior to sshh mute, best brass, and wick. It’s quieter and stuffier than sshh and wick, but not as quiet or stuffy as best brass.

[JCBone]

I think people often exagerate on just how bad they are for you. It's not ideal but it's always better then nothing. In order to make the most out of muted practice you need to know how to use it correctly. A lot of people almost never use a mute and then when they need one, they just stick it in and expect to be able to just play normally. The key is to not force try to force the air tgrough as if you were playing open. If you use it properly, the bad affects it can have on your playing should be minimal. In terms of actual bemefits to playibg, mutes can help you become more comfortable in loud dynamics. I also like to use for playing along with recordings because otherwise I can't hear.

[BGuttman]

Big issue with practice mutes is that they muffle sound (after all, that's what they are supposed to do). The nice thing about the Yamaha is you can adjust the sound in the earphones to match how loud you are unmuted. This tempers the tendency to blast out with resulting problems when you are unmuted.

Most practice mutes have wonky intonation, especially at the outer range limits. I try not to do rangebuilding exercises in a practice mute.

I tend to do scales, etudes, and lyrical stuff with the practice mute. I like to be able to practice unmuted as well so I don't get too used to compensating for the problems of the mute.

[Doubler]

When using a practice mute, I try to avoid compensating for backpressure (this requires concentration), plus I focus on creating resonance, rather than adjusting to create proper pitch. It's a mind game, but if you have to do it, you do it. As has already been mentioned, using a practice mute is not ideal, but it beats not playing at all.

[momentum]

So as not to overly torture the other tenants in my apartment building, I do the first half or so of my daily routine, which is middle-register long tones and slow & fast lip slurs, with practice mute. I just view this as loosening myself up and don't care that much how I sound.

I also usually do ascending, but not descending, Caruso with it. I find it works to build upper register strength but generally the feel is so different in the pedals that it doesn't work for me down low. And low pedals don't cut through the walls like crappy high notes at the edge of my range.

I use a Best Brass model and I am a bass trombonist. I find the intonation difference is there, especially high, but for some reason it doesn't bother me? Pretty much all mutes affect intonation and I just see this as doing so more extremely.

I don't practice "real" music with the practice mute unless I am maybe preparing something technical that needs lots of reps and I am worried about bugging neighbors...

[PaulTdot]

Playing with a practice mute, if you're playing correctly, works well, and you can practice everything you need to practice. (I've had to go for weeks or months with nothing but at times in my career.)

If you're having issues, though, it could exacerbate them, so do be aware and careful.

The pitch will be much less consistent, and it changes the resistance of the horn dramatically. If you play exclusively with a practice mute for a while, your chops, air, and approach will adapt, so you might have some difficulties (and sound a little funny) when you go back to playing open horn. However, you can adapt back - it's a sort of mild doubling, really, like switching instruments. Think of it as playing a (slightly) different instrument. Be patient.

However, every mute is different, so you have to feel it out for yourself. Some work better than others, are more even than others, and are less out-of-tune than others.

What I do (and recommend) is to balance extensive muted playing with strong, full, mouthpiece buzzing. I think that can create some balance, so it's easier to go back to the open horn, between the high resistance of the mute and the open blow (and muscular challenges). Add a mouthpiece buzzing routine to your days when you have no opportunity to play your horn without a mute.