The BERP For All Brass Instruments

The Berp comes from the concept of mouthpiece buzzing, which has been used as a teaching technique for brass players for many years. One of the leading proponents of buzzing the mouthpiece was James Stamp. I had the great honor of studying with Jimmy while I was a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and his teachings influence the exercises and practice suggestions that make up the berp concept. He had students add resistance to the mouthpiece when buzzing by either placing their little finger over the end or adding a rubber electrical extension called an “alligator clip.” By learning to blow into resistance, you become more aware of undesirable resistance in your body, and learn how to avoid it by using proper breath support. Jimmy also asked us to finger the valves of our instruments while buzzing the mouthpiece, to make us aware of the connection between the fingers and the brain’s perception of pitch. I put the two ideas together, buzzing and fingering (or moving the slide) to the corresponding pitch, to maximize the benefits for my students and myself.

~Mario Guarneri, Inventor of the berp