Birth of The BERP

Mario Guarneri, inventor of the BERP

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