I was playing a new piece of music the other day and I came across the marking for a growl. I know what it means and what it sounds like, I just don`t know how to do it. Any help?
*Caroline

can you growl like a dog or anything like without playing your horn? It should feel like you are trying to agitate your horn. Well you do that while you play. thats it... no tricks.

You might find this useful:

The growl effect is best described by Duke Ellington`s son, Mercer Ellington.

"There are three basic elements in the growl: the sound of the horn, a guttural gargling in the throat, and the actual note that is hummed. The mouth has to be shaped to make the different vowel sounds, and above the singing from the throat, manipulation of the plunger adds the wa-wa accents that give the horn a language. I should add that in the Ellington tradition a straight mute is used in the horn besides a plunger outside, and this results in more pressure. Some players use only the plunger, and then the sound is usually coars er, less piercing, and not as well articulated."

That is how you growl, BUT most people will fluttertongue. If you can roll your R`s, then you should be able to fluttertongue. You play a note while rolling your tongue.

the straight mute that was used back in the day with the plunger is actualyl a pixie mute. its a smaller version of the straight mute and it sounds cooooool with a plunger...

how i growl is by simply "purring" in my mouth while i play, it sounds odd but it works for me and my conductors like it when the piece calls for it

The way I do it, which I don`t think is correct but it works for me, is with the throat. While I play, I simply make a growling sound in my throat. Again, don;t know if it`s right, but it works well for me and it gets the effect across.