[Trombone-l] Embouchure

Tue Apr 4 15:35:04 CDT 2006

Let me briefly explain a procedure/warm-up that was
taught to me by my teacher that I think fixed alot of
my problems

First say "M"

then put mp where it "feel" like it is in MIddle

take breath "in rythm" through corners of mouth

once your intake reaches a "point of expansion" air
immediately releases and attack occurs

now the warm-up

start on Low Bb play full and loud
then play (Slur) Bb A
Bb A Ab
Bb A Ab G
Bb A Ab G Gb
Bb A Ab G Gb F
Bb A Ab G Gb F E
 then come back up adding a note each time always
"working" new note

After you work Bb all the way down and back up go 

Bb slur up to F
Bb F E
ect
F down to B back to F
alway carry openess to each harmonic
keep adding partials till you are working 7th and 8th
partials

Then do pedals same way
eventually you should try to carry openness and power
from low Bb all the way up to High Bb

Pedal tones should make light headed

This is just one school but cured most of my embousure
problems

has anybody elese seen this warm up.  it seems simular
to remington but to me is way different

Jason

--- Jackie Harris-Stone <bassboneladymail at yahoo.com>
wrote:

> I did most of my early training in Chicago, under
> the "song and wind" "doesn't matter what it looks
> like, go for the sound" style "ignore the
> embuochure- if you know what you want, your body
> will figure out how to do it" approach.  I kept the
> basic "don't smile for high notes" "Keep your
> corners firm" approach of my really early training,
> but am basically a Chicago-style player this way. 
> And I like a lot of this- I find that if I can start
> a student off myself with teaching him/her how to
> buzz and breathe and stay relaxed, they get a WAY
> better sound Way faster than those whose parents or
> friends or band directors have told them about the
> "correct" embouchure before I have taught them, and
> left them with moscule tension.
>    
>     I then moved to Mexico, where they still often
> have the old-school "It has to look a text-book way"
> embouchure approach, where you "Don't move at all" 
> and spend hours looking in a mirror to get your
> embouchure certain ways, ignoring the sound.
>    
>      I have seen a better approach, which can be
> described as "informed Embouchure correction".  For
> example, I watched Alessi address several student's
> embouchures in weekly master class, and saw their
> improvement.I have had one student interact with a
> few of these type players and come back the better
> for it.  I have also had the same student interact
> with those who still have the old-style approach,
> spend weeks in front of a mirror trying not to move,
> and ending up not knowing what he was going for
> enough to make the switch, or play correctly, and it
> would end up the best thing he could do was forget
> it and go back to the Chicago-style I taught.  I
> think the difference is a deep or shallow knowledge
> of the embouchure dynamics from those who gave him
> the lesson.
>    
>     I am starting to do more embouchure correction
> than I was trained to do, starting with one student
> who had visible, audible wiggling in his face.  With
> him, to stop that, I made a couple basic corrections
> (ones I'd make with anyone such as firm corners and
> the "elegantly eating a lemon face" for high notes
> (sounds better in Spanish!)), and did a lot of free
> buzzing- which although the free-buzzing would have
> given Jacobs a heart-attack, is basically the
> Chicago "figure it out from doing and tranferring
> from other situations" approach.  
>    
>     I am thinking that I could use a more systematic
> approach to knowing what is and is NOT good
> embouchure visually.  I get sudden insights into
> "try this" sometimes that work, but don't have as
> much of a systematic approach as I would like. 
> Whereas intuition is okay, I like to KNOW what I
> would teach in a given situation.  I still intend to
> keep the relaxation, air, sound basics of the
> Chicago style 90% of the time, but would like to
> know more of the informed embouchure style, too. 
>    
>     So, I'm hoping to stimulate discussion, from all
> 3 camps.   For myself, I've noticed with "good
> changes" you can hear the difference immediately,
> and the student can really assimilate it within a
> few days, even if it takes weeks to make a habit,
> and get the range back up again.  I'm especially
> interested in those who have things they do with
> their students, or have had their teachers do to
> them, that fit in these catagories.   
> 
>     What do you do when you DO correct embouchure? 
> Teachers, what are your criteria for doing an
> embouchure change?  Students, what did your teachers
> do to you?  Did it work for you?  Given that facial
> structure is so different, and there is no one
> "right" embouchure, what do you look for and not
> look for universally?  Do you have insights into
> visual clues- students with thick lips, thin lips,
> small face, broad face?  When do you leave it alone,
> and when do you change things, and are you
> thouroughly convinced your approach works?   
>    
>    
> 
> 
> Jackie Harris-Stone
> Bass Trombone, Orquesta Sinfonica de Monterrey 
> Professor of Trombone, Escuela Superior de Musica y
> Danza, 
> Professor of Low Brass, UANL
> 		
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