[Trombone-l] Embouchure

Tue Apr 4 19:45:05 CDT 2006

In my teaching, I cover my theory of how the embouchure is formed and 
develop some exercises based on developing the muscles [well, not so much 
the muscles themselves and the understanding of their role in making sound] 
I seldom "change" an embouchure, preferring to let the proper principles 
"sneak in" as we play, dissect and discuss embouchure formation. It's 
time-consuming, but I think that the results last longer...
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jackie Harris-Stone" <bassboneladymail at yahoo.com>
To: <trombone-l at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 3:05 PM
Subject: [Trombone-l] Embouchure


>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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