[Trombone-l] Mouthpiece advice

[Wayne Dyess]

I'm with Ken, especially re:  the 2nd paragraph below.

And Ken...  I might be playing my Remington today if I could find a  
small shank version.
:-)

Wayne




On Dec 1, 2007, at 3:04 AM, leveller1 at suddenlink.net wrote:

> If they don't know a 6-1/2 is supposed to be big and more  
> difficult, most
> students won't have *any* difficulty with that mouthpiece and  
> they'll tend
> to get a more characteristic -- and more satisfying -- sound almost  
> from the
> get-go.
>
> And the "more satisfying" part of that, IMHO, leads to more  
> motivation, more
> time on the horn, and actually, a *greater* likelyhood they'll  
> develop that
> secure high register. As quickly and as easily as they would have  
> on a 12c.
>
> At least that's been the experience not only in Wayne's area of  
> Texas, but
> pretty much across this state, I think.   In fact, my grandson's  
> class of
> beginners in Austin two years ago were all  started on .525 trigger- 
> horns
> and 5G-range m'pieces. I nixed the 5G in favor of a 6-1/2 (my only
> interference in the matter) and, (just as my own students whom I  
> put on the
> m'piece), he's doing just fine.
>
> Yeah, there have been some great and beautiful players who have  
> played on
> 12c's and smaller, but, on average, it's my bet those m'pieces have  
> been at
> the root of far more discouragement and drop-outs than the 6-1/2.
>
> Me? I still play my Remington, although nobody else seems to play  
> one. ;- )
>
> So there's another $0.02.

==========
Another personal note:

I was never discouraged because of the 12C, but I did have a rather  
severe embouchure change once I got to college and under the tutelage  
of a fine teacher.  I attribute the bad embouchure not so much to the  
mouthpiece, but rather to the habits of a young student without a  
private lessons teacher.  The Remington that I was encouraged to  
switch to certainly opened up my sound. The loss of upper register  
was somewhat discouraging, but I simply worked my way through it  
using the Remington exercises given to me by Neil Humfeld (who also  
demonstrated how to practice them).

wD