[Trombone-l] Teaching embouchure to beginners

[John Cather]

Most of the time with trombone, embouchure is not much of an issue.  
Trumpeters, however, is another whole ballgame. Most of the time with  
them it is a major issue. It has to do with the smallness  of the  
mouthpiece.

For young trombonists, it is better not to let them start on the  
lower notes but to start on middle Bb and slur down to lower notes  
then back up without stopping the tone in any way. ie: Bb-F-Bb, then  
A-E-A and so forth. Much like Schlossberg. This keeps them from  
having their lips protrude deeply into the mouthpiece. Also have them  
slur up to upper notes as they progress while stressing that they  
focus on a smaller aperture as they ascend. Most people have best  
luck with 2/3 upper lip 1/3 lower lip or somewhere between that and  
1/2-1/2.

I use my own excersises. I don't like most of the books out there.  
Especially the one where they learn one note per day! Uh oh I'm about  
to start raving-better stop now.

My 2-cents;
John Cather

> Dear Bonists,
>
> I find myself in the position of teaching a lot of young beginners  
> to learn the trombone (an awesome responsibility indeed).  One  
> concept that I find quite difficult to impart is the concept of  
> embouchure.  Well, not so much the concept, as the description of  
> how to manipulate the embouchure that young people (10-12 years  
> old) can grasp.  In the past, I have taken the tack that they  
> should just play and let the lips sort themselves out as they go,  
> but I am currently thinking that this is just too important to  
> trust to fate.
>
> Does anyone have a successful way of getting beginners to adopt a  
> suitable embouchure?
>
> Stu Collidge
> Freelance Bonist, Sydney, Australia