[Trombone-l] (no subject)

[Roger Harvey]

Stu
Although I have negligible experience of teaching beginners and so 
can't give you any direct advice, I have spent a lot of time with more 
advanced students with poor basic set-up and technique. I have found 
that it is extremely difficult to undo the several years of 
consolidation of bad embouchure, production and breath control that 
they come with. Sound quality can be poor or at least variable, 
flexibility is hampered, production and breath control problems are 
exacerbated and most importantly they are incapable of playing 
musically since they do not have the technical options required. It 
takes real dedication for a player to clear the muscle memory and to 
develop more effective procedures and few seem capable or willing to go 
through this. I would, therefore, like to support the advice you have 
received encouraging you to look after the embouchure right from the 
start. It may be harder to begin with but should have much better long 
term benefits. Very young children seem happy to spend hours perfecting 
the much more demanding technique required to play a string instrument. 
Maybe there is good practice  that stimulates the imagination and at 
the same time insists on correct technique that can be transferred from 
string teaching courses? The main difference is that the technical 
aspects of playing a violin are more visible than embouchure, breath 
control and tonguing procedures so I reckon, once there is an 
understanding of jaw and lip positions, the emphasis needs to be on 
listening to the sound that is produced; tone quality, note beginnings 
and shapes, phrasing etc. in a word the musical quality (style, mood, 
personality) of the playing. I for one developed my enthusiasm for the 
instrument by playing music and the better I got at it technically, the 
more I could get involved musically and the more I enjoyed it. I don't 
think I am alone in this.

Good luck.

Roger Harvey

PS
I have recently produced a 3 volume resource for 
students/teachers/players that may be of interest - BrassWorkBook for 
Trombone. Though it's not particularly for beginners it includes, in 
volume 1, a fairly thorough, no-nonsense, look at all aspects of 
trombone playing technique, including embouchure. Volume 2 is practice 
routines and volume 3 studies. Available from brassworks-music.com