Embouchure

[DavidG]

God, I love Dex...

 

[ProfJames]

God, I love Dex...

Here you go then............................

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVxcwe7EcaY

 

[DavidG]

Hmm...thanks (I think)

 

[Adrian63]

Hi; yeah I agree with Pete. Don't just relax your chops but your shoulders ; the holistic thing. Please don't take it badly but you seem tense. You really have to loosen up totally. I did not see which mpc you are using. That is not the problem. Make every note matter. I wouldn't worry too much. ade

 

[Adrian63]

Me too dude Dukoffs are gnarly. Played mine with a Link lig.....

 

[Adrian63]

I've been looking for this. I tend to flick through but some things remain. I have not read back but two points. Pulling in the corners of your mouth is not good. Your emb. is not relaxed. Relax those corners. If a little spittle and air releases don't worry. The corners will find their own place as your emb. develops. Point two : throw that Teal garbage away and go with the Allard school. Frustrating, longer, harder, better.

 

[Adrian63]

IMCO

 

[kevgermany]

Pulling in the corners of your mouth is not good. Your emb. is not relaxed. Relax those corners. If a little spittle and air releases don't worry. The corners will find their own place as your emb. develops.

Depends what's wrong and which mouthpiece.

Point two : throw that Teal garbage away and go with the Allard school. Frustrating, longer, harder, better.

Point of view, not necessarily right. Teal works for many.

 

[Adrian63]

In my considered opinion Kev . The corners should close up but not be pinched. Allard works for a lot of players ( tenor ) too

 

[Hypnoswan]

Hope it’s ok to comment in such an old thread....,

As a beginner I sort of assumed that people that had been playing a while had the whole embouchure thing sussed and only newbs like me struggled

this thread has been most informative!

I got to a point where I was going to give up: I had tried going up a Reed strength ( from Rico 1.5 to Vandoren 2) and had caused my bottom lip so much hurt I decided this just was beyond me. Also I’d almost cut through the top mp guard( whatever the black stick on bitis called)

I had a rest while lip healed (and feeling decidedly depressed, sent back the hired YTS 280) but kept watching videos etc & noticed that not everyone had their bottom lip over the teeth as I’d been taught also someone pointed out that I didn’t HAVE TO increase Reed strength - I guess I had assumed it was mandatory!

in fact some seemed to have their bottom lip extended out quite a bit (one especially-was it dexter someone? Can’t remember)

I had already worked out that I could relax my embouchure for the deepest notes and still make helluva volume and that it helped having slightly more mp in the mouth

so this gave me hope again and I threw caution to the wind and bought a YTS 62, determined to learn to play (lockdown fever well and truly set in)

My favourite player at the moment is Ben Webster (especially love that concert with Oscar Peterson) - now I couldn’t see exactly how his embouchure was but it looked further out too ..so I thought it must be possible...

When I got the YTS 62 I decided to stick to 1.5 reeds and with some trepidation set to seeing if I could produce a sound, any sound, without crucifying my lip.

I more or less pouted and hardly let my top teeth touch the mp top and blew.....

Revelation! Not only could I make a decent sound through the notes I knew (down to F , I’m only as far as unit 3) but also the next three notes down came out easily and it sounded much better than it had when blowing the 280. ( not just me saying that, my wife said the tone was much nicer)

As I went up to higher notes I pulled my lips a little tighter and moved back a bit on the mp but still not to the point where it could be hurt by my teeth ( which are uneven, those that I still have)

I now do an hour and a bit in the morning, I do long tones until my lips give up, usually after 20 mins, and then try to play the pieces up to unit three and here’s the thing: with this new embouchure I CAN play the Vandoren strength 2 and a Rico strength 2.5, without any pain at all!

One thing I have noticed is when I get a really nice sound on each note I can feel and hear it in my mouth and so it feels like I’m singing it even though I’m not and this gets me to shape my tongue, mouth, throat, as if I was singing it and this makes it even easier to play it - is this a recognised thing or am I just weird? ( perfectly prepared to accept the latter)

So thank you for this great thread on embouchure it has been a great resource and great encouragement

 

[Colin the Bear]

Rico 1.5 to Vandoren 2 is going up two steps and will be a shock to the system.
Each note needs a slightly different oral cavity and air stream.
Whatever it takes to make a pleasant sound...do that.

 

[Hypnoswan]

Rico 1.5 to Vandoren 2 is going up two steps and will be a shock to the system.
Each note needs a slightly different oral cavity and air stream.
Whatever it takes to make a pleasant sound...do that.

Thanks : and well at least I’m enjoying it again