Now a harsh word, perhaps. Teaching with just a book is nothing, nothing worth. I did not say one book only. The only working way is working with a thoughtful teacher slow by slow. One has to learn to stand upright first, then to walk. Dancing & ice skating is something much later. Understood.
And, please, advice from persons having just played in high school & university perhaps, later abandoning the instrument for dozens of years due to other priorities of life, having found back to the instrument in their later years to play a bit to their own entertainment, cannot be used for the entire horn community with all the different grades & expressions of horn playing, even such a book may be interesting to read. It may perhaps help a few retired returners to the horn, but not help them much. It would be much better for them digging out the old books from their study time and perform the study once again, but a bit faster. They will enjoy their return to horn playing much better. And, these rolling & derailing is nothing else than we did as grimace exercises occasionally to make the lips more flexible or to relax them. ##################################################### Am 17.08.2011 um 09:32 schrieb valerie wells: > My deepest sympathies are extended to the tender hearted gentlemen --Steve > F., Paul, Mr. Reptile, Hans and Daniel-- who have been brutally forced to > read my abusive posts as I have answered listers' questions regarding the > method I use. I'll instruct my thugs to temporarily stop the beatings. You > tender fellas may now use your delete buttons... but just this once. ;o) > > Steve has asked some legitimate & thoughtful questions and he deserves > answers. > > Now to Steve M's questions: > >> Q to that A: I'm sure there is, some other people seemed to not like the > concept of rolling in and out, I was hoping to hear some alternatives. > > Popular idea or not, lip rolling is a very effective part of the method. > The beneficial lip shaping skills developed by these techniques are further > enhanced by the incorporation of specific tonguing & breathing techniques to > balance the effects of rolling (and avoid pinching). > XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX > >> Q to that A: I asked that because you mentioned using a distorted > embouchure on purpose for the lowest note. My question is, since that > wouldn't be a good way to play that note, why would you Practice it that > way? > > Good question. The BE exercises with the distorted lip positions are used > to train the lips to move, more or less, in the right direction. These > exercises develop skills & flexibility by extending range of motion, > training the lips to maintain an air seal while freely moving, etc. They > help the horn player break out of the flat 2 dimensional embouchure box. BE > students are not directed to use these extreme settings in actual > performance, but they will benefit from the training. It's like this: a > football player would not execute push-ups and agility drills during a > football game, but the results of the training will help him be more > successful in play. > > These exercises are also like three octave scales in the circle of fifths. > You never see this in literature, but they are still very beneficial to > developing musical skills. > > XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX >>> Here's a link to a video of a John Graas.? Look at his unusual embouchure. > [John Graas clip.] > >> Q to that answer: You can always find exceptions, but I've found over years > of teaching and observing, if it looks really weird, there are usually going > to be some limitations.? > > Yes, I know what you mean....like Bruno Schnieder & Dennis Brain. ;o) > > Some people, who are not familiar with the BE method, imagine that BE > transforms the embouchure into something peculiar just because the BE > agility exercise are odd looking. I haven't seen this happen in the five > years I've taught BE. I've been practicing BE exercises longer than any > other horn player I know and from all outward appearances, my embouchure > looks much the same as before i started BE -- a 2/3-1/3 set up. [Milton > actually told me in San Francisco, that my embouchure looks like "classic > Farkas."] > > I'll repeat, There is no such thing as a "correct BE embouchure" because BE > is not an embouchure, but rather a set of developmental exercises to develop > the embouchure, regardless of what it looks like. > > But, honestly, the real reason I included this clip is to show that there's > no evidence of "damage" to John Graas's chops from playing with a bunched > chin as Mr. Snake declared there would be. > >>> Ok, sorry Valerie, tell me if I'm being too much of a pain.<< > > Not a problem, Steve. And I believe my torture victims seem to enjoying > the break I've granted them. Last I checked, they were crunching on Grape > Nuts. > > Warm regards, Val > -- > Valerie Wells > The Balanced Embouchure Method > http://bebabe.wordpress.com/ > http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/ > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/hpizka%40me.com _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
