Hello Ron, your problem is a commonly known problem.
It might be necessary to know a bit more about you & about your playing, to give you the right answer. But I will try it anyway: Many elder horn brass player encounter the problem of "stiffness due to endurance problems". Margaret has just given a very good advice how to improve endurance. Excellent advice. But does it solve the root problems ? Yes & no. Players, who began in their youth to build up their embouchure, well, the advice might work for them even partly. They must consider & accept, that the muscles are getting weak by the age. There is no cream nor method to stop this process, but it could slow down the process. It might be good also, to reduce ones own expectations regarding higher average range (say up to written g2 on top of the staff or to bb2). It might be wise also, to reduce the stronger dynamics for one step & let the younger play more, even stepping down from first or second chair to third or fourth would be wise & "camouflage" ones problems with endurance & stiffness. It is not a shame, absolutely. False ambitiousness can ruin a lot. Then there are those players, who took up the horn very late, perhaps in their 50-ies. Well, here is another difficulty. Lip muscles do not build up after a certain age, no matter how much you practise. That is a fact. To avoid stiffness here, combine Margarets advice with some flexibility exercises, not just the obviously boring warm-up. Do these exercises AFTER a rehearsal to bring your lips back to normal function. Flexibility exercises ? Arpeggios, triads, slurred, tongued, but in the softer dynamics, just for some ten minutes. Avoid playing too loud. What´s too loud ? When your lips start burning, o.k.. If your conductor asks you to play louder, hold the air a bit more, so to get a red face like playing obnoxious loud. It helps. If there are arguments, say the others were playing far too loud. Other source of stiffness: pressing too much vertically (mouth piece versus lips), pressing too much horizontally (lips together & thus closing the lip opening too much & thus compensating it by more energy). Again, false ambitiousness: not suited to play high horn but wanting to play high horn. What is the main source for stiffness ? or better WHO ? The USER as always, the PLAYER. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 11:01 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Hornlist] TIRED AND STIFF LIPS Does anyone have any ideas about building endurance and keeping the lips from becoming stiff. I'm an older horn player that's having problems in these areas. Colder weather seems to increase the stiffness problem. Thanks, Ron _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans%40pizka.de _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
