In a message dated 11/16/2005 2:42:48 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Everything needs patience first !! Understood. Embouchure builds up mainly through the lip - mouthpiece contact, so building up muscles or an embouchure (muscles, lip surface build up, contractability of lips, muscle reaction) just by moving the lips (stretching & contracting) does not work. It works just in interaction between lip muscles, brain, mouthpiece, left arm (holding the horn at the right distance & at the right angle).
I had the good fortune to have a brass instructor once who compared playing a brass instrument to lifting weights. "You don't think those body builders get that way overnight, do you?" he would ask. Building an embouchure is very much like body building. You are exercising muscles, asking them to become strong, and to retain a certain shape at an instant and for a prolonged period of time. Weight training includes periods of hard physical activity combined with periods of rest without which you would damage your muscles severely as they "build up". The same is true of the embouchure. It takes time. Dave Weiner Brass Arts Unlimited _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
