Hi Wendell and Guys, Sorry but I don't think I was complete enough in my answer about help with embouchure problems.
Of coarse!!!! the first for beginning horn students and for all of us that might be having some difficult in our playing is to recheck the embouchure. In fact when I am starting a new student, I always have them work for a couple of months with a mirror. Having a correct placement of the mouthpiece and all of the other stuff i. e. Farkas, is so important. I guess my point was that the embouchure... and here I expect to get flamed... is not the most important aspect of playing the horn. Look at all the players you know and see just how many different ebouchures you see. Some really good players I have know have even had some really weird embouchures. The one constant I see among strong players is good breath control. So!!! Yes, a good embouchure is very important, and when coming back to the horn after a long lay-off, I think working with a mirror is most important. But I still contend that when problems don't seem to solve themselves, look to the breath. Milton Milton Kicklighter 4th Horn Buffalo Phil --- On Tue, 6/24/08, Wendell Rider <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Wendell Rider <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Hornlist] Re: Help for embouchure problems To: horn@music.memphis.edu Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 6:12 PM On Jun 24, 2008, at 6:26 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > message: 2 > date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:48:59 -0700 (PDT) > from: Larry Jellison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > subject: [Hornlist] Re: Help for embouchure problems > > Milton's comment, "But you could have really good breath control > and you could play out your nose", is amusing hyperbole. If there > are others out there who believe proper embouchure muscle > functioning (and to some extent, embouchure position) is an > insignificant aspect of playing well, please post and explain why > you think so. > > I know proper air support and control is critically important. I'm > not a pro nor a teacher, so I don't think I'm qualified to explain > exactly what proper air support and control is; I think the > "control" part is very important, and it would be helpful if > someone would explain what good air support and control is. > Obviously, every beginning player who blows a sound through a horn > is applying air pressure, air flow, and some level of air control. > Telling such a person to use "air support and control" doesn't help > them very much. > > I know what good air control and support is for my playing, but I > ask a more experienced player to step forward and explain it in a > way so that a person who doesn't know what it is can understand > it. Thanks. > > Larry Hi Larry and all, The answers to our questions ARE really quite simple, but NOT "simplistic." It never pays to make gross statements or generalizations, especially on a forum, of any kind. This is how we have gotten into so much pedagogical trouble over the years. Some of these statements are amusing and have a grain of truth to them, but they fall far short of good methodology. I will start this thread off by supplying a link to a chapter from my book, called "Balance and the Natural Process of horn Playing." I added this chapter to the second edition, so those of you who have the first version with the black and white cover might want to download and print this. There is more detail to be had, but I think this explains my philosophy of teaching and learning the horn, which is obviously not one thing or another, but a balance. And the great thing is, that your body will find it for you if you give it a chance. I also explain this on the DVDs, where you can see me demonstrate it. The other link is to the embouchure section of my book on the Samples and Ordering page. http://www.wendellworld.com/html/Balance%20and%20Natural%20Process.pdf http://www.wendellworld.com/html/Embouchure.pdf Most people can improve their playing by just taking in more air and keeping it going all the time while they play. I would suggest looking at "The Good Breath" video on my website. The link is on my home page. Also, go to the Windsong Press website and look at some of the Jacobs videos that are there to demonstrate the breathing devices. Finally, for those of you who come to Denver, we will be going over all of this in my room on an ongoing basis. Come by and pick my brain, it needs it. Sincerely, Wendell Rider For information about my book, "Real World Horn Playing", the DVDs and Regular and Internet Horn Lessons go to my website: http:// www.wendellworld.com _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/kicklighgter%40yahoo.com _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
