The Embouchure Whisperer

[PeterBaird]

I took up the instrument at 50 because I'd always played stuff with valves, but I loved (still do!) the way a great bone section sounds on a well-written soli. I'm now 64 and haven't come anywhere close to the level of proficiency I envisioned. It's frustrating. Most of my irritation comes from the fact that I didn't learn the art of how to move a slide when my brain was young and supple, and that combined with the limitations of the instrument as a result of partial crossings (and the endless places they occur) had me contemplating quitting for good.

I play third in the local big band and have to practice for hours on the parts to be able to play them when everyone else is reading. I mentioned my frustration to Paul Nelson who has the bass trombone chair at the moment (great player and arranger, has his own big band). He said I should get a lesson with Ido Meshulam (jazz faculty at CSUN, among other things). It was a great lesson, and Ido really hit the nail on the head when he cut through my own bullshit noting that my progress was really only limited by my own practice commitment, and that there were no shortcuts. He also spent some time getting me out of my own head and relaxing more. (BTW I heartily recommend Ido as a teacher.)

The brick wall I hit with Ido is that he’s a great believer in the free buzz/MP buzz/horn note sequence for getting your facial muscles to accurately and repeatably nail partials. This is of course a well-respected method, and five years ago when I was working through The Main Method for the first time, I did Roy’s MP buzz warmup every day for three months. By the end of that time, the only real virtue that I had as a trombonist—a big, clear, resonant sound—was gone, replaced by a thin, closed, dead tone. As I recall it took another three months of not buzzing for my tone to come back, and I have been wary of buzzing in any form since.

At that point I was truly at a crossroad. Do I finally admit to myself that I’m really not a trombonist, and put the horn back on the stand?

Having heard for years about Doug Elliott’s successes helping people overcome both mental and physical blocks, as a last resort I reached out to him and booked a Skype lesson.

Doug had me play a little warmup from completely cold, and had me move the camera around a bit until he was satisfied with the picture. Then he had me play a long series of tones with various placements on my chops, slowly moving from one setup to another. After what felt like around 20 minutes of this, we stopped to talk a bit. Doug is big on not fighting what nature and genetics give you, and told me that as my setup moves up and to my right my high range speaks with less effort, and as I go down and left my low range opens up. These are not large movements at all, very gentle and subtle, but I’ve incorporated them into my warmup routine and I’m already noticing improvement up top.

I then brought up the subject of buzzing, and Doug’s contention is that buzzing can definitely be a help if done right. So I buzzed. He immediately stopped me. Too much effort, way too much tightness. Make an “F” sound first, and then gently drop the upper lip down and let the buzz happen instead of forcing it. And at the same time, really concentrate on tongue placement in your mouth to control pitch. It seems so basic, but I had never worked these two skills together with any intention.

Finally we talked about the slide. Here, Doug and Ido were in agreement—both of them told me my wrist was too stiff, and I was using too much arm effort shifting positions. So that’s my next work goal: use much less arm and much more wrist.

The takeaway here for me is that Doug has that rare pedagogical gift of being able to meet you where you are as a human and talk you off the ledge while imparting actionable, practical advice and just enough technical explanation to make everything mesh mentally. This is why I have dubbed him The Embouchure Whisperer.

Things seem a bit less daunting than before, and I think I’ll stay with the horn a bit longer. I’m still nowhere near where I thought I would be, but I’m improving again. And that’s really all I can reasonably expect.

Peter

.

[harrisonreed]

If you haven't put in a serious study of the Brad Edwards "Lip Slurs" book, you should. I recommend taking one year to practice that book as your main method, every day, as slowly as you can. The two keys:

1. When moving through the registers, especially through lip slurs, the embouchure is mostly dictated by your jaw position, and that will dictate your tongue position. The book teaches you, without telling you, how this works.

2. Play it as slowly as you can, using only your thumb and index finger on the slide. This ensures that you have to move the slide as fast as possible. You'll learn good slide technique, and by extension, good slide maintenance.

I gained so many insights from this book, and none of them were from the sparse instructions written in it.

[muschem]

If you haven't put in a serious study of the Brad Edwards "Lip Slurs" book, you should.

I just started with this book recently, and it is great. I plan to make it my focus for a long time as I work on rebuilding my come-back chops.

[Ozzlefinch]

For what it's worth: I've been playing trombone since 1978 and was stuck in a skill plateau since 1984 . But I came to terms with my limitations about 10 years ago and started to focus on having fun over striving to be the best. Interestingly, when I made that change I started playing much better.

Play loose, brother man.

[PeterBaird]

If you haven't put in a serious study of the Brad Edwards "Lip Slurs" book, you should.

I'll give it a whirl, thanks.

[Wilktone]

Yes, Doug's lessons are well worth it. There are few people around who have his level of understanding about the mechanics of playing and even fewer who can teach it in a way that is easily understood and implemented in your practice approach.

I think it's less important what you're practicing than how you're practicing. You can probably stick with the stuff you already have and know and work on what Doug has suggested to you, but it can be fun to try out new books. Just follow what Doug has suggested to you in terms of how to play - including any instructions about jaw position, if he's offered any advice there. If he hasn't, I wouldn't worry about it until you've got some of the other things you're working on consistent and then catch another lesson to learn what you need to be doing with your jaw. It can be different from player to player.

Dave

[hyperbolica]

Doug has also helped me. First, he got me on the right mouthpiece, then the whole buzz-mpc-horn progression to aim at the correct pitch (I was aiming high and it was making me play on the high side of the pitch, causing cracked notes and weird intonation issues). Also something as simple as looking in a mirror, because you never can see your face, but if you could, you can often see what's wrong yourself.

As far as technical exercises, I recommend a few different kinds of things:
1) scale patterns, just to help you recognize and play patterns - helps reading
2) intervals, extends patterns and really helps solidify a good embouchure and helps you make big adjustments fast
3) rochut/cello suites/flute fantasy to help with melody, help integrate intervals in to real playing, and mostly to integrate use of the slide with natural breaks and alternate positions - a la John Swallow and several others who espouse that method.

[Cmillar]

I took up the instrument at 50 because I'd always played stuff with valves, but I loved (still do!) the way a great bone section sounds on a well-written soli. I'm now 64 and haven't come anywhere close to the level of proficiency I envisioned. It's frustrating. Most of my irritation comes from the fact that I didn't learn the art of how to move a slide when my brain was young and supple, and that combined with the limitations of the instrument as a result of partial crossings (and the endless places they occur) had me contemplating quitting for good.

I play third in the local big band and have to practice for hours on the parts to be able to play them when everyone else is reading. I mentioned my frustration to Paul Nelson who has the bass trombone chair at the moment (great player and arranger, has his own big band). He said I should get a lesson with Ido Meshulam (jazz faculty at CSUN, among other things). It was a great lesson, and Ido really hit the nail on the head when he cut through my own bullshit noting that my progress was really only limited by my own practice commitment, and that there were no shortcuts. He also spent some time getting me out of my own head and relaxing more. (BTW I heartily recommend Ido as a teacher.)

The brick wall I hit with Ido is that he’s a great believer in the free buzz/MP buzz/horn note sequence for getting your facial muscles to accurately and repeatably nail partials. This is of course a well-respected method, and five years ago when I was working through The Main Method for the first time, I did Roy’s MP buzz warmup every day for three months. By the end of that time, the only real virtue that I had as a trombonist—a big, clear, resonant sound—was gone, replaced by a thin, closed, dead tone. As I recall it took another three months of not buzzing for my tone to come back, and I have been wary of buzzing in any form since.

At that point I was truly at a crossroad. Do I finally admit to myself that I’m really not a trombonist, and put the horn back on the stand?

Having heard for years about Doug Elliott’s successes helping people overcome both mental and physical blocks, as a last resort I reached out to him and booked a Skype lesson.

Doug had me play a little warmup from completely cold, and had me move the camera around a bit until he was satisfied with the picture. Then he had me play a long series of tones with various placements on my chops, slowly moving from one setup to another. After what felt like around 20 minutes of this, we stopped to talk a bit. Doug is big on not fighting what nature and genetics give you, and told me that as my setup moves up and to my right my high range speaks with less effort, and as I go down and left my low range opens up. These are not large movements at all, very gentle and subtle, but I’ve incorporated them into my warmup routine and I’m already noticing improvement up top.

I then brought up the subject of buzzing, and Doug’s contention is that buzzing can definitely be a help if done right. So I buzzed. He immediately stopped me. Too much effort, way too much tightness. Make an “F” sound first, and then gently drop the upper lip down and let the buzz happen instead of forcing it. And at the same time, really concentrate on tongue placement in your mouth to control pitch. It seems so basic, but I had never worked these two skills together with any intention.

Finally we talked about the slide. Here, Doug and Ido were in agreement—both of them told me my wrist was too stiff, and I was using too much arm effort shifting positions. So that’s my next work goal: use much less arm and much more wrist.

The takeaway here for me is that Doug has that rare pedagogical gift of being able to meet you where you are as a human and talk you off the ledge while imparting actionable, practical advice and just enough technical explanation to make everything mesh mentally. This is why I have dubbed him The Embouchure Whisperer.

Things seem a bit less daunting than before, and I think I’ll stay with the horn a bit longer. I’m still nowhere near where I thought I would be, but I’m improving again. And that’s really all I can reasonably expect.

Peter

.

When I read this, I thought that this was something I had posted myself!

Just seconding all your thoughts.

Lucky to know him! 'The Embouchure Whisperer' and more.

[PeterBaird]

When I read this, I thought that this was something I had posted myself!

Thanks, always nice to hear validation. Although I don't wish my level of frustration on anyone...

My copy of Brad Edwards Lip Slurs arrived yesterday, going through the first few exercises this morning very slowly, trying to pay attention to the sensation as I get the crossings correct. What I didn't expect are all the exercises that include the F trigger, and the gentle reminders to stay aware of the intonation issues in each partial.

Peter