embouchure advice – Mouthpiece Online

Marcus Reynolds is a clinician and lecturer for the British Association of Performing Arts, and the British Trombone Society. Also the creator of Stratos embouchure system, in this feature article (originally published in ‘Brass Band World’) he unravels more mysteries of the embouchure.

“In my last article [click here to read ‘Power over Pressure’], I explained how whistling against your palm would indicate the trajectory of the air. If the top-lip ventures over the bottom lip, then the air is directed against a metal wall – the side of the mouthpiece. When this occurs, great resistance will be felt. By trying to force the same amount of air through the instrument, the cheeks and all sorts of air cushions could start to inflate, vastly reducing the power of the original articulation.

In my previous article, I mentioned whistling or blowing out candles. This will open the teeth and allow more air to travel to the lips. Here’s a trick that keeps the corners of the lips towards the point of pitch, and keeps the cheeks in and the teeth open. Two tongued whistles and then two ‘blow the candles out’, followed by two tongued buzzes.

Practise these three exercises 20 or 30 times. It sounds laborious, but it really is a short cut to clear and powerful precise notes. I cannot see how you perform these exercises, but if you are not relaxed and there is over tension in the neck, the air will not flow. The sensation is that of blowing candles out.

Now we need to ensure that there is enough air being directed towards the aperture so the lips can vibrate most efficiently. Whistle again, or get as close as you can to the shape, keeping your facial muscles still and breathing through the nose. See if you can fit your little finger into the gap between the teeth. Most times you will not be able to because, as you strive for a greater range, the jaw can go into clenching mode, closing the aperture and stifling the air flow.

Let’s next examine the journey of the air from the back of the throat. It must travel without being choked or diverted. Take a breath and use the lips as a ‘stopper’ to inflate the cheeks. Then force your cheeks in to push out the air, but purse your lips so that the air escapes under pressure. You must practice this many times until you start to hear high-pitch squeaks escaping through the lips. These squeaks are actually unrefined notes from above the stave, whatever instrument you play. This process is used in learning to circular breathe.

This is where the Stratos will help; adjust the chin rest to its extreme setting. Keeping the airstream level as you empty your cheeks, aim those squeaks into the mouthpiece – eventually you will be rewarded with the high note clarity you were seeking. So many players start playing into the higher register without foundation.

Try this: play an octave interval well within your comfort range. Start to move upwards in semi- tones. Take your time, going up say five semi-tones, ensure no strain is felt, then go down to where you started. Place the tip of your finger between your teeth to check the gap, and then buzz through the same exercise. The buzzing won’t sound wonderful, but with perseverance the notes will sound freer and richer when you return to playing them because blood and oxygen have been delivered to the lips, and with the buzzing the capillaries and filtrum (the bit between the bottom of the nose and the top lip) are no longer being crushed.

The beauty of Stratos is that it rids students of the fear of changing their playing technique and allows you, or your mentor, to make micro-adjustments that do not hinder your playing.

Many teachers tell their students to use less pressure, but what is being offered as a substitute? Remove the scaffold too early and the building collapses in much the same way that your mouth muscles will, if the mouthpiece weight is removed too quickly. Stratos incrementally reduces the weight of the mouthpiece from the lips until the new muscle memory is self-supporting. “

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Marcus Reynolds is an embouchure specialist and founder of the Stratos Embouchure System. I tells us here about his philosophy of ‘Power over Pressure’.

” I was introduced to brass playing at school and later joined a military band, winning a scholarship to the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall, where I studied under Professor Teskey.

Six weeks after leaving the Army, I turned ‘pro’ and did TV and radio, early BBC Come Dancing sessions, West End shows, big band concerts, jingles and other work. I taught for Surrey schools for 12 years and then disaster struck when I fell from a collapsed stage. This caused a smashed lip and Focal Dystonia, and marked the end of my playing career. I had to spend years retraining the muscles in my mouth before I could play again professionally.

I didn’t set out to become an embouchure expert, but my knowledge of the subject was enhanced greatly as a result of the accident. I now teach students all over the world via Skype, even helping top professionals to stay on top of their game. For example, I recently visited Los Angeles, Ohio and Frankfurt to give individual and group embouchure assessments, plus elementary and advanced training on the Stratos Embouchure System (below), which I developed as a result of my quest to play again. I was looking for something to ‘hover’ over my scar tissue, which of course brass players know is not possible.

Moving on from how I got into embouchure training; what follows is a ‘cheat sheet’ to help you become a world-class brass player. The key is to use the natural physiology of the body at all times. Stay upright, bringing the instrument to you – don’t go to it. Do not move the instrument towards you as you are going forward because the note will start with what I call fusion and this mobility will confuse you to the point where you will not know where the note starts.

Try not to slump over your instrument. There is nothing worse than for a conductor to see a sea of players slumping – keep your shoulders down – stay relaxed and breathe evenly. Before I start on the tips for the embouchure, I must stress that any embouchure that works is fine. It’s only when you want to move your playing up (from third stand to second, from second to first, or even as a first foray as a soloist) that you might feel resistance to what you are trying to achieve. It’s time to examine the finer points of the embouchure.

Almost from day one, some lucky players can just play wonderfully, but even after years of experience, such players are unable to advise others about embouchure problems because they simply do not understand the issues involved. Not all of us have been so fortunate! One of the questions is… where is the air going? Hold your palm about six inches in front of your lips and whistle. If you don’t think you can whistle, simply mimic the shape as if you were blowing out a candle. In many cases, the air will be felt between the last joint of the fingers and the upper palm, as illustrated by the diagram below. Now, keeping the hand there, blow as if you are playing your instrument or you could even buzz. You may think that you cannot now feel the air, but further examination will show you that the air can now be felt at the wrist.

One of two things could have happened; your chin dropped back, your top lip ventured over the bottom lip, or possibly a little of both. A brief look at the mouthpiece shows that the back-bore hole is in the middle. Moving the air away from that forward direction will incur even greater resistance because the air is now being blown against a wall of metal. How should you remedy this? This is where Stratos comes into play, providing a healthy way to alleviate the amount of pressure being exerted to increase the airflow as you play higher notes. Possibly for the first time in your playing career, you have something for the chin to ease towards and, in doing so, some of the unnecessary weight is removed from the top lip. Through this process, the ‘chin jut’ reaches towards the chin rest of the Stratos, pulling the corners of the mouth forward. By staying in the ‘jut position’, the chin also adds sonority. “

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Tag: embouchure advice

Tone Without Tension

Power over Pressure