Interesting student problem....HELP!?!
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MikeMason
- 6 valves
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thedeep42
- bugler
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- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:05 pm
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i have a student with braces and a significant overbite, he has an ever-puckered, downfacing embouchure. i got him in a bigger mouthpiece and it seemed to at help a bit. but nothing as special as that.-
windshieldbug
- Once got the "hand" as a cue
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Yes. Switch to a larger mouthpiece (like a tuba, eh, eh?) and emphasize a pivot-style embrochure. This will encourage him to use a more open internal mouth cavity, and to extend his lower jaw. Even more imperative if his parents try to use appliances to correct this situation. 
Instead of talking to your plants, if you yelled at them would they still grow, but only to be troubled and insecure?
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Roger Lewis
- pro musician
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Use a visualizer....
to determine which lip is actually doing the vibrating. In a "standard" embouchure (though I know they are all a bit different) the upper lip vibrates against the lower lip to produce the sound. Based on the diesciption of the sound and the oral cavity I would suspect that the lower lip is doing the work. Have him buzz in a visualizer and I would bet, if you use your hand to locate the air stream, you will find it is going upwards. This would show (me, at any rate) that the lower lip is vibrating against the upper in producing the sound. This would explain the sound - I see it rather frequently (unfortunately) in the younger players that come through the showroom.
See if it is possible for him to get the air steam going down, so that the upper lip is doing the work and see if the sound changes. He may need to hold the instrument at a more severe downward angle to have a proper seal. One individual that I coached on this used the rim of the mouthpiece to trap the lower lip so that only the upper COULD vibrate and the sound change was instantaneous. With a little work he got used to the "new" embouchure and did not lose anything in the process.
I think you can get the sound to work with the student's current physical situation. Range or articulation may be a problem as the student progresses which may require more creative measures on your part as a teacher. I've been able to get several students over these hurdles in spite of these challenges. Try working with what he has and think positively.
Just my $.01 (devalued from $0.02 based on the current economy).
Roger
See if it is possible for him to get the air steam going down, so that the upper lip is doing the work and see if the sound changes. He may need to hold the instrument at a more severe downward angle to have a proper seal. One individual that I coached on this used the rim of the mouthpiece to trap the lower lip so that only the upper COULD vibrate and the sound change was instantaneous. With a little work he got used to the "new" embouchure and did not lose anything in the process.
I think you can get the sound to work with the student's current physical situation. Range or articulation may be a problem as the student progresses which may require more creative measures on your part as a teacher. I've been able to get several students over these hurdles in spite of these challenges. Try working with what he has and think positively.
Just my $.01 (devalued from $0.02 based on the current economy).
Roger
"The music business is a cruel and shallow trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S Thompson