Chop-sticks lip weights?

[danzfat]

Has any one ever used this syetem, and had any type of results?

[DavidK]

Have not used these.

Having a stick gives you more visual reinforcements of where you are aiming the air.
Adding weight to it would make you work harder. Sounds good in theory.

You can do the same with a pencil, dowel, popsickle stick or whatever works for you.
Tape some pennies or quarters to the far end of the lever to add weight.

These tools could be viewed as a means of reinforcing air direction control (where to point the airstream inside the mouthpiece. Various brass methodologies have sections on this.
Think of "Air straight ahead" as the basic starter position, then "Air towards tip of your nose" or "Air toward your chin" as extreme examples.
Other exercises and routines include countless variations on contracting your lower lip "UP" against the upper lip. Or contracting your upper lip "DOWN" against the lower lip.
And moving from one extreme to the other. All the way down to all the way up. Etc.

For building raw contracting strength in the embouchure, try this old-school drum corps exercise. Excellent for low brass players!!!
1. Grab your mouthpiece.
2. Sit down.
3. Lean forward so you are facing straight down.
4. Place the shank of your mouthpiece between your lips, but in front of your teeth.
5. "Grip" the mouthpiece using only your embouchure. Think of drawing the embouchure closed on all sides of the mouthpiece shank, not just clamping down from top-to-bottom.
6. Hold your hands directly below the mouthpiece, ready to catch it. (it WILL fall eventually)
7. Try to hold your mouthpiece as long as possible - aimed straight down. Until it slips out or your chops fatigue.
8. Wait a minute and Repeat as desired.

Too much weight? Start with a trumpet mouthpiece!

Have fun!!!

[djwesp]

I do not think that chopsticks are a viable way to improve your playing.

The great majority of tuba players (and brass players in general) are downstream embouchure players. This means to ascend they direct the flow of air in the embouchure downward towards the bottom of the cup of the mouthpiece. This is done to facilitate artificial resistance within the embouchure to aide ascension. This also keeps the sound dark over the entire range of the horn; because the buzz is using the mouthpiece as a resonator. Although many upstream players exist and are viable, since the great majority are downstream the chopsticks would not sound like a viable tool of improvement.

The sheer facilitation of this angular motion in the embouchure means that we actually tighten the fibers of the incisive inferior and caninus at a different and stronger rate than the fibers of the incisive superior and triangularis. We do this because "tightening" the bottom lip angles the air stream down, creates resistance and forces ascension.

When we place a chopstick where the aperture would be, this causes a tightening of the incisive superior. The incisive superior is where we derive a dark and centered sound. This dark centered sound is achieved because the superior fibers and triangularis fibers are in a relaxed state (indeed, not relaxed, just "more" relaxed) as compared to the inferior. The vibration of this relaxed surface is the motivator of the buzz.



Because the inferior muscles are not contracting to hold up the chopstick, we are not working the muscle group that we need to improve overall sound. If anything we are strengthening the fibers that direct the buzz directly down the shank of the mouthpiece. This creates a tinny, forced, loud, abrasive sound.

The buccinator fibers are indeed in contraction with use of the chopsticks, however, we can easily train and contract these fibers without a chopstick, without training the aperture to be directed towards the shank of the mouthpiece.

We are not "blowing through the horn" this is only a visualizer for breath control. We are in fact buzzing and the buzz is traveling through the horn. Directing the buzz to "blow through the horn" does not achiever our desired results, it achieves the contrary. The stronger the buzz, the better the sound.

[tubashaman2]

.

[tubeast]

I don´t want to harm anyone´s business, but...
I think it´s much more fun to exercise my lips PLAYING TUBA rather than lifting weights. The great bonus: AIR doesn´t have to be thought about, but rather can be exercised in the process.
My personal experience: my sound quality, tonal range, and breathing skills improved a great deal over the past few years, during which I specifically concentrated on the low and loud end of my tuba range.

[djwesp]

Wes has some great stuff, but never tell it to a student....paralysis by analysis

James isn't the only person that says this. I just don't agree. I know this quote specifically is a reference to Arnold Jacobs 99% of the time. HOWEVER, I think it is generally skewed.

Knowledge is power. Just because you shouldn't think about these things when playing (just as we don't think of throwing a ball) doesn't mean we shouldn't know them. This is akin to telling a baseball player, "don't take anatomy, because we don't want it to mess up your swing." Knowing how it works doesn't paralyze you, thinking about how it works while doing it like "thinking about throwing a ball while throwing it" paralyzes you.

This follows a Reinhardt concept to me, not an Arnold Jacobs concept. This concept is that when the horn comes to the face the mind goes to music. If we focus on the important part when playing, the music, knowing something about anatomy doesn't mean you are hurting your playing.

[Tubadork]

I was also thinking about this and these chop sticks make you clench your embouchure and like mom used to say, if you keep making that face it will stay that way. That is called task specific focal dystonia, I would be careful when using these if at all.
Bill

[MileMarkerZero]

Spend an hour a day on these, and in a year you won't feel a shovel hit your chops...

[NDSPTuba]

I'd rather not risk anything like focal dystonia, so I'm going to stay away from chop-sticks. In my opinion, if you're at the point where you need more than a standard length unsharpened pencil to strengthen your embouchure, your lips are strong enough. If you're having trouble playing focused or high or something, then you simply aren't using your lip strength the right way, and I believe that chop-sticks (or a pencil) won't really help with that because they make you focus the air stream differently because of gravity. Gravity really doesn't affect your air stream as much as it does any kind of lip weight, so any strength building exercise for more than a beginner should probably be done with something closer to David's method.

My focal dystonia was caused in large part if not totally by playing the bagpipes. Having to use extreme clamping force with my lips to keep for leaking air while blowing into the bellows. Little did I know at the time that my pipes where set up entirely to hard to play, but too little knowledge too late. Hearing of this chop-sticks thing makes me think it is too similar to what caused my dystonia for my liking. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

[iiipopes]

A few years ago, getting back into playing, I heard about the Chop-Sticks then. As mentioned above, it's no different than using a pencil or such. So I tried the pencil techniques, etc., to see if it had any effect on my embouchure. If anything, as posted above, it exercises the wrong muscles the wrong way for embouchure.

It didn't hurt my playing, but it didn't help, either. The best way to build embouchure is still the traditional long tones, lip slurs, focus on firm "corners," etc., as in all the method books.

[DavidK]

Or......

Waste air. It doesn't cost anything.

A little balanced strength training can help. (avoiding the old clench-a-roo )
But nothing will replace learning to produce the desired air column and resist it with your embouchure, hopefully producing a robust buzz and resonant tone.

Remington, Arbans, Jacobs, etc. Great content, But the real test is if you can pick up any of those method books with just your chops then they are strong enough!!!!

Now go make some music and have some fun, will ya?!?!