Playing advice

[Erik_Sweden]

Hi all,

I know. The answer to below is to get a teacher, but it is not easy to find a tuba teacher in this part of Sweden. I will try though.

I am self learned on both tuba and euphonium, so I probably do loads of errors, and that why I will ask the below questions:

I often read...
1: about firm corners
2: a flat cheek is required
3: more air is required
4: no tension
5: fixed embourchure

I can not get the abowe to work because if I am relaxed and use a lot of air my cheeks puff like Dizzy Gillespie and if I try to have firm corners and a flat cheek then I have a hard time to get any air through the tuba and my whole face is very tensed.

Any insights or suggestions ?

/Erik Dybeus

[J.Harris]

You're right. There is no good way to advise you without seeing what you are doing when you play. I will say this, my cheeks always inflate slightly. Not like Dizzy and not enough to disturb the embouchure but it is natural for me to expand a little. To make the cheek "flat" unnaturally would induce a lot of tension and fatigue for me also. Hope that helps some.

[happyroman]

Hi all,

I know. The answer to below is to get a teacher, but it is not easy to find a tuba teacher in this part of Sweden. I will try though.

I am self learned on both tuba and euphonium, so I probably do loads of errors, and that why I will ask the below questions:

I often read...
1: about firm corners
2: a flat cheek is required
3: more air is required
4: no tension
5: fixed embourchure

I can not get the above to work because if I am relaxed and use a lot of air my cheeks puff like Dizzy Gillespie and if I try to have firm corners and a flat cheek then I have a hard time to get any air through the tuba and my whole face is very tensed.

Any insights or suggestions ?

/Erik Dybeus

My opinions are based on my studies with Arnold Jacobs, who advocated firm corners in order to develop a functional embouchure. He would have his students play long tones on the tuba or buzz melodies the mouthpiece while looking at yourself in a mirror to see if the corners are staying firm. He was a strong believer in a concept he called multiplicity of senses, where you could hear, see, and (to a certain degree) feel what is going on. Adding the visual aspect is a very strong learning tool.

If the corners are firm, due to the musculature of the cheeks and lips, the cheeks should not puff out. The muscles of the upper lip start in the lower cheeks, and the muscles of the lower lip originate in the upper cheeks. Where these muscle groups cross are where the corners form, so firm corners should stabilize the cheek muscles.

Mr. Jacobs discussed a lack of tension with respect to the body, especially the muscles involved in the respiratory process. There are muscles that are involved in breathing air in and separate muscles involved in blowing air out. If the breathing in and blowing out muscles are contracted simultaneously, tension is the result. Its like the biceps and triceps contracting against each other, resulting in the inability to move the arm fluidly. We want the muscles in the torso to avoid these kinds of isometric contractions which inhibit the ability to create wind (i.e., air in motion outside the body).

To my way of thinking, more air means providing the embouchure with a thick column of air so it can vibrate efficiently. This involves keeping the oral cavity open. We accomplish this by thinking of the low vowels, such as OH, OOH, or AHH. Hear the sound of a tuba that resembles a human voice singing the low vowel sounds when you play and the tongue will stay low in the mouth, and keeping the oral cavity open. This will make sure the air column is thick when it reaches the lips.

If by a fixed embouchure, you mean one where the mouthpiece stays in the same place throughout the full range of the instrument, this is not necessary. There is a famous story where Mr. Jacobs was at Curtis and was having trouble playing the high G in Benvenuto Cellini. He thought that you should not change your embouchure in order to play high notes. Mr. Donatelli showed him how he would shift his embouchure down toward the bottom of the mouthpiece (so that the top of the mouthpiece was closer to his nose). Donatelli had a short upper lip so he actually had a notch cut into his mouthpiece to accommodate this shift. Mr. Jacobs tried this shift and not only had the high G, but the G above high G. From then on, Mr. Jacobs was a believer in allowing the embouchure to develop based on the needs of the music while always maintaining the finest quality of tone.

What he did not want his students to do, however, was to focus on the physical maneuvers, such as shifting the mouthpiece. He wanted the students to focus on creating the best possible tone, and allowing the embouchure to develop based on that. If the embouchure shifted in order to accomplish the task, that was fine. But focusing on the physical maneuver tends to result on overdoing or manipulating what is happening physically.

If you can't find a local teacher, many fine instructors are using Skype to teach students remotely. Alessandro Fossi is one that I am aware of, so you might google him and see if he is someone you might be able to work with.

[Erik_Sweden]

Thanks Jason and Andy

[MaryAnn]

I know there is controversy about free buzzing, and that it does not directly translate to the tuba. However, for the OP with his problem, I would encourage him to see what he can do free buzzing. (that is, making a buzz sound on pitch without the mouthpiece at all.) The necessary muscles would have to operate and that would get him started: Find a note you can free buzz and get a nice sound, then try to transfer that to the tuba; it won't be "exactly the same" but WILL be close. Then you can start expanding your range up and down from that note that works well for you.
PS: my cheeks puff a lot on low notes, because I *don't* want tight cheeks playing low. A horn pro friend of mine who retired from horn and has taken up tuba, had his teacher TELL him to puff his cheeks in order to get his chops to relax enough to do well in the low range on the tuba. He is struggling a little because of his very long history of "puffing is bad."
A significant part of learning any instrument well is separating which muscles need to be working from those that don't, and not tensing the ones that don't need to be.
I'm totally in sync with the post about AJ's saying to go for tone, and use what works.

[Erik_Sweden]

I practise a lot both free buzzing and buzzing on moutpiece together with a piano. No puffing at all here, but it come with increased resistance. I can play OK without puffing abowe low Bb, but register from Bb and lower is very hard for me to get a good sound without puffing. My normal playing range in Brass band and Concert band is from D in system down to F four lines below the system.