Excessive lip pressure

[DavidJMills]

yall, i need help with this one, a terrific high school student, great sound , so much pressure that his top front teeth are loose.Knew he had a ring but didn't realize how bad it was till this week. He's been playing a Marcinc. Rose model, I've loaned him my MF H3 and his sound just smoked. But he obviously needs some remedial help. Please help me help him. Thanks, DaveMills ps he's playing a Gnagey CC.

[Roger Lewis]

Hi David.

I think it might be time to put the horn away and spend some time with the mouthpiece alone. Many players use more pressure to save on how much air they need. I would like to hear him on just the mouthpiece with a good amount of air behind it, working on getting a good sound without the bother of having the horn in the way of the targeted goal.

Either that or it's time to get one of these - the famous mouthpiece pressure relief valve. If you push too hard it vents the mouthpiece to the air, not the horn. :



Good luck.

Roger

[tubaguy9]

Exactly what Roger said. I remember a tech from corps saying to try using just your thumbs to balance the mouthpiece, and then the lips do the buzz.