Air escapes from the right corner/side of my mouth. Are there specific exercises that can fix this, could it be how the mouthpiece sits on my lips? I've also noticed that after practicing for about an hour and a half my inner lip gets inflamed(?), (its like if you accidentally bit your bottom lip while eating), right where my canine teeth are.
Could anyone inform me on what i can do to fix both issues, the second one is somewhat painful and prevents me from practicing for longer than 2 hours continuously.
Oh, i guess i should mention that i take that part down a whole octave up until the measure that starts with 2 Bb 16th notes, in order to be able to play it well. That high E doesn't treat me well on my contrabass.
As the Car Talk guys would say. .. too much information just ruined my answer!
As far as practicing... so, don't push it beyond 90 minutes. No idea what is causing that without seeing you play, but take that as a sign to shut it down for a while. Your mind need to rest too. Don't fret over it, it's simply your requirement at this point.
1.) Perhaps your embouchure is too loose in the corners
2.) Perhaps the mouthpiece isn't covering all of the mouth causing a leak
Swollen lip
1.) Perhaps the lower lip is being rolled in too tight with teeth digging into the lip
2.) Perhaps the current embouchure forces the lower lip inadvertently in conjunction
Leto Cruise
Professional Tubist/Actor
YamaYork CC
MRP F
Perhaps your teeth are like mine, i.e. more suitable for piano playing than for tuba.
My solution was to re-shape the rim to fit my face. See #19 on this webpage: http://galvanizedjazz.com/tuba.html
1.) Perhaps your embouchure is too loose in the corners
2.) Perhaps the mouthpiece isn't covering all of the mouth causing a leak
Swollen lip
1.) Perhaps the lower lip is being rolled in too tight with teeth digging into the lip
2.) Perhaps the current embouchure forces the lower lip inadvertently in conjunction
For some reason I am only comfortable playing on a 33.5 (inner diameter) sized rim. And the problem is in my upper lip, probably should have mentioned that. From what others have said, I think I'm using too much pressure when I play. This used to happen almost every time I would practice trombone. (I played for 2 years in middle school and then I switched to tuba. A much better fit for me.)
There are different embouchure styles and the solution largely depends on what your particular face needs to do. I do Skype lessons if you're interested, and I specialize in fixing playing problems like that. But I'd have to see it... no way to diagnose anything without seeing what you're doing.
From my experience using too much pressure could cause a problem like that.
When | started to play euphonium again (after some 20 years) I wrestled with the same problem. Because of lack of embouchure I pressed too hard (even so, that my teeth made a "print"in my lip). But with the growth of my embouchure I was able to diminish the pressure and the problem disappeared.
Only my experience, but hopefully useful.....
Good luck
Hubert
I can play it by itself, but like i said, the range isn't really the issue, it only goes to a g in the staff. I do think I am pushing too hard into the mouthpiece. From what people have said, I think that i just need to relax when playing it and the pain will stop and hopefully the leak will stop.
