off center embouchure?

[vd8m9]

My mouthpiece placement is significantly towards the left of my mouth.. will that be detrimental to my playing? I haven't had any negative effects from it, but I want to know if I should work on fixing it over the summer. I think it's all really a matter of what parts of your mouth you practice, and so my right side of my mouth is basically "out of practice"

[Doug Elliott]

Certain parts of everyone's face and teeth structure will provide a better foundation for playing than other parts. It's not "which side you practice on," it's "which side works best." The chances are you didn't end up on the left side randomly, you probably landed there because it worked there, without you realizing it. The right side will probably never work well no matter how much you practice on it... and the same goes for the middle. The middle only looks symmetrical, it doesn't necessarily function well. Your nose and its underlying structure is there and for many players it's in the way.

[Rick F]

My embouchure is a little right of center. When I played trumpet in Jr. High (early 60s), my private teacher tried to get me to center it. I never could do that as my two front teeth aren't perfectly straight. Then many years later when playing euphonium, I took off the rim of DE's mpc and buzzed on just the rim using it as a visualizer. I could see that my buzz was right of center and there was no way I could get it perfectly aligned or centered.

YMMV

[PaulMaybery]

There can be several reasons why it works better off of center. An when I consider facial anatomy in general, I would not be surprised if there were considerably more off-centered than centered. When you stop to think about it, the teeth form the foundation that support the whole operation. At least in my family of origin, perfect teeth were not a "God-given." IMHO, I believe it is not a good thing to force an embouchure to work where it is not optimally responsive. The player will eventually find that spot. Red flags would be: 1. Very limited register. 2. Serious problems slurring - particularly upward. 3. Fatigue from too much pressure (cut off circulation) 4. Just plain too hard to maintain the 'Buzz".
5. And concerning the buzz, an inability to keep a rich sounding center to a given tone.
Recently I was able to get my hands on a Kelly "Crystal Clear" tuba mp. A great learning tool. I have the mp inserted into the end of a 12 inch tube which offers a bit of resistance. I can then see the buzz and detect whether or not it is actually buzzing the entire length of the chops from side to side. In slurring I can examine the upstream vs downstream movement and in some cases find that there is a break where it reversed causing a "blip" in a slur. One can also detect if there are brief lapses in the buzz. Where ever the mp is placed, should be a optimal spot where things, when warmed up, will work very efficiently.

As a teacher of 40 some years, I have seen that problems in this area come from trying to force a sound rather than taking the time to warm up and actually take time to develop this as a "primary skill set."

[happyroman]

Arnold Jacobs warned against trying to force students into a "textbook" embouchure that looks good visually. As others have already mentioned, everyone has a different structure with respect to their lips and teeth, so while there may not be a perfect embouchure for everyone, there is a perfect embouchure for YOU. The perfect embouchure for you is the one that sounds the best. Keep in mind that the embouchure is developed through playing music and always striving to produce your finest quality of tone. As Paul mentioned (although there are others in the forum that do not agree), practicing on the mouthpiece alone is excellent for the development of the embouchure. You will find that by buzzing music (not simply random noise, but actual melodies) on the mouthpiece, it will naturally located itself to the position that works best for you. Then, simply transfer that ability to the instrument.

One of my favorite quotes by Mr. Jacobs is "Embouchure is not a study of meat, it is a study of sound. Sound better than everybody else and they will copy what you do."

[Doug Elliott]

The perfect embouchure for you is the one that sounds the best.

The perfect embouchure is the one the FUNCTIONS the best over the entire range.
It is entirely possible to find the best sound on an embouchure that does not function well in other ways.
Sound is important but it's not necessarily the main thing to consider.

For example:

In slurring I can examine the upstream vs downstream movement and in some cases find that there is a break where it reversed causing a "blip" in a slur. One can also detect if there are brief lapses in the buzz. Where ever the mp is placed, should be a optimal spot where things, when warmed up, will work very efficiently.

Anytime there is a change between downstream and upstream there will be a blip in slurring that is unavoidable, in addition to a noticeable change in sound quality. There are some great players who have an embouchure like that, and they usually manage it by taking a breath to make the change. I try to steer players toward an embouchure that does not have that change in direction, because it functions better and has less problems overall.

[PaulMaybery]

Anytime there is a change between downstream and upstream there will be a blip in slurring that is unavoidable, in addition to a noticeable change in sound quality. There are some great players who have an embouchure like that, and they usually manage it by taking a breath to make the change. I try to steer players toward an embouchure that does not have that change in direction, because it functions better and has less problems overall.

Doug, I think you have found the 'holy grail' - the 'keys to heaven' or the 'magic bullet' when you hit on the air stream direction. It's a tricky habit to work around and replace. Continually practicing for instance with a clear mp will to some degree keep reminding us to modify, modify, modify until it is a habit. Old dogs, new tricks, ain't easy but if you want to keep banging your head into a brick wall with no change in results, well then don't change anything.

In case you are wondering, I am a Jacobs disciple and make no mistake about it.

[Doug Elliott]

And in case you are wondering, I am not a Jacobs disciple and make no mistake about that either.

You might want to edit your post to correct the quote to be from me.

[PaulMaybery]

Doug. Glad to fix the quote. I was reading Harry Truman speeches today and "Make no mistake about it" appeared countless times. Inside humor... very inside.