facial hair

[Billy M.]

Right on point, bloke.

In my studies, I have found that facial hair only makes playing more difficult due to a lack of a good seal.

It's one of the reasons I have my facial hair style similar to how John Fletcher kept his (although I don't let mine grow out as much.)

[MackBrass]

Never really had an issue with it, is there a difference? Not really, i am just too lazy to shave. I will say my beard is not that thick so that may be one consideration. I would assume that a thick beard and mustache could be a problem.

[sousaphone68]

I have to shave my lower lip area and undercut my upper lip moustache other wise playing with a full beard is uncomfortable and harder work

[GC]

I am unable to hit even a low Bb after four days of growth on my upper lip. I miss my beard, but it had to go when I started playing again.

[MikeMason]

Totally agree. I have suggested this to some students,and they are appalled. Having that cool scruffy look is apparently more important than a beautiful sound and clarity in all registers. Whatevs

[ginnboonmiller]

I never noticed a problem when my facial hair grew in a fraction of an inch every day, but I always found a huge improvement in my playing after I shaved it all off. Lesson learned, and I quit trying to grow a beard.

I can say almost exactly the same thing about smoking, too, by the way.

[bort]

What's it, the Mennonites that wear beards, but no mustaches? (It's some group, correct me if I'm wrong.) Seems like a win-win for them!

[windshieldbug]

I have to shave my lower lip area and undercut my upper lip moustache other wise playing with a full beard is uncomfortable and harder work

Same here.

[Three Valves]

What's it, the Mennonites that wear beards, but no mustaches? (It's some group, correct me if I'm wrong.) Seems like a win-win for them!

...and the Whos, down in Whoville.

[bort]

Worked out for this guy.

Well, duh! Why didn't I realize that!

[michael_glenn]

I've found it easier to play with facial hair. I always was clean shaven. But I noticed that I tended to have an easier time after I had a little bit of stubble. Eventually I decided to just grow out a beard. I find playing easier and more comfortable than I had previously when I was clean shaven. To each their own.

[PaulMaybery]

I found, that to some degree the mustache and lower lip hair seemed to aid endurance, and also less skin irritation. I've had my facial hair for well over 3 decades, but never really needed that solid pedal register for anything other than showing off. Still, I was vain and wanted the hair.

After I retired my day job and had plenty of discretionary time to practice, I thought to my self that I would really like to optimize things. New and much better tubas, an array of premium mouthpieces, etc, etc, etc. plus very serious practice and careful analysis of my playing. After encouragement by one of our TubeNet member here, I finally succumbed and shaved it off. The difference was not subtle at all. It was dramatic. Instantly, pedal CC an below popped out with clarity. Everything worked better. However I did suffer some skin irritation, but stainless mps took care of that. I still find that the Pedal CC is fun for showing off, but it does make for better low register playing, which in turn benefits the upper registers. Everything got better and even more enjoyable.

So there.

[DonShirer]

That is apparently a reasonable test, bloke, but some people cannot remove facial hair because of religious, health or partner preference reasons. In my case, I often have to attain a degree of hirsutism or hispiditity for a role in a musical or operetta. Luckily that is only temporary (and I'm face fuzz free at the moment) since I do have to work harder to produce a good tone when I have lanuginous lip linings.
P.S. If only my head follicles would still be working as hard as my chin cells. Sigh.

[T. J. Ricer]

I cut the middle out of my mustache, as I learned from Doc Marcellus: http://www.esm.rochester.edu/faculty/marcellus_john/" target="_blank

[Ken Crawford]

I find that a 1 day growth is optimal for my embouchure. A fresh shave and my face grips the mouthpiece to much. Longer than one day and I lose seal. I have a beard with no mustache and shaven lower lip, I've been told I look Amish.

[roweenie]

Worked out for this guy.

[bububassboner]

I actually did this experiment recently, but in reverse.

Being in the military means that I have to shave daily. After my surgery I was given 6 weeks of recovery time, plus I took an additional 4 weeks of personal leave. So my goal was to grow a beard (anyone who has been in the military will understand).

The first about 3 days were great. Not shaving everyday helped the skin above my lip feel better. I was liking that.

The next week sucked. It was itchy and the hair would poke into the rim and it wasn't very pleasant. I almost shaved at this point.

The next week was awesome! The hair provided a buffer between skin and mouthpiece and I felt like I could play longer.

After this point the hair was long enough to touch the lip inside the mouthpiece. This is where I had problems. It seemed that any hair touching the lip inside the mouthpiece would stop the buzz at that location. It was like I'd lost the ability to play. Once I figured it out I cut my mustache military style (hair doesn't touch the lip at all) and I could play again.

Here were the good and bad of each for me.

With facial hair:
The skin between the nose and the lip wasn't as beaten up with facial hair.
Seemed I could shift better.
Very comfy.
Pedals sucked! Just couldn't really do them.
I was thinking about it when I should have been think about the music.
Once it got long enough I had to maintain it every few days.
I felt like it took me longer to start playing each day. A warm up was needed.

Without facial hair:
I needed less or no warm up time.
Pedals were MUCH easier without facial hair.
Less maintaining, just a quick shave with an electric razor.
Less thinking about the face, more thinking about music.
A bad shave with a razor would interfere with playing.
The skin above the lip gets more beaten up.

In the end do I like one better than the other? I can't really say. There are good and bad about each. I tend to have a "baby face" and because I am younger sometimes I'm not taken seriously so for non playing reasons I think I'll grow it out again once I'm medically retired. But in a few years? Don't know.

[Three Valves]

Trumpet players don't count.

I mean, look at that shirt!!

[Douglas]

You could always pull the Ron Davis. He shaves his mustache around the mouthpiece. Seems to work well for him.

picture link: https://lightthewaysc.files.wordpress.c ... davis.jpeg" target="_blank

[roweenie]

I've had facial hair my whole adult life, almost continuously, since I was 17 years old (I'm 52 now).

However, there was a short period of time in the late 80s (about 2 months) where I was clean shaven, and I found that the hair grew so fast, that I almost always had some sort of stubble, and it was very annoying, and hindered my ability to play.

The only remedy was to shave twice a day, especially if I had an evening gig. And, I've also got very sensitive skin, which causes its own difficulties, as well.

Not only does facial hair have no negative effect on my playing, it is positive in that it makes it more comfortable for me to play.