Breathing in through corners of the mouth...

[BellFrontGuy]

Just wondering, do tuba players generally breath in through the corners of their mouths while keeping their embouchure in place against the mouthpiece, or is that more of a trombone/trumpet practice?

[SWE]

This is one of those things you have to figure out for yourself. Try it one way for a few weeks, then try the other

[windshieldbug]

You breathe where you need to however you need to.

[Easy Mac]

^——— This.

I breathe through only one corner of my mouth, never really breaking contact with the mouthpiece. This weird practice developed because of my dental structure. It works for me but looks fairly weird. I think some amateur trumpet jocks would faint if they observed me doing this.

So what?

[SWE]

I think about this interview with ex-Met trumpet Jim Pandolfi a lot, and specifically his mnemonic of breathing through your entire face (~13:30).

I wish I could send this video back in time to myself in the late 1980s, when I was getting more serious about playing trumpet. I think it would have cleared up a lot of things for me.

Anyway, I'm not sure precisely how relevant this interview is to this thread, but I do think it's an engaging interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxANlnKO9bw&t=810s

[timothy42b]

I think it probably is more common with trumpet and trombone players, because it tends to be a Reinhardt thing, and fewer tuba players probably are in that camp.

But also it helps with endurance, which may not be quite the same challenge on tuba.

[royjohn]

I have had some Reinhardt-inspired lessons on trumpet, but haven't had a chance to get some help with tuba since I started playing a few years ago and got serious this past year...I find that the embouchure motion I had on trumpet, which was up and to the left to ascend and down and right to descend (Very High placement), is the same on tuba. In fact, I'm surprised at how much movement there is in the upper register compared to the smaller movements on trumpet. Recently I've tried to keep both lips on the rim when inhaling and that does seem to make it easier to maintain the correct position to play correctly. The one tuba guru I did have a lesson with said he didn't keep both his lips on the rim when inhaling. I don't think it is absolutely necessary, but it means that if you move your lips off the rim, you have to be proficient in returning them to where they need to be to resume playing after the breath.

I don't know if Doug Elliot is still on here or not...he would be the person to ask about this. I hope to have a lesson with one of Doug's students (Dave Wilken) soon, and maybe then I'll get more info on this. Since Reinhardt played trombone and advocated keeping the lips on the rim when breathing, I would suspect he advocated the same for tuba players. It really isn't that difficult to do in my experience.
Best,
royjohn

[Snake Charmer]

One limiting factor for breathing without leaving the mouthpiece is the size of mouthpiece and mouth. At least for me it is impossible to have the full contact with the rim an breath only through the cornes without a loud slurping noise (or 15 seconds time). The open lip space with a tuba mouthpieces is too short to open up properly. For that I have to open the mouth wide and keep the rim contact only with the upper lip. With trombone mouthpiece the lower lip holds more contact to the rim, but even there i open up the jaw for getting in mor air without effort. Don't forget, with tuba we need a bit more air than with trumpet.

[timothy42b]

One limiting factor for breathing without leaving the mouthpiece is the size of mouthpiece and mouth.

Tongue position makes a difference. To get a good breath through my corners I need to pull my tongue back a bit.
If you get the slurping noise you might be pulling air from the mouthpiece rather than through the corners.

[Doug Elliott]

Yes I'm here occasionally and I do Skype lessons.
There are definite advantages to learning how to breathe through the corners... or one corner if that's the way your face is. And it's certainly not impossible on tuba unless you have a very small mouth.

It may very well be impossible with a rim like a 24AW.

[Tom B.]

I used to be a French horn player and easily breathed through the corners of my mouth. After switching to tuba, the size of the mouthpiece made it impossible for me to continue that practice. I found myself taking my chops off the mouthpiece to breathe, and I struggled with getting them back into their proper place quickly. Adopting a method found in a book by Donald Little, I now leave the top lip in place, and retract the bottom lip to take a quick breath. The bottom lip then snaps back into proper position quickly and accurately. It works for me. YMMV.