embouchere tips on euphonium

[elimia]

OK, here's the scoop. I'm trying to build up a strong embouchere as I play a moderately large mpc for euphonium. I'm trying to have a stable high range that I can count on. I've worked very hard on air support and don't think it's a problem anymore. I just provide enough of a seal to be on the mpc but don't get the red ring of death after playing awhile.

I'm finding that to get consistently into the high range, at least on this mouthpiece, I need to 'pucker' a little bit and create a whistling form with my embouchere. This is accompanied with firm corners in the embouchere. Air is gushing swiftly through the puckered lips.

Now, when I examine the after effects with the puckered embouchere, I see a small ring where the lips where torqued. The overall embouchere is normal in appearance though.

Roughly, as I know this is a subjective thing to discuss over a keyboard, do I just need to build the endurance now? An easy fix would just be a smaller mpc, but I love how my current one really sings in the low register and I know tons of people play higher than I can using bigger mpcs.

Before it gets suggested 10 times, I haven't a spare dime to scrape together for lessons with a teacher, so that isn't an option for me. I had all this figured out 15 years ago! Any help appreciated.

[BopEuph]

First of all, don't think about HOW you're doing it with your lips. That's not important. Actually, it can also be counter productive. I've heard that Phil Farkas, when he wrote "The Art of Brass Playing," he examined his embouchure so much that he wasn't able to play his horn. He had to start learning to play it over again.

It's not even the lips that you need to think about so much anyway; just have the idea of what you want to come out of the horn and your mind will make the body do what it needs to do. Now, that won't come right away, but it will come with practice. What you need to think about (at least in the beginning of doing this) is to use your abdominal muscles to "push" the air through the horn more. Your abs will work like a bellow, giving more air to use.

Like I said, this doesn't come right away, but with practice. Go into the Bourdogni excercises and find one you like, and read it as if it's in tenor clef. An octave might be too high. When I was playing a lot of lead trombone I played pentatonics and scales up to the fifth and back down for hours. I didn't once think about how my lips are handling it.

Nick

[The Impaler]

I think you're on the right track. Having been a public school teacher for the past three years and just coming back to weekly lessons and serious work on my euph (and tuba) playing, my teacher and I are working very hard on keeping my embouchure "efficient." Having firm corners is a prerequisite, and will pay dividends in the long run as it will minimize extra movement which can potentially overwork the embouchure.

As far as mouthpiece size goes, and having been "that guy" who fell into the huge mouthpiece game, I'm now convinced that a medium-sized piece is perfect for euph. That conclusion has nothing to do with range, but rather with tone. Finding a great "center" for your sound and keeping it energetic and interesting is the name of the game for me now.

Lastly (and not attempting to start a tubenet argument here), I think that keeping the entirety of your upper body relaxed is paramount to great playing over long spans of time. Having been taught the "tight-gut, abdominal-push" method of moving air, and also having (thankfully) gone completely away from it, I sincerely believe that abdominal tightness not only doesn't help your air, it can potentially harm it. This realization came as a result of study with Sam Pilafian and Pat Sheridan, and their landmark pedagogy in "The Breathing Gym."

Bottom line: keep practicing, you're on the right track. The previous poster gave a great suggestion of thinking less technically and playing more according to the sound in your head. I heartily agree.

[iiipopes]

I agree that too large a mouthpiece can actually be detrimental effect in losing centering and intonation. Even though I play tuba, from what I've seen a few chairs down, the geometry of the cup does more for tone on a euphonium than does rim diameter. I have come to the conclusion that finding the appropriate mouthpiece, you start with finding a rim diameter (or cup diameter) and contour that fits the muscles, your teeth and seal on the lips with minimal pressure as the first priority, then determine the size of the throat for the amount of air you push through the horn, and then cup geometry for emphasis on a particular tone or range. The mouthpiece is the facilitator of what you want to do with your embouchure, not the other way around. Consistent, properly diversified practice is essential, and even though everybody recommends long tones and lip/interval slurs, noone explains that coming down in a precise manner is as important as going up, since that also takes muscle control to tell your embouchure when to stop relaxing and hold a different firmness coming down. Since this also takes effort, it also strengthens the embouchure overall.

I also agree that proper posture and a relaxed approach to playing is essential. Those who play with a "tight abdomen" may actually be flexing or tensing the wrong muscles, which does preclude air flow and control. Unfortunately, brass players should not be trying to get a "six pack," rather they need to think a flexible expansion of the muscles to drop the diaphram as much as possible on breathing in, and a constant steady progressive contraction blowing out as you play the horn. This is not the same thing as a "tight gut," which actually promotes elimination, not controlled exhalation.

I am not familiar with the Sheridan pedagogy of breathing, but from what you describe it is the same thing, only expressed differently. I must look for a copy. Thanks for the reference.