Jaw movement

[geneman06]

Up until fairly recently, I thought my ombeture and tone quality we're my forte (its definitly not my spelling). We recently had Scott Cameron come to our school and do a master class. He pointed out that when I play, I have a lot of jaw movement. I never even noticed it until he pointed it out. Has anyone had similar problems? does any one know of any good exercises for helping to irradicate the problem?

[SplatterTone]

I you want to do some reading, scan the links for posts by Roger Lewis. I don't know if any of it will deal specifically with your case, but they cover a lot.

viewtopic.php?t=16560
viewtopic.php?t=4051&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
viewtopic.php?t=4051&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
viewtopic.php?t=16642
viewtopic.php?t=17120
viewtopic.php?t=18712&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=12
viewtopic.php?t=20770

[windshieldbug]

I think that it depends on the type of movement you mean.

My teacher, who was a New York Bill Bell student, said that he was told to use jaw movement similar to Dr Donald Reinhart's pivot system to redirect the stream of air depending on the register you were playing in. This is how I learned to play, using slurred arpeggios in one direction, up, and then back down in reverse.

This is not related to any articulation, however.

[Mark]

Do you practice in front of a mirror? There are lots of inexpensive mirrors that will clamp to a music stand.

[Onebaplayer]

without being real controversial, I will offer this story just as a vague concept.

A professional I respect very highly, told me a story about taking a lesson with another professional that is internationally respected by all types of musicians. This professional played for the other professional, and had jaw movement (rather large). When questioned about it, he responded with a question: "How did it sound?" To which the other professional responded in an overly positive way. The jaw mover then responded: "Then why does it matter what my jaw was doing?"

I've noticed in my own playing that any time I focus too much on anything physical, many aspects of my playing decrease. I would be very hesitant to change something that drastic unless you have a reason to.

Please realize that ALL OF THIS is just food for thought, and while the people in the story are very much real, they are 2 people in a sea of others with varying opinions on this topic. On top of that, many of the people on this board have forgotten more about tuba playing than I've learned thus far, so I am not an authority on the subject, at all.

[Dean]

"How did it sound?" To which the other professional responded in an overly positive way. The jaw mover then responded: "Then why does it matter what my jaw was doing?"

This is true. Sound is paramount. If it sounds great, nothing else matters.

However, if something is suffering in the sound, many times there are visual cues that correlate with the sound problems. Many times it is easiest to have the player work on the visuals--very easy to play in front of a mirror.

There is also the fact that the most simple machines are the most reliable. Thats true with us too. The simpler we can make the playing mechanism (as in, as little erroneous movement as possible), the better, more reliable players we will be.

[Toobist]

I find myself in agreement with nearly everything I've read on the subject so I'm not going to argue at all.

I used to (and still do to a very small degree) jut my jaw out and tug the mouthpiece downward on my lips for high playing. I eventually developed TMJ and experienced numbness and pain that would spread from the right hinge of my jaw all over the right side of my head until I actually would lose some vision in my right eye. Wow... that was scarey. It took a very long time to fix this issue.

Now the original poster didn't say anything about medical reasons for fixing the jaw movement nor do I recall him saying in what way his jaw moves. I hope it never gets to the point my problem did.

Either way, geneman06 please, do seek the advice of a personal instructor. It is something that should be observed by a professional throughout the process of correction.