John Ericson is one of the bloggers behind the excellent Horn Matters web site (along with Bruce Hembd). Recently he posted on what horn texts have to say about mouthpiece placement. Dr. Ericson quotes passages from Philip Farkas, Gunther Schuller, and several other horn pedagogy authors.
It’s an interesting read and most of the texts that Ericson quotes were unfamiliar to me. Since I take a different approach to brass embouchures than all the authors, I wanted to comment on some of his post and try to put the quotes into a broader context of how brass embouchures actually can be observed to function.
Ericson began his article with a short discussion (and photo) of his own embouchure.
Note that it is somewhat more than 2/3 upper lip, it is not quite over the top fleshy mound due to my heavy upper lip, and also it is not centered over my natural lip opening. Is it wrong?
Lloyd Leno comments on an off-center aperture in his film, Lip Vibration of Trombone Embouchures. Leno states that it apparently doesn’t affect the tone, but doesn’t comment much more on it. I’ve also noticed off-center apertures when looking at some players using a transparent mouthpiece. Mine seems to be a little off-center too, although I think a rim visualizer is not as accurate a depiction as a transparent mouthpiece.
It would appear that not only are off-center mouthpiece placements somewhat common, but an off-center aperture inside the mouthpiece is perhaps not so uncommon either.
The meat of Ericson’s post starts with a discussion of Phillip Farkas’ recommendation of 2/3 upper lip and 1/3 lower lip. While this recommendation is ubiquitous, particularly among horn players, it’s a little misleading because it is very incomplete.
I’ve written a number of times about this particular instruction, most recently here and here. Farkas, Berv, Hill, Wekre, and many other brass authors not cited, are all making a sweeping generalization that while applying to a lot of players, neglects to recognize that a significant number of players will actually be hindered by this mouthpiece placement. The mouthpiece placement that works for any individual is a factor of the player’s anatomy and while the 2/3 upper lip and 1/3 lower lip placement is a characteristic of one of the most common embouchure types, there are two others types that require a lower mouthpiece placement.
While I think Ericson and probably most of the authors he quotes would agree that it’s not necessary to place the mouthpiece exactly with 2/3 upper lip to be successful, I argue that treating a different mouthpiece placement as an exception to a rule does more harm than good. Gunther Schuller’s quote of a centered mouthpiece placement as “generally desirable” is one example. There is no reason why a a centered mouthpiece placement is better than an off-centered one, in fact, most players find that a perfectly centered placement doesn’t work as well as placing off to one side or another (which Schuller seems to recognize, yet still speculates to be less desirable). Advising an imaginary quintessential model that doesn’t conform to observation of actual functioning brass embouchures is at best a waste of time and at worst can really screw some players up.
The best analogy I’ve currently come up with regarding these rigid descriptions of mouthpiece placement is it is like suggesting left handed athletes throw with the right hand because that’s how the majority do it. Just as a significant number of athletes throw better with their left hand, a large number of brass players will have mouthpiece placements radically different from Farkas’ ideal.
A couple of Ericson’s quoted sources mention placing the mouthpiece in such a way to use the red membrane of the lips as a guide to how exactly to place the mouthpiece. This is much more common for the high brass texts to use the vermillion of the lips in this way, as the smaller size of horn and trumpet mouthpieces make a greater percentage of the rim contact on or near the red of the lips. This misleading recommendation is complicated enough that I’m planning on posting some information specifically on this topic later. Briefly, the skin of the lips is indeed different (thinner, no sweat glands, more nerves), but underneath them is a small layer of fatty tissue and then the exact same muscle that surrounds the red of the lips (obicularis oris). Look at the pattern of lip vibrations in Lloyd Leno’s film and note that for very high notes the trombonists’ lips only involve a small portion of the red of the lips and for very low notes they can involve a large portion of the lip above or below the red. The best mouthpiece placement for an individual depends much more on the length of the entire lips to the teeth and gums than on where the red membrane of the lips starts. From a standpoint of a functioning brass embouchure, the red membrane is a superficial feature that probably doesn’t need to be considered as a significant variable.
I found the quotes by Frøydis Ree Wekre, an author I wasn’t familiar with until now, very interesting.
The first major disagreement in this regard is how the lip should be set under the mouthpiece as it is being place, and how the teeth (jaw) should be positioned….
Some teachers recommend that the part of the lower lip should be rolled in under the upper lip, thus becoming invisible in a “normal” playing position. Other teachers, myself included, recommend that the mouthpiece should be placed directly on the lower lip without altering the position of the lip from its natural position.
Like mouthpiece placement, the position of the lips inside the mouthpiece depends on the individual’s anatomy, which determines the player’s best embouchure type. Some players belonging to the two downstream embouchure type players (Very High Placement and Medium High Placement) get a great deal of their lip compression for high notes by rolling the lower lip in, to various degrees (although this may change over time as an individual player develops). The general position of the jaw while playing tends to differ between these two embouchure types as well, which seems to affect exactly how much lower lip roll happens. Players belonging to the upstream embouchure type (Low Placement) probably don’t want to roll their lower lip under their upper lip while playing, although setting the mouthpiece on the lips with the lower lip slightly curled in does seem to help Low Placement players keep the lower lip from blowing out too far (a common issue with many players of this embouchure type). Low Placement type players have some variety in their jaw position too, some play best with their teeth more or less aligned and others do best with a receded jaw position.
But the real meat of Werkre’s argument is here.
There is, in addition, a philosophy that the embouchure will “blow itself in,” and the end justifies the means, as long as it sounds good. This philosophy….. is based on the fact that many successful horn players have an unorthodox, self-taught or random playing technique. Their talent has permitted them to find a technique with which they can manage the music and one that works. This way of thinking is also due to a wide-spread and understandable fear of how drastic an embouchure change can be. It is usually quite difficult psychologically to have one’s playing ability reduced, even for short periods, while one undergoes an embouchure change. Those who ascribe to this philosophy are there for willing to accept, for example, the rolled-in lower lip or an asymmetric mouthpiece placement if the technique functions well, seemingly without major problems.
Based on this quote, I would suspect that Werkre doesn’t have a full understanding of brass embouchure form and function. Werkre appears to be holding a single embouchure type as correct for all players, without regard to how anatomical differences will make different musician’s embouchures function in sometimes completely different ways. Those who subscribe to her philosophy are therefore willing to accept embouchure problems, as long as it conforms to what Werkre thinks she’s doing as she plays, not as brass embouchures actually function. I wonder what Werkre thinks of Dennis Brain’s embouchure.
Ultimately, all these texts aren’t wrong, per se, just woefully incomplete. The authors all assume that the embouchure that works for them personally must be the correct one. When their own embouchure happens to be one of the ones that is common, they make fallacious leap to assume this is more evidence that they are recommending the right thing. When confronted with an embouchure that is obviously working but doesn’t conform to what they believe, they label it as an exception, rather than modifying their ideas to include players who have different anatomical features that require a different embouchure. As all brass embouchures are unique, the exception is actually the rule, not the other way around.
Be sure to go check out more of the Horn Matters blog for more information about all sorts of topics related to brass playing.
