Max sent me a link to this YouTube video of the great Phil Wilson soloing on Lonesome Old Town with the Woody Herman Orchestra. Not only is it a great sample of Wilson’s phenomenal playing, you also get a couple of good looks at Wilson’s chops. Enough to play “guess the embouchure type.” Take a good look and see if you can tell which embouchure type Phil Wilson has. The best view of his embouchure starts at about 2:26, but you really need to at least start at the beginning of the solo at around 1:57 so you can hear Wilson show off his high chops a bit. My guess after the break.
Category: Medium High Placement Type
Jaw Position/Horn Angle Changes and Guess the Embouchure Type – Allen Vizzutti
A recent topic on the Trumpet Herald Forum reminded me of the below video of Allen Vizzutti playing some extremely impressive double tongued octaves. Check it out.
What I wanted to comment on here is Vizzutti’s noticeable horn angle changes as he changes octaves. You can clearly see that as he ascends he brings the bell of his horn down slightly and to his left and does the reverse to descend. It seems like a lot of motion, but considering the overall range he’s playing it’s really not all that much change. This change isn’t quite so noticeable when he’s playing music that doesn’t have such large interval leaps. In the below video you can see some good shots of him not only playing large interval changes but also playing phrases where his horn angle changes aren’t that noticeable.
It’s worth noting here that the specific angle changes Vizzutti is making here aren’t going to be the same for all players. Many players, myself included, find that bringing your jaw slightly forward and angle slightly up works best to ascend. Some players may find the general direction of the horn angle change to be more or less straight up and down while many players will find some angular deviation, like Vizzutti’s. The important part here is that it moves pretty much in a straight line and more or less the same amount between octaves. What works for one player isn’t going to be the same for another, and what works for a single individual can also change over time as the player develops.
I’d also like to point out that while many (perhaps most) brass players look at these horn angle changes and call this a “pivot,” this is not what Donald Reinhardt, who coined the term, meant by it. Reinhardt used this term to refer to the way that players will slide the mouthpiece and lips together as a single unit up and down along the teeth and gums to change registers. I prefer to use Doug Elliott’s term “embouchure motion” instead, because it’s less likely to be confused. Two players with the same direction of embouchure motion may end up making the opposite changes in horn angle. It can be very personal to the player and isn’t an easy thing to generalize.
You can get a very clear look at Vizzutti’s chops in these videos, enough to take a guess at his embouchure type. I’ll put my guess after the break.
Continue reading “Jaw Position/Horn Angle Changes and Guess the Embouchure Type – Allen Vizzutti”Guess the Embouchure Type – Wild Bill Davidson and Ashley Alexander
It’s time for another “Guess the Embouchure Type.” This time I’m going to take a look at trumpet player Wild Bill Davidson and trombonist Ashley Alexander and see if I can guess which embouchure type they have. Take a look at the below video and see what you think. My guess after the break.
Wild Bill Davis Davidson is a tough one, while Ashley Alexander’s is quite easy to spot.
Guess the Embouchure Type – Danielle Elsinghorst
Here’s another quick “Guess the Embouchure Type.” Watch this video of trombonist Danielle Elsinghorst and see if you can guess which embouchure type she has. This one is a tough one. My guess after the break.
Guess the Embouchure Type – Kurt
Kurt and I were involved in a discussion on the Trumpet Herald Forum a while back and we got sidetracked into a private discussion. I had asked Kurt if he would be willing to video tape his chops so I could take a closer look at them and he sent me the below video. Take a closer look and see if you can guess his embouchure type. My guess after the break.
Continue reading “Guess the Embouchure Type – Kurt”Guess the Embouchure Type – Bob Havens
Bob Havens was the featured trombone soloist with the Lawrence Welk Show for almost its entire run. He joined the show in 1960 (the show began in 1951 as a local Los Angeles program before going national in 1955) and he remained until the show ended in 1982. While I tend to find the music performed on this program hokey at best, it was always extremely well performed and you would be hard pressed to find better musicians. Bob Havens is no exception to that, he always played great on those shows and frequently demonstrated he could blow jazz very well too.
Check out this video of Havens being featured on Basin Street Blues to see what I mean. He’s certainly playing for the audience of the program, but his improvising is very tasteful and you can hear what a great trombone player he is here. We also get a few good looks at his chops, so while you’re at it see if you can guess his embouchure type. My guess after the break.
Guess the Embouchure Type – Denver Dill
I’ve blogged recently about Denver Dill’s new book, Still Playing, My Journey Through Embouchure Surgery and Rehabilitation. Shortly before my copy of his book arrived I got an email from Denver, who happened to come across this site. After watching some of my embouchure vods he was interested in putting together something similar that would show his embouchure. He demonstrates his mouthpiece placement both prior to the surgery and after. Denver also got a hold of a transparent mouthpiece for his video, posted by the West Point Band’s YouTube page. Take a look and see if you can guess Denver’s embouchure type. My guess after the break.
Guess the Embouchure Type – Giuliano Sommerhalder
I bookmarked this video of Swiss/Italian trumpet player Giuliano Sommerhalder playing Rafael Mendez’s virtuoso arrangement of Mexican Hat Dance a while back and have been meaning to do a “Guess the Embouchure Type” for a while now. I don’t remember how I came across this video, so if you forwarded it to me my apologies for no credit.
At any rate, Sommerhalder is a very fine player and this video has a few places where you can get a good enough look at his chops to guess his embouchure type. Take a look and see what you think. My guess after the break.
Guess the Embouchure Type – Tine Thing Helseth
This one is a sort of a repost. I had done this same “Guess the Embouchure Type” of Tine Helseth from this video earlier, but a server hiccup (and not remembering to put on automatic backups) caused about 2 weeks worth of posts and comments to be deleted.
At any rate, Helseth is a very fine Norwegian trumpet player. She’s really known for her classical trumpet soloing, but the below video shows some excellent closeups of her embouchure while playing (or at least during a video shoot, the production value of this video is such that they may not be playing exactly what we’re hearing). Take a look and guess which embouchure type you think she plays as.
Guess the Embouchure Type: Roy Williams
I wasn’t familiar with British trombonist Roy Williams until I came across this YouTube video of him playing the ballad Old Folks. There’s not much about him online, but I did find a discography here. He’s definitely a player I need to check out more. Watch his playing here and see if you can guess his embouchure type.
While you’re watching, pay close attention to how stable his embouchure is at all times. When he breathes he almost always keeps his lips inside the mouthpiece touching and takes are in through the mouth corners. Speaking of his mouth corners, they are firmly locked in place throughout his entire range. His jaw remains pretty stable as well, not moving up or down when he changes registers and his chin remains firm (don’t confuse his dimple for a bunched chin). These are good characteristics for players of all embouchure types, so it’s a good model to watch and emulate.
Video no longer available
Unfortunately this upload is very low resolution, so it’s has poor video quality. That, along with Williams’ very minimal embouchure motion make it difficult for me to guess with much confidence.
Continue reading “Guess the Embouchure Type: Roy Williams”