It’s been a while since I’ve played “Guess the Embouchure Type” here. This time I found a video that I wanted to share, regardless. Euphonium player Daniel Thomas discusses the pivot (embouchure motion) in this video, which should make it easy for those of you in the know to guess his embouchure type. Take a look at his embouchure in his video here (you may need to click on the link, I’m getting an embed configuration error at this time). My guess after.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWbwSecRdVY
Dan and I connected online a while back, so I’m kind of cheating already, but his explanation of what a pivot is and how to determine the best pivot for your embouchure gives away his embouchure type. He pushes up (and to his right) to ascend and pulls down (and to his left) to descend. Since there is only basic embouchure type that pushes up to ascend that puts his embouchure type squarely into the “Very High Placement” type.
Dan also discusses a pretty common issue with low brass players that belong to the “Very High Placement” type. When the placement is quite high on the lips sometimes the player’s nose will get in the way of the ascending embouchure motion (pivot). But since Dan’s embouchure motion track also has some side to side deviation, he is able to continue pushing up without his nose blocking the ascending motion. Since almost everyone has some degree of side to side deviation, this can also be advantageous for players who place higher (or lower) than most other players.
I also did want to share Dan’s video here, since it is one of the clearest explanations and demonstrations of what Donald Reinhardt called a “pivot.” Many of my regular readers will know that I usually avoid that term in favor of calling this an “embouchure motion.” Ultimately it doesn’t matter what you call it, so long as it is clearly described and in Dan’s video it certainly is.
Dan’s a fantastic euphonium player and he has a few other videos on his channel that look worth checking out. Go check them out!
