Another question from the internet.
I’ve begun teaching beginning trombone students and I find myself somewhat… stunted in terms of discussing embouchure placement, how to play higher or lower, etc. with them, especially as I’m not versed well enough in the Reinhardt system to diagnose their embouchure types (nor am I sure that their embouchure type has ‘stabilized’ even for the short term anyway, given how young people tend to ‘sprout’).
Can you offer me any guidance on how to teach these students? I suppose I could look at Arban or another beginning trombone book to see, but because I find myself confused by the ‘mirror effect’, I’ve avoided the topic for the most part, instead focusing on holistic results of “OK, that’s a good tone quality. That’s a good articulation. Try to keep the air moving more smoothly” etc.
There are plenty of teachers who are much more experienced starting beginners than me, although I do get to teach middle school and high school students private lessons and through summer music camps frequently. Depending on the circumstances, I may offer some embouchure instruction, but in general I take somewhat of a “hands-off” approach unless I happen to see a problem. Because younger beginners are often still growing and they have some embouchure strength building to do, trying to type their embouchure is almost pointless. Left to their own experimentation, most student will figure out where they need to place the mouthpiece on their own.
Here are some of the issues I do address with beginners that can help them develop well functioning embouchure technique without resorting to unnecessary and confusing instructions or expert knowledge on the part of the teacher.
Learn How To Hold the Instrument
Not only do you want your students having good posture, but make sure they are holding the instrument correctly and consistently doing so. With trombone (and trumpet), the left hand should be responsible for keeping the instrument up to the lips (and for making the embouchure motion, although I usually don’t address that with beginners). Horn players will want to keep the bell of the instrument off the leg, even if that ends up with the correct horn angle for their embouchure. With tuba, euphonium, and baritone horn it can be a little problematic, as the instrument is usually supported in the lap and some compromise often has to be made getting the instrument to the lips. If the student is big enough and strong enough, holding the baritone or euphonium off the lap can be helpful. I try to correct twisted around grips and bent wrists and help the students find an ergonomic way of holding the instrument that will allow them to have a range of horn angles available so that when one settles in they will be able to keep the mouthpiece placement consistent. Don’t let the mouthpiece bob around on the lips as they play.
Firm the Lips, Keep Placement Consistent
Very often beginners, and even some experienced players, will place the mouthpiece on the lips before firming them up and then twist the lips around with the mouthpiece. Try having them set their lips as if they were buzzing and then place the mouthpiece on the lips that way. To practice keeping the placement consistent as they breathe have them practice some exercises starting with nose inhalations and then gradually switch to keeping their lips just touching in the center and breathing through the mouth corners (for more on this idea check out Reinhardt’s books, he was the first I discovered to recommend this, although I’ve seen similar ideas elsewhere).
Mouth corner inhalations can be tricky, especially for smaller students on low brass. The idea is to have them work towards this as an ideal, but don’t let them obsess over it. Let your students do what they need to in order to get in a large enough breath when they’re playing music.
Free Buzzing
I want to get some more video footage collected before I tackle this topic more completely, but it’s not too early to start out beginners with some simple free buzzing exercises. I use free buzzing simply to build embouchure strength, and not as a diagnostic tool, however. The only thing I’d really ask beginners to do is buzz the highest pitch they can for as long as they can three times. They should buzz softly and try to make the free buzz sound like a mosquito buzz.
Some beginners, and again also some experienced players, have trouble getting a solid free buzz at first. Rather than contort their lips and blow loudly to get their buzz going, try asking them to roll their lower lip over their lower teeth. This will get their mouth corners in the right position and they will gradually develop enough strength and control to get the lower lip off the teeth.
Avoid the Smile Embouchure
This is very common with beginners. Pulling the mouth corners back into a smile as ascending does work, to a certain degree, which is why people unconsciously get into this habit. The mouth corners really should lock into place and not move much while playing.
Free buzzing is one of the best ways to strengthen the muscles just under the mouth corners so that they can hold them in place while ascending. Mirror practice, gradually ascending as high as they can without smiling, is good for visual feedback too.
Avoid Bunching the Chin
Sometimes beginners will get into a habit of pushing the chin up towards the lips as they ascend, disengaging the chin from the jaw. Like the smile embouchure, it does actually help to a certain degree getting the pitch to raise, but it also affects accuracy and limits further development. It’s worth correcting if you spot it.
Like eliminating the smile embouchure, a little free buzzing will help develop the muscles to hold the chin in place while mirror practice to get feedback can be helpful.
Beyond the above, I think perhaps the best thing a teacher can do with helping their beginners develop strong embouchures is to know when to stay out of the way and when to intervene. When the student has a consistent range up to concert B flat or so then it may be time to start taking a look at his or her embouchure type and guide the student along into playing correctly for their type. Doing so is more complicated, of course, but by first becoming familiar with the embouchure types themselves one can learn to see how they function when things are working and then begin understanding how to correct problems when they arise, or sometimes even before they begin.
