A Touching Embouchure

People talk about open embouchures and closed embouchures.  However, all of them create vibrating lips so they are really variations of A Touching Embouchure. It has to do with how much you allow the lips to touch. It can be none but close enough that mouthpiece pressure and your air create a buzz. The touching can be from just slightly to a fair amount based on what a player wants to use as their “Lip Setpoint” (TM).

The fastest way to successfully go to A Touching Embouchure is:

Lip Buzz:
Do this 5-10 minutes a day. Buzz scales, songs, arpeggios, etudes….
Set your new embouchure:
Buzz a note and while holding the buzz sneak the horn into playing position. This will play some note.
Take ALL breaths through your nose so you don’t disturb the embouchure and open up the setting. Play songs, scales and etudes. Remember at first breathe through the nose so you keep your embouchure set. This makes it more consistent while learning how to control the new embouchure.

Most open aperture players try to start closed and then they open up the chops as they breathe. They pin the lips in place while separated and can only make the lips touch by using mouthpiece pressure.

(After the new setting is secure go back to normal breathing.)

Stay in the staff until you have strengthened the NEW embouchure.

Do a lip setting drill:
Buzz and sneak the horn into place to play 1 note. Remove the horn and start over. It takes thousands of good reps to break a bad habit.

Do those things for 1 month.

Then AFTER the new embouchure is set and the chops are stronger you can work on the Stevens palming exercise. I only do open arpeggios with this. Do it 15 minutes a day and after a month you should be able to play over High C with almost no pressure.

Then you must learn to relax the face and let the tone become full. Work on pulling the corners in to adjust tone color and assist range. Relearn your pivot and tongue arch. Work on more efficient breathing….

An embouchure change covers all of that; not just setting the lips this way.
There is no substitute for smart hard practice. Short cuts for embouchure changes usually mean incomplete changes and years instead of months.

Pops