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 All teachers will inevitably run into
a brass student that struggles to produce a solid, focused tone, but
even those with the most stubborn embouchure problems can be helped
with a little common sense and more than a little ingenuity.
“A great way to diagnose difficult
embouchure and buzzing problems is to simply ask the student to
become the teacher for a moment.” says Matthew Parunak, a music
educator from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “Ask the student how
sound is created with a brass instrument. They should know and be
aware that the lips vibrate as a result of the air passing over them
and into the mouthpiece to create the buzz. Anything that doesn't
accomplish this efficiently needs to be changed in order to do so. By
listening to the student's instructions a teacher can often discover
exactly what the student's real problems are and then take decisive
steps toward fixing them.”
Once a teacher knows what the student
is doing wrong it is time to teach them how to do it right. The vast
majority of problems can be broken down into two parts, air supply
and muscle control. Getting a good sound on any instrument always
starts with a good steady supply of air,” continues Parunak,
“without steady pressure the lips simply cannot do their job no
matter how firm or relaxed the embouchure may be.”
Teaching a student to exhale in a
controlled manner must start with teaching the student to inhale
properly. Even when a student takes what they perceive to be a deep
breath the student will only utilize around 75% of their lung's
capacity. Expanding the lungs to their fullest requires more than
just the work of the diaphragm. Easy and fun breath building
exercises or special breath building devices such as spirometers
(available at many medical supply stores) or the popular Breath
Builder Isometric Exercisers (available at most music stores) can
help a student visually see the amount of air they are taking in and
blowing out. A vital resource for learning how to teach the
deceptively easy concept of breathing and blowing is the very popular
book and DVD series called, The Breathing Gym, by Patrick Sheridan
and Sam Pilafian.
Once the air supply has been fixed,
buzzing properly becomes a top priority. Do not get discouraged if at
first a student cannot buzz a wide range of notes. Building the
muscles of the embouchure takes time and practice, just as it does
for a body builder working out at a gym. Techniques such as having
the student do sizzle sirens- hissing and then buzzing with a firm
“poo” or “emmm” shaped embouchure while increasing and
decreasing air pressure from the diaphragm- will increase flexibility
in the embouchure and over time increase the student's range.
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