What's the Best Way to Change Your Embouchure?

Play 2nd horn on a Dances of the World concert surrounded by a very supportive and understanding section.

Seriously, last night was good for me, albeit fairly embarrassing. There is a lot to be said for not having a choice, and consequently making it work. I am at the point where I put the mouthpiece in the new position automatically, so that is good. What I had to do last night was trust it, and really think about my air. Also, for the first time, my corners have a big effect. They also get tired really fast. :) The final thing, I think, is remembering to put my chin out to keep the anchor on my bottom lip and get my lips even. And not too much pressure on the upper lip. Oh, and counting rests and remember accidentals is important too, which is easy to forget when you're obsessed with one square inch of flesh.

I'm lucky to sit second to a laid back guy that treats me like his little sister, kitty-corner from an understanding guy that can empathize and knows how much better I will sound on the other end, and in front of a humble guy that doesn't mind hearing a bunch of splee-ahs.

It's a good time to be doing this, since we are about to play a ballet with a guest conductor, which means we will just be running it for the next week, and there are a lot of gigs lately, so I have the horn on my face a lot. I can't stop when I get frustrated and I have to try to play in tune and hit notes in the center from the beginning. The music we've been doing is not too challenging technically, and the majority of my part is in the core range that I want to develop first anyhow.

The biggest down side to yesterday evening was that our hopefully-conductor-to-be was in the audience. It was terribly exciting to see him out there, because we think it means he's in town negotiating. It was also a bummer because I knew he would notice that we as a section did not sound as good as last time, and that would be my fault. But I suspect his mind was elsewhere, for the most part.


Hey Spot. You may be right. But how about this? If I didn't have an anchor on my bottom lip, then I was making some sort of "anchor" on my upper lip, cutting off all those vibrations AND not getting anything from below. Blah blah blah. The point is, it sounds better this way. And I'm doing just fine, thanks. :)