BE Now for Doug Wagner

The following is an email sent to Jeff Smiley and shared with me March 16, 2016.  Doug is retired, played trombone for many years, and took up horn 10 years ago.  Doug has been studying BE since 2010.  

Jeff,

Jeff,

It has been a few years since I contacted you, and I don't even remember what I told you about my progress. The main thing I remember from your first reply, was that age was not my issue. That had to have been nearly seven years ago, and today I am approaching seventy years old, and my chops have never been in better shape! You were so right, and I am so grateful for your encouragement back then. 

The thing I believe age has influenced, is how long it takes to get to the same place a younger person would take. The good news is that consistent practice and dedication can still get you there. I will never play with a major orchestra, or even play professionally, though I have been paid for a few performances. My goal is to play to have fun and to get better and have even more fun. Music and playing horn is the passion of my retirement.

For several years I have not steadfastly practiced the BE routines, but I have always kept firmly in mind the BE principles as I progressed. I have stayed in contact with Valerie over the years, and she and I have become good friends.

What is personally important to me is that I struggled and struggled with the lower register on horn, and came up against the Reicha trios for horn, opus 82. The 3rd part drops down into the bass trombone/tuba range and expects that the player has the flexibility to play nimbly in that range. So I began experimenting, keeping BE in mind. I certainly could play the lowest notes without any difficulty, having learned from BE how to play that low, but to move back into a more RI embouchure for the higher notes was a daunting task.

I kept experimenting and one day recently, the epiphany/eureka moment arrived and I found that I could still roll out enough to reach those lower notes without rolling entirely outside the mouthpiece. It's kind of a pooch of the lips that still allows a quick roll in of the embouchure. It made all the difference.

I'm not quite up to tempo yet on being able to perform those low passages, but I'm closing fast. On the high side, my upper range has increase a solid performable fifth, from my beginnings. This I truly believe is because of embracing the principles of BE, and finding ways to implement them in my day to day playing.

I play principal horn in a small town pops orchestra in Colorado, and occasionally sub in area orchestras that play major works. I travel to California each summer to play in the Brass Chamber Music Workshop at Humboldt State University, and have such a fantastic time with all those terrific brass players.

So I just wanted to give you an update and a huge thank you for what you have brought to my playing. I'm so glad to see that your web site is up and active, and that BE is alive, well, and thriving. 

Regards and appreciation,

Doug Wagner

Lakewood, Colorado

 The Balanced Embouchure Book with CD is $45.00.
The BE for French Horn booklet and/or PDF of horn adaptations is $3.00 (with book purchase).
Shipping & handling is $5.50 to $25.00 depending on location. (The quoted prices are in US dollars.)

Those who purchase The Balanced Embouchure with a Comfy Horn Strap, receive a $5.00 discount (as well as break on shipping).

To Order:

Step 1. Email me: ValerieW78 “at” Gmail “dot” com. Please tell me what instrument you play and the country you live in.

Step 2. I send you an invoice with payment options (credit card, PayPal, check or money order).

Step 3. You pay the invoice.

Step 4. I ship your BE book.

Happy horn playing!

Valerie Wells

Jill K. Brown Pleased with BE

The following is a recent email exchange between Jill K. Brown and me.  

Hi Valerie,

Thought I would check in to let you know how BE is going for me. I've been at it since January and had a 5-day recording session at the beginning of July. Normally, on an extended recording session like that, I am constantly conserving my lip, hoping and praying that my endurance will hold out. The stress of pacing myself while needing to be able to really PLAY when needed has always been exhausting (both physically and mentally). Well after 5 months of BE, I was able to get to day 5 without sweating it. Don't get me wrong, there were still some moments of gauging how many more takes vs. how long my chops will last, but on Day 5, they pulled out some overdubs with high B's in them. I was a nervous wreck (old habits die hard), but was shocked that the Bs were there, over and over. At least 6 takes on a lick that normally would have had me using your Comfy Horn Strap as a sweat towel : ) I can only say that it had to be the BE that gave me the endurance (and confidence)! My section mate was using a descant and even remarked at how well I was holding up with my double.

My next question is how to turn what I call 'circus tricks' into everyday playing. I can squeal up to the F above High C now and can crawl down to the A below Double Pedal C. Unbelievable to me, honestly. But if I practice high stuff in etudes, I find that I must reset to the Rolled-In set up or else revert to my old ways of using pressure. How do I get to a place where I can roll in smoothly as I ascend? My lower lip is pretty fleshy, so it's quite a distance I must roll in for, say, RI #3 (my preferred RI exercise).

Thanks for any suggestions.
Jill

-------------------

Jill, this is wonderful news, indeed! Congrats! This is what we all hope for when we start BE.

About your questions, all it takes is time to develop. I think I needed about 18 months to get to the point that playing high for a good long time felt so natural that I no longer obsessed over my chops. Of course, I was a much less experienced horn player than you at the time, so you will likely get to that point sooner than I did. Jeff Smiley says we're not supposed to think about BE when we perform, but that's kinda like telling people not to think about little brown monkeys. It's almost impossible for someone new to BE.

About resetting vs not resetting: as long as you're getting the job done with nice tone, good phrasing, etc., what does it matter how you did it? Hah! Getting it done is what counts. But, I think I had studied BE for three years before I made a serious attempt to learn to traverse all the ranges with a unified embouchure setting. I wanted my "continue flex", rolling in and out, to be more subtle & "inside the mouthpiece" so to speak.   I took my cues from Steve Park who plays all the ranges with a quite rolled-in setting. I wanted to see if that would work for me.  I learned it over a six week period using 3 octave arpeggios that started on fundamental F with both lips inside the mouthpiece, ascended to staff top F then went back down to the lowest F using a rolled-inish embouchure throughout. (Each "lap" started one half step higher until high D was the highest pitch.) But I have never needed to use this skill in actual playing. Doing it, however, did bring improvements in my overall flexibility and confidence.  This rolled-inish embouchure setting doesn't work for everyone.  Some people (like Lou Denaro) prefer using a more rolled out setting though out the registers.  Everyone is different, but BE will give you the tools you need to discover what will work best for you.  

Does that help?

--------------------

Thanks for your reply, and yes! that does help. I tend to lean towards being an overachiever in life, so knowing a generic time frame of "keep doing what you're doing" is helpful. My goal is to eventually be able to gradually roll in as I ascend (rolling out while descending is so much easier!) until I can smoothly get my fat lower lip neatly tucked in without resetting. Whenever I scrutinize professional players' embouchures, most look like a smooth line while playing, which I can achieve with a completely rolled in lower lip. And for me, that RI setting produces powerful and clear notes above Bb, so I am definitely motivated.

Jill K. Brown   

The Balanced Embouchure Book with CD is $45.00.
The BE for French Horn booklet and/or PDF of horn adaptations is $3.00 (with book purchase).
Shipping & handling is $5.50 to $25.00 depending on location. (The quoted prices are in US dollars.)

Those who purchase The Balanced Embouchure with a Comfy Horn Strap, receive a $5.00 discount (as well as break on shipping).

To Order:

Step 1. Email me: ValerieW78 “at” Gmail “dot” com. Please tell me what instrument you play and the country you live in.

Step 2. I send you an invoice with payment options (credit card, PayPal, check or money order).

Step 3. You pay the invoice.

Step 4. I ship your BE book.

Happy horn playing!

Valerie Wells

Keeping Up With The Kid

I love receiving feedback from a "fast responder."  It's interesting to see how quickly Bryan grasped the overall concepts. His insights about BE compared to other methods are interesting.  The BE exercises are not easy, so it's impressive that he could execute so many in his first "session."  I had to chuckle when he described figuring out how to "keep up with the kid."   Here's what Bryan emailed me today:  

Actually, just finished my first session. Really good. I get the whole philosophy. The other methods try to explain the different positions but really, there is so much going on, it's impossible to describe for one person, let alone every person. That's why some methods work for some people and not others. BE is not really an "embouchure" but a framework to allow people to find out how to make their chops work optimally. I've seen this concept in sports, but this is the first time I've seen this for brass playing or even music. 

I stopped after an hour because I don't want to get too zealous and hurt myself, but I made a lot of progress. I feel like could go all night, but I know my lips probably need a rest more than I can tell.

I believe the key to this system is to stick with it until my muscles figure it out and the mechanics get stored in muscle memory. When I got stuck, the tips in the book really helped out. I was able to get RO1, 2 and 3 down pretty good today with a strong pedal sound. RO4 is still shaky, but I will get it soon. I was able to get the RI's too, just need to work at it so I have better accuracy and sound. Some attempts were very good, so I know I am on the right track.

I had a hard time at first with the RI tone--also, I was running out of breath within seconds, so I knew I was doing something wrong since the kid on the CD was going on forever.  So I checked the tips. I was keeping my lips too far apart, due to having the mp too low (previous embouchure). Adjusted, brought my lips closer together and it worked like a charm. Since it was a smaller aperture, i didn't need as much air, so I was able to keep up with the kid. 

Also, the tonguing on the lips was very natural for me and I can see how it is a good gauge of lips position. In fact, with my new setup, tonguing on the lips is the only way I can tongue, which was unthinkable before.

Anyways, things are going well, so far. Looking forward to more. Will keep you posted.

Thanks, Bryan

Newbie Preparing for the BE Journey

Here I've cut and pasted various posts from the Balanced Embouchure for Horn group on FaceBook.  https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/101746176633232/

•  Rhodri Spearing:  The journey begins *today*!  Wish me luck...
  

  

  
  

  
  

  •  Andrew Joy:

    Rhodri, a wise investment.

    
    
  •  Rhodri Spearing:

    I'm praying with every ounce of my being that you're right. I'm approaching 3 years now of endless frustration, and I've tried *everything* to get my chops to work, with only temporary and limited success...I really feel like this is all that's left now. "Help me BE you're my only hope"...

     Colin Ng:
  • .. do best to forget all concepts, conventions and imagination until you are done reading for its simple literal meanings and practicing like you are ignorant and under supervision of an esteemed master. Then FORGET BE totally when doing 'normal' stuffs like etudes, excepts or repertoire. Do not expect miracles but enjoy things getting surprisingly easier little by little, day by day.

    
    
  •  Colin Ng: 

    Colin Ng there is no end; no 100%. You just keep discovering things getting easier each day... for me, its been like that since 2011. Just when you thought you know something, you go even further the next day... Then you start to wonder, did we actually know anything at all? That is the genius of Jeff Smiley. Just as Beatrice put it, "BE is not an embouchure"

    
    
  • Alexander Shuhan:

     Well said, Colin and Beatrice. BE is definitely NOT an embouchure. It will help you discover awareness and understanding where there was previously frustration and confusion. I swear that rarely a day goes by without me feeling like some small thing is intuitively, unconsciously being tweaked. But know that you cannot force it to happen. Doing BE exercises for hours a day is NOT what it's about. He gives such GREAT advice in the book. Heed it well and things will start happening. And when you have that first "Aha" moment, you'll feel an enormous weight lifted off of your shoulders. Good luck and enjoy new beginnings.
    
    
    Everything I have learned and am continuing to learn from BE thus far, has done more to help me understand "traditionalist" approaches than any of the language that they tend to use. But we're preaching to the choir here! :-) BE is like a "key" to understanding some previously unintelligible language. Use it the way he (Smiley) suggests, play and forget about it, read it again, think some more, play some more, etc., etc., and little by little, over time, as your playing improves and changes in ways that you truly cannot comprehend just yet, you'll experience just how grateful you are to have discovered that "key."
    
    Rhodri, just enjoy the ride for a while. You will not likely have daily revelations, and you may not have any for a while. But something will happen at some point and you'll realize that the only reason you even recognize that it did is because you have the "key." 

    
    Valerie Wells: 
  • I found the most appropriate sentence one time on the BE forum of Trumpet Herald: "BE is not boot camp!" I never have been able to find who said it. It sums it up so well. BE isn't boot camp or a severe gymnasium workout. It's more like a university for your embouchure.

    
     Rhodri Speearing: 
  • Day 1 over and my perception of playing is already beginning to change. Looking forward to what tomorrow might bring!

    
    
  •  Beatrice Latherings: 

    Just remember it is not a quick fix; it's a journey.

    
    
  •  Valerie Wells: 

     BE is intended to be a friendly influence on the embouchure, not a hostile takeover!

    
    

     Colin Ng: 
  • To BE is not to BE.

    
    

One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

If one picture is worth a thousand words, one video is worth one-hundred thousand words. Steve Park made a video recording of me demonstrating a few of the basic BE techniques. I distribute a link to this private youtube video to all who buy the BE book.  I'm always and tickled when I receive feedback like this!  I'm grateful for Steve's support and, of course, for Jeff Smiley's BE method.  After studying it for 8 years, I'm still mesmerized by what it helps horn players achieve!     

Dear Valerie,
I started BE tonight and wanted to let you know that your youtube video was a great help! I tried for 30 minutes to get a pedal F out. No luck. I can see where young players have the advantage here. Finally I found it, and was actually able to hold it out for some time.

I can't wait to move on to the other exercises. It is great to actually see you play these and hear them too, of course!
Thank you,
Susan 

Micah Cooper Recommends BE for Range Development

A horn player recently asked tips to improve the upper register on Facebook.  Micah Cooper's answer was short, sweet & to the point!  

Get BE and do the exercises. I went from 4 to 5 octaves in one month. 

Later, he shared this with me in a message:

I wish I had BE when I was in high school. Things would have been a whole lot easier. Also, I said 5 octaves for my range in my post. When I am practicing a lot my range pushes 5 1/2. And when I come off a multiple month layoff, I can get back my chops in a week or two with the program. Just Awesome.

BE works!

BE Update: Benefits Not Anticipated

Doug Wagner, a former professional trombonist turned hornist, began studying The Balanced Embouchure three years ago.  He emailed this to me this past weekend:  

I signed on to Facebook, which is not a regular habit for me, and found your post of comments from Jane Swanson. My takeaway was from her first two points: 

1. Even when I play to exhaustion I do NOT have swollen lips afterwards or the next day: so I can jump right back into action.  

2. In the midst of challenging playing, same story -- my chops recover if I give them a few seconds off.  That was not the case previously.

Yesterday, I endured a brutal two-and-a-half rehearsal featuring repeated, sub tempo rehearsal of high, loud passages. Even allowing for laying out at strategic points, I was burned out after two hours and struggled for the ability to play in the high range. Even so, I was able to finish the rehearsal in reasonably good shape by judicious rest, and by depending on my section. I chose not to play any more after I got home.

Today. I considered not playing at all, but I warmed up carefully and after a few minutes had all the flexibility and range that I've had previously. The conclusion I reached is that, I can recover quickly, if not completely, by a few seconds rest, and that the next day, I don't suffer prolonged fatigue. So, I will echo Jane's comments. BE had benefits not anticipated.

I'm 66 years old. If I could duplicate the benefits of BE with the rest of my body as it ages, I'd be the wonder of the Western world. I'm amazed at the progress I've made. A new horn doesn't hurt either.

Doug   

Colin Ng, 14 Month Update

Dear Valerie,

In another 10 days it will be my 14^th month anniversary of BE practice. I was then disabled due to a “guided” embouchure change and later in the year, broke my front tooth due to a hard grain. Before then, consistency of sound production was something I had to work very hard on, yet with very temperamental results.

After a year of dedicated BE practice, consistency of good sound production is now no longer a concern; and after the due efforts to make technique transparent, I am able to direct my thought to music aesthetics freely during rehearsals and performances.

I even came out with some original exercises based on BE concepts with crazy good results. Stamina is astonishing and range is still extending and climbing!

Playing the first movement of the Otto Nicolai duet no. 1 on both 1^st and 2^nd horn parts as an extended warm up is something that was unthought of; now it's a possibility.

Here are some thoughts on BE after a year:

1. BE is not music but BE enables Music.
2. Ease of play and good sound happens only after BE not during BE. Be need not sound good in practice, and is not to be used as a performance technique. BE is a conditioner.
3. Even for my one day phenomenon a year ago, it is normal to have a slow start off that kicks off into exponential results over time.
4. Hitting a plateau means hanging on to your BE even more religiously. Before you know it, you look back and realized that plateau is far behend you.
5. Haters gonna hate. Some people will ask about how its done and yet reject BE even more due to their pre-conceptions. Let pre-conceptions bring them to hit their own brick wall. BE only work for people who need it; not simply want it.

Cheers to everybody and have a great day!

Yours sincerely,

Colin Ng

Singapore

This note added 10/8/14:  Colin Ng is still enjoying BE and had been developing  his own exercises based upon BE principles.  See this.  

BE and Verdi

This is from an email I received from Doug Wagner.  Doug had a career as a trombone player and music arranger.  After he retired from arranging & trombone performance, he decided to pursue one of his dreams, to become a horn player.  He's written several times about how BE has helped him.  Here's his latest in a spontaneous email I received from him just this week.

Val,
I just got the music (3rd horn) for Verdi's Otello which we are performing in August. So far I've found horn in: Bb, C, D, Eb, E, A and A Basso, and your favorite, horn in B. He either loved or hated horns. Lot's of nice solos in the 3rd part. Dave threatened to take 3rd away from me and make me play 1st.   

I don't think that anyone who has never experienced something like this could even remotely begin to understand.  The old joke is that playing in a symphony orchestra is like flying: endless boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror.  We've all been there and done that. But the thrill of getting it right is what keeps us coming back.... And actually, it wasn't until I started BE that I ever had any confidence that I ever would perform.     

The Otello horn parts have stuff that is right out of BE exercises. I would never have thought I could play some of these passages before BE. Now it's - "Oh yeah, I know how to do that." I'm not bragging, it's just that I've done those exercises so much, that it's very natural to incorporate the BE techniques into real world playing. I approach every playing situation from a BE perspective, practice, rehearsal or performance, because first I have to be able to produce the notes. After that I can work on the musical aspects. If I can't play the notes, there isn't anywhere to go. BE has helped me make sure I can play the notes.

Doug

My BE Anniversary

This June marks my 6th year BE anniversary.  I'm still mesmerized by it.  I'm still learning from it.

I've spent a lot of money on horns, mouthpieces, music books, symposiums, workshops and lessons, but the best money I ever spent to advance my horn playing was for one little book, "The Balanced Embouchure."  And, the most valuable time I've given to this end was to learn & practice the exercises... rarely more than 15 minutes a day, 4 or 5 days a week.  Wow.

Thanks, Jeff Smiley, for creating this amazing method.  I couldn't be more pleased.

The only thing I can add is more superlatives, so I'll stop my gushing!

Sincerely, Valerie Wells

"Playing is so much more enjoyable."

In an email I recently received:  

Valerie,
Just thought I would give you an update now that I have had BE for a couple months. First of all, you should know that I am a former horn major who like you, gave it up to pursue a "safer" profession.  So I got a business degree.  I have kept a horn or two around to play when I felt like it.  Usually, I would practice hard for a couple months and then step back again.   I have always had a good range, but it was a lot of work to stay in shape.  I hoped that BE would help me keep up my chops with the 1/2 hour or hour I have each day.

All I can say is BE delivers.  My range is up to over 5 full octaves.  I can consistently hit high E's (which I never could do, even when I was a horn major).  The great thing is that I know I have made this progress with a strong lip and not pressure.  You have no idea how exciting it was the first time I played the entire long call without feeling shot afterwards!  I can finally focus on the music and not worry about whether I am hurting my embouchure or not.  Playing is so much more enjoyable.  I have even thought about preparing for an audition or two.
From one "amateur" to another, thanks.

Sincerely,
  Micah Cooper

Julia Rose "Retires" her Blog

Julia Rose has had a very popular blog, Julia's Horn Page, for a number of years.  She recently retired her blog, but graciously allowed me to publish what she's written about her BE experience.  For more about Julia see this:  http://www.columbussymphony.com/about-cso/musicians/horns/julia-rose
Thanks, Julia, for all you've done to advance horn playing.
-----------------------------------
The Balanced Embouchure
Published on Jan. 6, 2009 by Julia Rose

 I’ve been reading a lot about something called “Balanced Embouchure” lately. It is a book by a trumpet teacher named Jeff Smiley,who states the following on his web site:

… "The Balanced Embouchure" is the core text of a projected series of books dealing with unique dynamic range of motion exercises. These exercises tend to enhance every player's embouchure development - often dramatically. After years of teaching thousands of trumpet lessons in the "real world," ranging from beginners to students who had struggled for years, I confidently make this statement on the first page of the book: ("The Balanced Embouchure" is...)

   ...A Dynamic Development System That's Easy To Learn And Works For Every Trumpet Player...

> Regardless of your age or number of years played
> Regardless of how weak your current embouchure
> Regardless of your lip architecture
> Regardless of how confused you are
> Regardless of what you've been told…

Sounds intriguing, eh?

I first read about it on the horn forum a while back, where an amateur hornist was glowing about the fabulous results she was getting on the horn by reading this book and doing the exercises. She was immediately shot down by another hornist who felt what she was doing was incorrect, and then she was later defended by a well-regarded teacher (Wendell Rider) in the horn world. It was a typical internet forum flame-fest, but the whole discussion rather intrigued me. Mr. Rider was intrigued enough to take a look at rolling in/rolling out of the lips while playing, experiment with it with himself and his students, and it inspired him enough to write an addendum to his fine book.

Mr. Rider’s addendum can be found here: http://www.wendellworld.com/html/FlexibilityLipControl2.pdf. What Mr. Rider says in the addendum I absolutely agree with. Basically, “Balanced Embouchure” involves exercises designed to get the player to roll their lips inward as they ascend in range, and outward as they descend. I am in agreement with Mr. Rider, as I also think there maybe something to it.

I am not a natural player by any means. When I made my embouchure change in college, what made the new embouchure finally click for me was getting a rolling in/out motion of the lips correct. Doug Hill put it into words for me as a “chicken beak.” Seems like strange imagery, and yes,chickens do not have lips :), but hey, it worked for me. To me, this motion seems a lot like the “Whistling” embouchure that Farkas talks about inhis books.

In thinking about the rolling in/rolling out, I believe the principles that Farkas discusses in his books are, for the most part, an excellent starting point for the proper horn embouchure. But from what I’ve seen over the years by watching others play the horn, the Farkas method may only completely work for players with small lips and a slight overbite. Others (like me, for example, with my fuller lips and a large overbite) probably have to modify this to get things to work for them, perhaps with some of the methods that Mr. Smiley describes. Balanced Embouchure may be another tool for someone to solve their embouchure troubles.

It’s a shame that the trumpet world can talk about embouchure experimentation openly, while in the horn world it gets shot down as blasphemy. (How dare you say that the great Farkas was wrong?!) I see the whole BE rolling in/out discussion as very healthy, if it helps more brass players realize their dreams. The only danger I see in the whole BE discussion is too much attention to the physical while performing, and not enough attention to making music. But then, the physical does have to be worked out before one is free enough to be a great musician.

For more Balanced Embouchure discussion, click here: http://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=29
--------------------
Lower lip discipline (or lack thereof)
Published on Aug. 29, 2010 by Julia Rose

Throughout my playing career, my lower lip has caused me trouble.  Ever since I got braces way back when I was 12, my natural tendency (even today) seems to be to not to use enough lower lip in the mouthpiece.  I know this is exactly the opposite problem of many horn players, but it's the case with me.   I had to correct this in college, but I'm finding out that I'm still having to tweak it even now.

You may recall that a while back I mentioned that I had a breakthrough in my practice, but I didn't go into much detail.  Well, I'm now sure that what I've been working on has put me on the right path, so I'm ready to write about what I've been doing.

For the past few years, I have struggled with my middle range.  My high range was very comfortable, my low range was pretty good, but my middle register was troublesome.  Perhaps it was a "high horn syndrome," as this is very common among 1st and 3rd horn players.  Specifically, I lacked clarity when I articulated in the mid range, and during legato passages I had a real lack of flexibility.  I had been working on this extremely hard,especially in the past year.

The weird thing is that the situation used to be reversed- way back when, my middle andlow ranges used to be my strengths, and my high range used to be my weakness.  What exactly was I doing before to make my middle and low ranges strong, and how did I improve my high range?  And is there a way to combine the 2 methods so that every range is strong?

Well, I think I figured it out for myself.  Through arduous practice of flexibility exercises this summer, I've realized that (once again) the culprit was my lower lip.  It was not providing a proper anchor in the middle register, which I believe was the source of my problem. I believe I have now fixed it and I'm beginning to see the fruits of my efforts.  The general feeling in the middle register now is that I'm using slightly more lower lip, and I am doing much less pivoting in the middle register than I had been doing.  In every other range I'm doing the same things as before.   My middle range is much easier now, with no loss of the ease of my high and low ranges.  I have seen some exciting improvements so far, and it's going to be a great next couple of months!

There's been a lot of talk (and disagreement) this past week on various brass blogs about embouchure, and the importance (or unimportance) of the 2/3 to 1/3ratio between the upper and lower lips of the horn embouchure.  Yes, most horn players (including myself) use more upper lip to lower lip, but I believe that's merely coincidence caused by similarities of facial structure(such as overbites) that most of us have.  Horn players with underbites and other unorthodox facial features may need to useother setups, and other methods (like the Balanced Embouchure, for instance) to find their best individual embouchure.

Personally,I believe that what matters most is what the lower lip is doing, not how it looks.  I'm beginning to think that every single technical problem I've ever had is related to my lower lip.  It's weird how this same problem rears its ugly head from time to time with me!
-----------------------------
More on the Balanced Embouchure
Published on Aug. 28, 2011 by Julia Rose

Last week James Boldin posted his opinion of the BalancedEmbouchure method by JeffSmiley.  James wrote that he did not own the book, but was open to any possible new ideas that might be presented there that may help himself and his students become more efficient.  I thought it might be useful to follow up to his post with one of my own, as I have experimented with the Balanced Embouchure this summer.

There has been much controversy about the Balanced Embouchure (or BE) all over the internet from both trumpet and horn players.  When I first heard about BE, I was intrigued because of Jeff Smiley's claim that it worked for every trumpet player, and I posted briefly about what I thought here.   But since that post I have heard even more positive things about it from members of the horn-playing community, including more and more professional horn players coming out of the woodwork endorsing it, plus a presentation at the last International Horn Societyworkshop, and I really wanted to find out more.  Before I forman official opinion about something, I like to find out as much as I can aboutit, so I bit the bullet and paid $50 for the book plus the horn exercise addendum from ValerieWells.

I don't feel like I'm in desperate shape chopwise, but like James Boldin, I was curious about what it may offer that I didn't already know, so that I could help myself and possibly my students improve.  I have my chops together, but I have had students who have struggled with range.  So over the past month or so, I've read the book thoroughly and done the exercises.

I am taking my time going through the book, as that is what Mr. Smiley recommends.  It is meant to be a self-help method (with CD included) that allows the student to discover his/her own best individualized approach to brass embouchure, and it has made for a perfect summer project.  The student only needs to spend 5-15 minutes daily on the exercises, so it is not disruptive whatsoever to a normal practice routine.  In a month or so of about 10 minutes of BE practice perday, I have gotten to the point where I can play all the rolling-in (RI) androlling-out (RO) exercises pretty well, but have not yet started on the Advanced Lip Slur (ALS) exercises.  I did find that I was able to do most of the RO exercises immediately.  This is probably because my embouchure naturally leans toward einsetzen, and a big component of the RO exercises is pedal tones, which I have never had much difficulty with.  I have more difficulty with the RI exercises, not in playing the high notes with that embouchure but in using that rolled-in embouchure in the middle register.

Valerie Wells has stated in her blog that BE employs concepts that many fine players are using already, either consciously or unconsciously.  I agree with this, as I have noticed some positive improvements in my playing, but nothing earth-shattering.  I have seen improvement in large intervallic leaps in the middle register.  I think this is because I am actually practicing them while using the exercises (go figure!), and I am also practicing pedal tones systematically, which I have never done before.   I think that part of the success of this book is that it requires the student to practice extremes which they would normally not be practicing.  Not only extremes in range, but extremes in tonguing and embouchure movement that are not necessarily meant to be used in regular playing.

I have also noticed that my range above high C has become more secure.  Whereas some of the licks up to high E in the Schumann Konzertstuck and Strauss Domestic Symphony have been hit-and-miss for me in the past, I can hit them dependably now.  A dependable high E is a nice thing to have!

One of the most appealing things about this method to me is that 5-15 minutes of practice a day isn't enough to mess up your current setup.  As your lips learn to do new things, the things that work better are gradually and unconsciously incorporated into your current embouchure.  It is an individualized approach guided by the student's ear, and not guided by a teacher dogmatically telling the student what to do, or guided by what one thinks they see in a mirror.  The student uses his ear as a guide, and if it sounds right, it is right.  No one horn player's physical makeup is like anyone else's, and I believe that depending on one's ear when playing music (and not how it looks or how it feels) is the best way tooperate.  As that type of approach to brass playing and pedagogy appeals to me in general, I really like this book.

I plan to keep on practicing the BE exercises until I master them, and then I plan on keeping them in my personal practice arsenal.  I can see how this book could really help a struggling student find his/her own best embouchure. If this book had been around when I was in college, I think it would have saved me an enormous amount of practice time.  I think BE could be a terrific tool to help students, and I plan on using it with my own students as needed.  BE is currently quite controversial, but I see it becoming more and more popular as more people give it a chance, because it makes sense and it works!
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A few more random thoughts on BE
Published on Sept. 4, 2011 by Julia Rose

Wow.  As of today, last week’s post generated 11 comments, a new record for my blog.  I’m thinking that since a lot of readers enjoyed my last post, it would be anti climactic to talk about leadpipes and valve oil, so I thought I’d continue with a few more random thoughts about BE (Balanced Embouchure).

It's fun to have joined the BE club.  It may seem a little cult-like to outsiders, but on the whole it's a great group of people.   Consider me part of the cult! :) It's difficult to be cutting-edge about something like horn playing, which has been around for hundreds of years, but I think BE is as close to cutting-edge as you'll find inthe music world.  Valerie and Jeff are really on to something and I predict even more players will begin to recognize BE as legitimate.

Personally, I think that BE is a great tool for horn players, but not for beginners. I think it’s more important to get a beautiful, characteristic horn tone in themiddle register before working on extreme range.  After all, the horn is known for its sound, and we don’t want to turn all our horn players into trumpet wannabees.  Every beginner must develop an appreciation forgood horn tone, if it isn’t there in the very beginning.  If I were working on the basics of horn playing, I think I'd also have the beginner work on the LCS (lip clamp squeak) alittle bit away from the horn, and perhaps on a few pedal tones.  Then after a year or 2 of playing, once a great horn sound is established, it might be a good time to start on BE.

One fun new thing I’ve done this week is occasionally play the BE exercises on the descant horn.  All the exercises are supposed to be done on the Bb side of the horn, so since I’ve been wanting to learn my descant horn a little better, I’ve just been doing the BE exercises on the Bb side of the descant (not the high F side).   After playing the RI/RO exercises on the descant horn, I play through some descant horn excerpts (like Haydn 31) using normal mechanics and normal usage of the high F horn.  Haydn 31 is so easy compared to the BE exercises!

Playing through the RO #4 exercise, I’m realizing that those great orchestral horn players who can scream up in the high range like lead trumpeters (I’m thinkingPhil Myers, Dale Clevenger, Bill Caballero, and others) MUST do some extreme high range exercises much like the BE ones, or perhaps Caruso.  BE is great training for that kind of playing, no doubt about it!

It's good that my son has started school again for the year, because now I can raise all sorts of BE racket in my practice room during the day without disturbing anyone.  The only one who is bothered by it is my dog, but I know it's nothing personal- he howls along to whatever I play.  (I've got to put a videotape of his howling up here sometime.  It's hilarious!)  I think I'd be a little self-conscious of how weird I sound if family members were around.  By myself, I don't give a rip. :)

If I spin things just right in my mind, I see that I am extremely blessed to have a normal family life with lots of time with my family, lots of time to practice, and lots of time to try new things (like BE) and otherwise"sharpen my saw," perhaps for something better in my musical future.  A busier musician would not have the time to practice that I do.  Many musicians look at my personal situation (only being employed by the Columbus Symphony for 26 weeks per year due to severe cuts afew years ago) extremely negatively.  Yes, it sure sucks that my orchestra's only working for 26 weeks rather than 46 weeks just a few short years ago.  But all that free time does allow one to practice A LOT if they so choose, work on other musical projects and have a "normal" family life.  Sure, I'd much rather be playing in an orchestra right now, but when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade.
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BE update
Published on Dec. 4, 2011 by Julia Rose

Last week I returned from a vacation over Thanksgiving to visit relatives in Florida.  My accomodations were pretty spartan, basically a tiny trailer with no air conditioning, but my family and I had agood time.  I had orchestra services immediately upon my return to Ohio,so I needed to hit the ground running and stay in shape.  I did bring my horn, and I ended up practicing about 40 minutes daily every evening in a practice mute, staying in shape by making tiny sounds in a tiny tool shed in a tiny trailer.  When I returned home after the trip, after some long tones to get my air working normally again, I was surprised to find that I was playing better than when I left.  How did this happen?  I attribute it to the fact that I have revamped my maintenance routine, adding exercises from Jeff Smiley's Balanced Embouchure after a brief warm up.

As I mentioned here and here, I've been working on the book for a few months.  I originally was doing the exercises at the end of the day because I was worried the exercises would interfere negatively with my normal playing (they ARE intense).  That seemed to be going well, so during some of my off weeks I decided to try to putt hem at the beginning of the day to see what would happen.  It turned out that everything improved.

The RI/RO exercises make perfect range and attack studies, and the TOL (tongue on lips) exercises allow one to experiment with articulations and air speed, making for a complete maintenance routine.  When added to a brief warm up and a few scales, it's a perfect 40 minute routine for me.  Ironically, the weirdness of the different embouchure sensations allows me to tune out how things feel and instead focus on what I want to sound like.  The vast differences between the RI and RO embouchures have fine tuned my regular embouchure, making it more streamlined, with no unnecessary movement.  The overall effect has been very freeing. After playing through my new routine, I feel like I can play anything, anytime and anywhere.  I play my warm up, the BE exercises, and then forget about it all and just play music.

Being able to play in any range using either a rolled-in ora rolled-out embouchure has given me the flexibility and confidence to know I can play anything under any conditions, no matter how my chops feel.  The TOL  exercises have been especially ground breaking for me.  They have reminded me of the importance of tongue position in ease of range and tone color, along with articulation, and now I have another tool to work on those techniques.

When I'm having difficulty with an excerpt or passage, I find myself relating the passage to a specific BE exercise.  For example, I was having trouble with the mid-range intervallic leaps in the beginning of Bruckner's 4th symphony.  But a mid-range interval of an octave or a tenth is by no means as large as a 3 octave leap in and out of the pedal register!  So, by reminding myself of what I have to do to play the interval leaps in RO #3 and RI #4, Bruckner 4 has become much easier.

I've decided that in my own development, the ALS (advanced lip slur) exercises weren't really doing anything for me.  I found that I was able to play through all of them right away, so it wasn't advantageous to keep playing them.  I find that I get plenty of advanced lip slur practice in my normal playing, so I've decided to just keep working on the other exercises.  I may decide to work on the ALS exercises later,but extending them into the trumpet ranges.

Overall, I've been thrilled at the results I'm getting from BE, which I was not expecting atall.  The exercises are fun, challenging, efficient and mercifully brief, allowing me more time to work on what I really care about in my practice sessions.  I look forward to even more improvements in the months/years to come.

Alexander Shuhan's Early Impressions of BE

Alexander Shuhan purchased The Balanced Embouchure January 25th, 2012.  One month later I received this from him in an email:

Valerie, Greetings!  Starting to wade into BE and pushing my studio along on the cart ahead of me.  Thanks!  More sharing will follow soon... 
Alex

A few days later, Alex emailed again to order BE books for all his students:

I just had a freshman in for a lesson who had never played below a low F# on the F horn--she was just now getting pedal B's to speak a fifth lower!  Unbelievable!  :-)  . . . .


Looking forward to sharing my experiences w/ you as my students have a little more time to soak all of this in.  A couple of them have already shown significant changes in their playing.  My own playing improvements are blowing my mind.  I'm trying to keep track of everything I'm thinking about and how BE is informing change/growth, but it is seriously almost overwhelming in a positive way.  All I know is that just about everything I've ever heard said about how to play NOW makes sense...and at least for me, it's all nearly completely opposite of what I thought I understood.  I'd call that somewhat significant!!! :-)  More later...and thanks again!


Alex

Feedback From a Horn Teacher

Jane Swanson, a retired schoolteacher who teaches privately and plays horn in San Luis Obispo, contributed an article to the latest issue of  "The Horn Call."  She reports impressions of attending her first IHS horn symposium in June of this year.  Here is what Jane wrote regarding BE:

Steven Park's Roll Out

Steven Park's Roll In

Workshops:  BE:  The Balanced Embouchure Method, presented by Valerie Wells with Stephen Park.  This workshop presented an approach to embouchure development that was 100%  new to me.  Valerie and Stephen demonstrated the exercises up close and personal, which was essential because I had no idea it was legal or possible, let alone beneficial, to do such odd things with a face.  I had only two choices:  write them off as nuts or try it.  Given Valerie's stunning demonstrations of producing super high, pianissimo, pure pitches out of thin air, and given Stephen's gorgeous sound and security as a performer (search for Steve Park to find some lovely video performances), I chose the latter.  And sure enough, the BE exercises do not demand the dreaded "embouchure change" but do lead to embouchure improvement in all registers.  I recommend their website (beforhorn.blogspot.com) as a source of information for those not at the workshop.

Jane emailed me to add a little more information regarding her progress:

My own progress with BE is hmmm..... maybe modest is the word but maybe not. I still don't squeak well - can't do what you do with those high sounds without and with the horn. But I am pretty consistent with the basics of roll-out and roll-in. And my endurance is still a work in progress. But here are my pay-offs:

1. Even when I play to exhaustion I do NOT have swollen lips afterwards or the next day! So I can jump right back into action.

2. In the midst of challenging playing, same story - my chops recover if I give them a few seconds off. That was not the case previously.

I am combining BE work with a focus on using air better, meaning those things we KNOW but which can slip away over time if we take them for granted:

monitoring speed of air

using more of it

using that low gut support every second

For me the combination is paying off nicely, and I know that more progress lies in my future.

Thanks for the feedback, Jane.  This ability to recover more quickly is something I hear often from those who study BE.  See the discussion on Julia Rose's blog about this.