Covid or not, I'm still selling BE books!

 YES!  I'm still selling BE books.....and lots of them!  Brass players around the globe are taking advantage of this down time to improve their chops.  So....don't be afraid to contact me for a book order.  

Just email me:  ValerieW78 "at" Gmail "dot" com

Eight Years on BE and Still Going

This is my original copy of BE purchased in 2006. 

It's been 8 years since I began studying BE.  Knowing how ADD I am and my history of flitting from one hobby to the next, I think it's amazing that I'm still playing horn.  For me, 8 years is a record for continuous engagement in one single, just-for-fun, creative endeavor.

Earlier this summer, I enjoyed playing pit orchestra for a local production of "The Sound of Music." And I'm definitely looking forward to another season with the Tacoma Community College orchestra and symphonic band.  And I'm hoping to play in the orchestra for local church productions of "The Messiah", "Lamb of God" and any other ad hoc music activities that come my way.  And I'm looking forward to many more years of horn playing.  I know, without any doubt, if it weren't for BE, I would have quit (again!) years ago.

My husband commented recently, "You'd be miserable without your music." He's right. I'm grateful for Jeff Smiley's huge contribution to my happiness.  "The Balanced Embouchure" has helped make horn playing a joyful and satisfying experience.

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Cameron Kopf gave this feedback to this post on FaceBook:   

CONGRATS, Valerie Wells! Your sharing of this technique is valuable to the horn community, and it is gratifying to hear that it has helped you keep playing for 8 years!

BE has truly been one of the best things to happen in my playing over the past 2 years, both on trumpet and horn! I continue to evolve with it daily.

I am discovering over time that BE is a very fluid technique, enabling me to play both horn and trumpet with much more ease, and I incorporate various aspects of it in different playing situations.

After learning the basics and following the instructions as closely as possible for the first year, later on it is up to the individual to decide how to apply the techniques; it's not cookie cutter. The concepts of rolling-in and rolling-out forms the basis for all brass playing, really. It's all a matter of pacing and combining RI & RO techniques to fit the musical situation at hand.

As time goes on, it seems to be becoming more "fluid" for me, being able to shift between these techniques. And so, as a professional horn player, I have made good progress on the trumpet over the past 2 years.

I am firmly convinced that I would have NOT been able to achieve this progress without BE. Thanks again Valerie. 

August 31 at 11:49pm 

Julia Rose: Still Benefitting from BE

Julia Rose began writing about The Balanced Embouchure in 2009 and wrote extensively about "BE" before retiring her blog in 2012.  I hadn't hear from Julia for some time so I asked how she's doing in an email.  This is her reply:  

Hi Valerie,
Very well, thank you- thanks for asking!  I've been enjoying my internet anonymity- I am so short on time that I don't have time for all that anymore.  I'm still doing BE (specifically RI and RO 1-4) as part of my daily routine.  I feel that I'm playing better than I ever have right now.  I do take time off from the horn from time to time, and when I do feel the slightest out of shape, BE whips me right back into shape very quickly.

That's one of the benefits professional horn players seem to report and enjoy the most, the ability to take time off without losing much in terms of conditioning.  BE just keeps on giving year after year.  

Thanks for allowing me to share this, Julia.  :)

Alex Shuhan: One Year on BE

Alex Shuhan recently posted this on FaceBook:  

Continuing now for slightly longer than one year, to encounter more and more significant change and greater understanding of how to play this instrument…and I can unequivocally say that it is ONLY because of having discovered and experimented with Balanced Embouchure concepts. If you want to learn and are willing to invest some thoughtful energy, you CAN and WILL make similar inroads. 

At no point along the way have I "lost" anything I could do before, experienced any "setbacks," nor been negatively impacted in any way. On the contrary, I have been challenged to address and answer new questions, with a COMPLETELY different perspective that has dramatically improved my playing, at least in my humble opinion. I have flexibility that I couldn't fathom before, range that I've never experienced... before, and, in particular, a smoothness in my playing that I didn't even know was previously lacking. And even though there are concepts in this book that appear to some to be in contradiction with other, more "mainstream" ideas about playing, I maintain that the information in Smiley's book COMBINED with the experience of actually living through the learning process that he prescribes, actually does more to help one UNDERSTAND those "mainstream" concepts than to contradict them. My ideas about endurance, strength, range (high and low), volume and articulation have been completely stood on end—and the future looks and sounds MUCH better from this new vantage point! 

Thank you to my former student, Dana Arbaugh, for introducing the BE book to me, to ValerieWells for all that you've done to further my enlightenment, and to AndrewJoy for his encouragement and support along the way. Onward! 

I've made some enormous stride forward this weekend—been doing more playing lately and then had a great combination of rehearsals and gigs this weekend that have just completely changed everything. Much less tension, outrageously more vibration and ease of production with my upper lip, complementary support from the lower lip making flexibility MUCH better, and the best part has been endurance based clearly on relaxation rather than "firmness" or any other terms that I've previously associated with strength. Amazing!

Bert Lochs commented:  

• Bert Lochs Apart from the things that changed in my playing, the understanding of why all the things I tried before didn't work was very enlightening to say the least. I said it on the Trumpet Herald a few times, and I repeat it here. BE made me experiment proof. And it is important to be able to experiment to find your way. You can try all kinds of things, and even go very wrong, but BE is so simple and clear that it is very easy to track back where you left off. Since BE I never got into big trouble again and my playing is so much easier and more consistent than before. And yes, of course, there is still so much to work on, I am happy to say :-).
  
  
  

  • Alex added:  I have no documented proof of this claim, but I believe that many players, who accidentally stumble into the correct set-up and begin playing without the issues that many of the rest of us face, are already experiencing mechanics similar to those suggested by Smiley, but they may not use vocabulary similarly to describe it. For those successful players, all the power to them! But for struggling, aspiring players, in my humble opinion, Smiley's approach offers a real, simple option for opening the door to informed awareness, and by that I mean an awareness based on experiences that work cumulatively, progressively, patiently, over time. In the last week, something has changed dramatically in the way my Embouchure is able to receive and support the air I supply to it...and it happened as if out of nowhere! BUT, I KNOW and can feel that it has just now finally learned a new way of vibrating after a YEAR of gentle coaxing and coercion. And the BEST part is that I UNDERSTAND what is happening, what has changed and how/why it is working effectively. I'm hoping to be able to use language to describe it, BUT, even if I can't, I do know that I have BE to thank for opening that door to possibility. I'm also reminded that Arnold Jacobs admonished that if you introduce a change to your mechanics, it could take 12-18 months before you could expect to experience the fruits of that effort. In the case of BE, I feel like it's a continuous process, so I'm not surprised to have had some revelation now, but it also feels like it won't be unreasonable to assume that the learning will continue. I remember Andrew Joy told me that after his intro to BE, he has felt like his playing has been on a continuous positive, improving trajectory...and this from someone who's had a principal horn career in a major orchestra for 30+ years! That, in fact, was the thing that convinced me it was worth experimenting with BE. Incredibly glad I did! Cheers!

Four Months into BE

A lot of people ask how long before they see improvements from BE.  Here's an good example from someone who began studying The Balanced Embouchure in September 2012.  I received this in an email today:  

Valerie, I'm extremely pleased with the strap and the BE method. I have a larger upper lip and has taken some time developing the new technique particularly the roll in but my range and endurance is so much better and appears to do nothing but improve every time I practice.Thanks!

Dannie Smith,PT,ECS

I'm grateful for the feedback, Dannie!

The strap Dannie is referring to above is the Comfy Horn strap.  See this link: http://comfyhornstrap.blogspot.com/

BE in a Nut Shell-- Well Sorta

I exhibited The Balanced Embouchure for Horn at the Northwest Horn Symposium in Tacoma this past weekend.  It was great fun meeting young horn players in my local area.  I bought this T-shirt pictured to the left from the Ted Brown Music exhibit.  Cute, huh?

Here in Tacoma, as in San Francisco, the most frequently asked questions about BE were this type:  How does it work?  What's the main idea behind it?  People want a jiffy sound bite to concisely explain the core concept of BE.  Tall order for an enthusiastic and verbose individual such as myself.  So.... here are five little elevator speeches of decreasing lengths to answer this question.

(1) How does BE work?  in less than 30 seconds:
The Balanced Embouchure is a set of exercises that help develop the embouchure that works best for the individual.  BE expands range of motion providing opportunities for discovery that can prompt positive changes in the embouchure.  This process enables the player to break self limiting ties that bind him to his "comfort zone" enabling him to increase range, endurance, flexibility and tone.

(2) How does BE work?  in less than 15 seconds:
The Balanced Embouchure a set of exercises that help develop the embouchure that works best for the individual.  BE expands range of motion to influence  an increase in range, endurance, flexibility and tone.

(3) How does BE work?  in less than 10 seconds:
The Balanced Embouchure a set of exercises that help develop the embouchure that works best for the individual.  It improves playing by expanding range of motion in the embouchure.

(4) How does BE work?  In less than 5 seconds:
The Balanced Embouchure a set of exercises that help develop the embouchure that works best for the individual.

(5) How does BE work?  in less than 2 seconds:
It's magic! 

For one of the most specific, articulate and elegant description I've read of how BE can helps one horn player embouchure develop her embouchure, read this by Julia Rose.  Below are some comments I've received to this posting:
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From Luke Zyla:
"Played the most taxing gig in my life yesterday.  I was just thinking that I could not have done it without your help by introducing me to BE and the help from David Nesmith and his new book on breathing.  Thanks,  Luke" 
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From Jonathan Penny:

"Dear Val, There may be some kind of delayed response to the BE exercises, because truthfully, in the last six months, I have only been on the horn for twice a week for church orchestra and community with no practice sessions in between (no BE exercises)… Anyhow, I have been enjoying much improved playing lately (the horn is fun again!!!); more pleasing/richer tone with better flexibility and less “clams” thoughout all registers, along with more dependable upper register up to a usable B flat (never had that before!!!) with better endurance; basically making progress in all the areas...All in all, my playing feels much more natural; I don’t micro-analyze it, just depend on the sound to tell the embouchure what works and what does not…. JP"
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BE Update from Julia Rose

Julia Rose has written a BE Update on her blog.  Julia reports what I often hear from Balanced Embouchure students, that they return from a vacation with unexpectedly well functioning chops.  She also articulates the finer details of  how BE benefits her playing.  I've seen other horn players "catch on" to BE very quickly like Julia has, but I've never seen anyone articulate the message with the same comprehensive clarity.  

Here are a few excerpts that I found particularly impressive:       

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. 

The TOL exercises have been especially groundbreaking 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.


Overall, I’ve been thrilled at the results I’m getting from BE, which I was not expecting at all.  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.

Thank you, Julia Rose for sharing your BE experience.

Why the EXTREMES?

In a horn forum, Steve M. asked:

...I searched "balanced embouchure" on YouTube and all I found was a bunch of demented trumpet owners making horrible farting and screeching noises, so far I haven't heard any tone. Wassup with that?

Good question, Steve, although it may be a little insulting to trumpeters! ;o) There is a good reason BE exercises don't sound so pretty. What you see on YouTube are exercises specifically designed to develop tone while traversing the registers with the fullest range of motion possible. They are awkward by design and especially difficult to execute with a pleasing tone. Striving for and meeting this challenge enhances the player's ability to adapt the embouchure under the less extreme circumstances of "normal" playing. See: EXTREME EMBOUCHURES!

For an example of a fine musician who has used BE exercises for quite a number of years to keep his embouchure in top condition, see the links below. You may recognize Uwe Zaiser, the piccolo trumpeter and soloist, as the same gentleman who posted several BE exercises on YouTube. After viewing these clips, I doubt anyone would regard Uwe as a "demented trumpet owner."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o34NFyb9HKY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ3sDTFeN3o

Practicing BE exercises is like a football player running agility drills at practice. When it's game time, the athlete is better prepared for the rigors of the game. Like the BE exercises, you don't see the agility exercises in actual performance, but you do see the results of the training.

Exercising in the extremes to develop skills is not a new concept, but as far as I know, this has not previously been applied to horn pedagogy in this particular way. I suppose that's why some still considered BE controversial.

And, BTW, to answer the assertion one horn player has made that BE exercises will "damage" the embouchure, please note there is no evidence of damage in these clips nor in the experiences I've had working with over 200 horn and trumpet players studying BE for the past five years. As a matter of fact, brass players with "damaged" embouchures and health have testified that BE has helped them recover. (For examples see: Andrew Joy, Dave Stoller, lip swelling.)

I anticipate The Balanced Embouchure or a watered down variant will eventually be taught to brass players everywhere. Along these lines, Sandra Clarke wrote:

I believe that within ten years (less if there is any justice and fairness out there…), everyone will be teaching your concept of lip rolling – if not the entire spectrum of your method. (http://www.trumpetteacher.net/testimonials.html)

Also see:  "Circus Trick" or Developmental Tool?
Also see:  EXTREME Embouchures!

For BEST Results, Do The Whole Thing!

LOU GETS IT!

When I initially began studying BE, I formed a misconception that I've since observed in other horn players who study BE. I believed that the roll-out (RO) exercises were obviously designed to develop the low register and the high squeaky roll-in (RI) exercises were obviously for developing the upper register. Fortunately for me, I didn't apply this idea to my practice of BE exercises. I worked the whole program and enjoyed very satisfactory results.

The truth is, roll-out and roll-in exercises are designed to develop the embouchure, not a particular register. When the embouchure is developed in a balanced fashion, all registers are improved. RI exercises will improve your upper register, as well as your mid and low registers. RO exercises will improve your low register, as well as your mid and high registers. (Funny how that works!)

The elements of roll-in need to be balanced with the elements of roll-out to develop balance overall.

It's true that some people may benefit more from RO than RI and vice versa, but it may not be obvious exactly what exercises are needed. For me and quite a few others, learning RI seemed like a miracle pill that opened up the upper register. Since I've been working the BE system for 5 years, I now see benefits from practicing RO exercises in myself. I've seen experiences in other horn players that support this as well.

For example, one of my young horn students was struggling with the upper register. After introducing him to Roll-Out #1, he came back one week later thrilled because playing high notes became easier. Jonathan Penny is another who has had unexpected benefits from RO that were not even range related. http://beforhorn.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html It's a good thing Jonathan didn't decide to ignore the RO exercises!

Jeff has shared similar stories of RO exercises improving the upper register of trumpeters. Keep in mind, compared to horn players, trumpeters don't even have a low range. Yet, an exercise that appears to a horn player to be designed to develop the low register actually helps trumpeters develop upper range (as well as other aspects of playing).

If you decide you may not need Roll-Out or Roll-In exercises, be aware that you run a risk of missing important elements in the BE system that can help you develop a balanced embouchure.

If you want the maximum benefits of The Balanced Embouchure development system, you need to work the whole program, not just a few exercises.

Lou Denaro has recently been tootling around with the BE exercises. He's found early success with increasing his upper register and recognizes the value of working both extremes. He recently wrote this on the Yahoo Horn:

I think Jeff laid out the book well and users have to work both Roll-Out and Roll-In as Jeff intended and I do believe the overall results in the upper register come from retraining the soft inner lip tissues (roll-out) to work with the harder outer tissues (roll-in). In fact, if you really want to be solution oriented, I suspect that is the whole point of this BE thing.

Thanks, Lou, for sharing your insights. You've stated in just a few words a concept I've been struggling to both understand and communicate for years! For more recent comments by Lou, see this. 

Some have asked why Jeff Smiley doesn't make public one or two of his BE exercises so people can try them out and see if BE really works. There's a good reason Jeff does not do this. BE is a comprehensive system that is greater than the sum of its parts. One part, one exercise, taken out of context and practiced alone will not yield the desired results that the BE system will.

HOWEVER.... to keep things in perspective, doing the "whole thing" doesn't necessarily mean practicing every exercise every day. Some have found success by rotating and/or alternating the exercises. See Pressed for Time and Practicing BE.

Dave on Barrows and BE

Dave Stoller, who studied with John Barrows at UW recently wrote. Below is Dave's description of his experiences with John Barrows and BE. For a little background material, see Dave’s testimonial on Jeff’s website from a couple years ago: http://www.trumpetteacher.net/testimonials.html I'm very grateful to Dave for being willing to share his personal insights & experiences. Here are Dave’s words:

Barrows died in 1974 and there was no BE back then. But Callet and Caruso were around in the trumpet world. The horn world at that time was very glued to the Farkas system. Barrow's emphasis was on aperture and total focus of the air stream. He could do things with the air stream and holding one's finger about a foot or two from his chops. You could feel the pin point accuracy of his air stream that far away. He did not like bouncing chins or sloppy chop settings. His focus was so acute it was scary. Barrows was a protege of Wendell Hoss, the leading hornplayer in LA back in the 30's and 40's. Wendell also had this amazing and mind boggling focus. I had the pleasure of playing quartets with him at his house in Glendale CA about 1970. He confessed that Barrows was, arguably, the finest player to pick up the instrument in those years. I wish there was a video of him playing so you could observe what he did with his chops. It was so clinically correct and so incredibly efficient. I just could not get over his virtuosity compared to other major players I heard.

I studied horn with the master of masters, and probably was his worst student ever from a chop standpoint. He took four years to help me develop an embouchure that would work effectively. Then I honed it more as I got into more challenging playing situations. But I have always had slumps when something would go haywire. Or I would have a year where I did not do much playing.

Obviously I could go on and on about all this, but I have given you the salient stuff. And you can post it on your blog since I believe the other hornplayers need to know about Barrows. These are only my observations about him and his teaching.

Only a handful of Barrows students are even around anymore. But I dearly wish you could have seen and heard him play. It was beyond comprehension, but a very different approach - so refined - so elegant that many horn players would not "get it."

Barrows was the true genius of the horn but few players even know about him. Obviously great horn players like Barrows, great brass players in general, have been using many of the universal principals taught in BE, but without formal knowledge of the BE program as Jeff Smiley presents it. What BE does for so many of us is to pull it all together. Yet so much of it is personal and hard to explain.

I can pull out of a slump in 15 minutes with BE. I just run the summary page and take it in about four different keys. It is the best way to open up that range without simply hammering away on high notes. Hammering away never has worked for me and I have to approach all the ranges from a literature standpoint. In other words I have to work the BE around etudes and solo/chamber works, along with orchestral stuff.

For instance, using RI coming down off of the real high licks. I never mastered that until I got into the BE protocol. You must keep the RI (rolled-in setting) going even down into a neutral range. It is almost like we have many little embouchure's and we combine them for what we are doing - subtract some - add some in. I know this sounds loony but it is hard to explain. It is more than muscle memory and allows a soloist to move more freely through very difficult phrases. I cannot imagine playing anymore with the same old chop setup. It’s like being stuck on … ‘chop stupid.’

Some more observations concerning how I apply BE. There are many wicked licks in the standard repertoire and orchestral literature. With BE they simply are not that wicked anymore. For example I might take a solo lick in Mozart and use RI for the whole thing - never relaxing my setting back to neutral. It is like having many little mini computer programs that one uses for the tasks in a piece of music. This is so contrarian to the orthodox world of horn playing/teaching where one uses a very rigid and doctrinaire approach to the music. And this traditional approach robs so many younger players from ever having great high chops.

Apparently I am in RI way more than RO (rolled-out setting). I am naturally in RO because of my classic einsetzen chop setting. It was BE that got me to change much of my chop approach and RI has allowed me to play/perform tunes that I have never done before in public. Yet I cannot explain this to someone who is not grounded in BE.

If there is one salient point about BE, it is that BE gives the player permission to be who they are, and not have to reinvent the wheel to be a second rate copy of someone else. I guess I can draw a parallel to one of the great lady golfers since they are having their US Open here at the Broadmoor Hotel Complex. Few people have the gift of the perfect swing and perfect physique to be a lady golfer, nor the innate talent that separates someone from the rest of the pack. But one can take what they have and use it to the best of their ability. That is the essence of BE from my perspective.

Gotta go, Dave

After reading this article, Eric Johnson added:

For what it is worth. I heard John Barrows play at an International Horn Society workshop in the 70's. He played the Hindemith Horn Sonata, and a couple of Alec Wilder's works as well. At that time he was retired from the University of Wisconsin. He still sounded great and, as usual, his wife was his accompanist.

He did a lot of his recordings on a very old Schmidt Horn. However when that instrument finally died, he went to a Holton H-177 (the 178, only in nickel silver) He always said: "the Holton plays close to the old Schmidt and does everything I need a Horn to do. What more could one ask for!"

The Holton was what he was playing at the time of the workshop.

Thanks to Dave for the testimonial & to Eric for sharing his experiences.
Go back home.

Feedback from a 3rd year Horn Student of BE

Kyra is the second horn player I shared BE with over three years ago. When we met, she had been playing horn for about 7 years. At the time, Kyra and I had several things in common: limited range, limited endurance, rotten tone and a strong desire to improve! We used to kid around about being the gals in the band who "pretended to be horn players!" Kyra is a busy mom and music educator who is limited in the amount of time she can devote to practicing, but she has disciplined herself to include BE exercises into her daily routine. I've enjoyed watching tiny Kyra, maybe 100 pounds soaking wet, grow into an strong horn player with a nice big sound and formidable range. Below is a message I received from Kyra in response to a "BE for French Horn" email I recently distributed.

Valerie,

Thanks for the info! I am still practicing BE, and I still love it! My low register is 1000 times better!! I can hit a double pedal C any day, any time. Still working on my upper register, still can't hit a High D all the time, but High C is always there.

Kyra

Sheesh, Kyra! Too bad about that unreliable High D, but I think you're doing just fine. I also think you're a real horn player now! Thanks for sharing your success with other horn players!

Valerie

Hooray for the come-back player!

This came from Theodore Greaves:

"Thanks. I'm a comeback player of 3 years. With the help of BE I have gained lower range I never had at my best in the early 70's , and I have been playing well above high C like I did 35 years ago. Never thought it would happen. Ted"

Thanks, Ted. This makes me smile!

Valerie Wells

Horn Player with Unusual Embouchure

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/liberace/peanut-vendor--208593581
The interesting video linked above, was posted on the Yahoo horn list by Susan McKeever. (If the link doesn't work, you can find it by searching Yahoo Music for "Peanut Vendor by Liberace.") The horn player is Susan's uncle, John Graas. Notice his very unusual embouchure: rolled in with air pockets, relaxed lip corners and gently bunched chin. Wow! He looks like the kids on the cover of the BE book! I've seen a few trumpeters play like that, but never a horn player. To learn more about this remarkable musician, John Graas, follow this link: http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=GRAAS%2C_John
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When I first started BE, I couldn't do RI exercises with air pockets. I was naive enough to believe it couldn't be done on horn. I've since learned I was wrong because two years into BE, I finally learned to do RI's with air pockets. This video not only proves it can be done, but it also proves that a horn player can develop an efficient, flexible embouchure with a rolled in set up, relaxed lip corners, and a bunched chin. Who knew?
.
Please don't misunderstand, I'm not promoting John Graas's embouchure as the "ideal" or "correct" BE embouchure. There's no such thing as the "correct" BE embouchure. I'm only trying to open eyes to possibilities. This video shows that the hard & fast embouchure rules of the past -- tight lip corners, no air pockets, flat chin, etc. -- aren't necessarily the best thing for everyone. Can you imagine the results if John Graas had had a horn instructor who insisted he follow the rules and change his embouchure?
.
Valerie Wells

BE and Extreme High Wire Playing

This came to me in a private email from Dave Stoller who along with Andrew Joy have graciously given me permission to post it here.

"Hey Buddy, I can attest to the benefit of the RI when you have two solid hours of high A's, B's, C's, and D's. I am doing the trumpet parts along with the high G horn transposition in the big final set of choruses. It just keeps going over and over the tune and the horn part is unrelenting. Most people would do this on a descant, but the Holton works as well, if not better. Holton horns "have a high range" and it is so well in tune. Also the sound is full all over that register.
.
"Without the knowledge of BE and using a very well defined RI, I would not be able to do this sort of cantata/oratorio playing anymore. They have me doing some of the trumpet parts on the choruses and this makes it really tough. Again, the BE is essential to this sort of high wire act. I tongue on my lower lip for the super soft high entrances. This concept I picked up from Andrew Joy on an email discussion with him. Also tonguing between the teeth works so effectively in this high register work. Now I could never go back to some of the old ways I was doing things.
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"Today was a great triumph for me because I have not done this much continual high playing in many years. Not even Beethoven's 7th is this strenuous. The Brandenburg and the Concerstuck are more strenuous and I would need Herculean chops for these tunes. But I can build up when needed. The program is not any big production here like other horn players are doing. But I would bet none of them are having to work this hard on their Frosty the Snow Man or the Messiah! Andy ... has given me some very precise pointers on extreme soft high entrances. He is the champ on all this stuff. Dave"
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For those who don't know, Dave Stoller is a semi retired principal horn player who had decided over a year ago that he could no longer play horn due to multiple health problems. Dave credits BE for enabling him to develop the efficiency to continue playing even with his physical limitations.
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Andrew Joy is the principal of the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra. http://andrewjoy.com/
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Both Dave and Andrew have testimonials on Jeff Smiley's website. http://www.trumpetteacher.net/index.html
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For the sake of clarity: Tonguing on the lips, "between the teeth" as Dave refers to it, is a technique taught in BE for improving efficiency. In the usual context of BE, RI refers to a specific set of BE exercises played with a rolled in set up. BE does not prescribe playing with a rolled in setting or any other particular setting. When Dave refers to RI in the context of his comments above, he is referring to a personal embouchure setting he has developed through practicing BE.

Valerie Wells