EXTREME EMBOUCHURES!

Can you hear the cheesy radio/TV ad announcer attempting to increase adrenalin levels with: "EXTREME demolition derby!" "EXTREME sports!" "EXTREME thrills!"  Hmmm.... How about a cheesy announcer to say...

"EXTREME embouchure exercises!"

These are still shots of the extreme embouchure settings I use when I practice some of the BE exercises. This is how it works for me:

(1) If I can develop tone, range and facility in an extreme embouchure; then tone, range and facility with a "normal" embouchure will be easier.

(2) If I can learn to play in both extremes, I'm bound to find settings between the extremes that work well for me.

(3) If I systematically practice in the extremes as well as transitioning from one extreme to the other, I'll eventually learn maneuvers I can use to navigate efficiently within the less extreme registers I encounter in daily playing.

Works for me!
Also see:  Why the Extremes?
Also see: "Circus Trick" or Developmental Tool?

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The roll-out and roll-in exercises can be performed "correctly" with or without air pockets as seen in the examples contributed by horn players here. Air pockets are an option, not a requirement in BE. Some people can't do the exercises without them; others can't do the exercises with them. It's an individual thing and nothing to stress over either way. I like practicing with air pockets as pictured, because it helps me isolate and control individual muscle groups to play with less overall tension.
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"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!"

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Cute comment from Iris: Thanks, Valerie— these pictures are great! I was just joking earlier this week with my daughter (an accomplished trumpet player) that everyone would want to try BE if it was called "X-treme Embouchure!" The photos also helped to show me that I'm on the right track with my goofy-faced ROs and RIs! ~Iris 
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If one picture is worth a thousand words, then multiply that by what you see here!

"Circus Trick" or Developmental Tool?

On Yahoo Horn, Aleks wrote:

I suspect that your understanding of an einsetzen embouchure has been dictated by trumpet players who roll their lower lip out and put it practically outside the mouthpiece cup to play pedal tones. This is not an einsetzen embouchure, but a circus trick.

Aleks, Thank you so much for your comment. You may call this a "circus trick", because you aren't aware of its value and use to the brass player. I would also call it a "circus trick" if I didn't have positive experience using it. I will agree that it has little or no direct application in regular performance, but I do regard this technique as a valuable tool for embouchure development. I liken it to buzzing, which also seems useless to those who have never used it systematically. No one actually performs free buzzing or buzzing the mouthpiece alone, but this is never-the-less a valuable development tool for many.

The technique of playing with the lower lip completely rolled out below the mouthpiece rim, which I consider an exaggerated or extreme form of einsetzen, is the foundation of the roll out exercises in the Balanced Embouchure system. Trumpet players and horn players alike use this technique to help them develop their embouchures. Those who have benefited from this development tool, are very grateful for this "circus trick!" Here are links to one horn player's positive experience working with this exercise:

http://beforhorn.blogspot.com/2011/02/discovery-and-experience.html
http://beforhorn.blogspot.com/2010/06/just-got-this-today.html

Also on Yahoo Horn, Richard Hirsch defined einsetzen as one in which the mouthpiece is set into & stays in the lower lip. After thinking about this, I realized that his definition closely describes the activity of one particular BE exercise (RO#4) which I practice daily. This exercise employs this set up to develop the ability to play the fullest range possible while keeping the rim of the mouthpiece set into the lower lip as much as possible -- pretty close to Richard's definition.

There's another set of exercises, the roll-in's, that do the opposite. These start way up high with an exaggerated rolled in set-up, then drag the setting down as far as possible into the lower ranges. This set up, which I believe may be a form of ansetzen, could also be called a "circus trick", because in its most exaggerated form, has no direct application to regular performance. I regard it as a valuable tool for embouchure development, practice it daily, and am pleased with the results.

Working with both extremes of einsetzen (roll-out) and ansetzen (roll-in) on a systematic, daily basis as presented in The Balanced Embouchure, provides comprehensive experiences for discovery that are not part of any other embouchure development system I've seen. These exercises expand the range of motion and abilities of the average brass player far beyond anything most could even imagine possible.

"Everything's impossible until someone does it." --Bruce Wayne

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.
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My Comfy Horn Strap

I've just launched a blog with pictures and ordering information for my Comfy Horn Strap.

How Steve Park Came to BE

In his own words:

I found BE courtesy of Andrew Joy, principal horn of the Cologne Radio Orchestra. Andrew contacted me after watching some of my Youtube videos. He contacted me through Youtube and asked me if I was familiar with Jeff Smiley and The Balanced Embouchure book. He said that I looked like I used the concepts found in Jeff's book in my playing. I became curious when he said that he had added an octave to his range and improved his endurance by 70% after using the BE exercises. He also said it really improved his understanding of how to play a brass instrument. So I contacted Jeff Smiley to order his book. I sent Jeff a link to one of my Youtube videos. He agreed with Andrew that I looked like I was already doing many of the things that he talks about in his books. He referred me to Valerie Wells. He told me that she was the expert on BE for French horn and that she had modified the trumpet exercises for horn.

I contacted Val and ordered the book. When it came, I looked through it briefly and set it aside. That might have been the end of it, except that Val and her husband came to Utah and while they were here they stopped by my home and Val gave me a BE lesson. I was amazed at her range and what she could do. This was in April of 2010. On June 8, 2010 I had emergency brain surgery and was out of commission for about a month. When I started playing again, I started practicing the BE exercises. I found that they validated and re-enforced most of what I was already doing.

When school started last fall, I started teaching BE to my horn students. This is when I really got excited. Several of my students had reached a plateau and weren't really getting any better. After I started BE with them, everyone of them began making excellent progress. This was very motivating to all of us. Every single student I teach has improved their range and their confidence substantially. To me, this has been the most rewarding and satisfying part of my BE experience.

Steve Park

Thanks, Steve Park, Andrew Joy and so many others for sharing testimonials & lending support.

Steve playing Dukas Villanelle.

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Back & Forth, Trumpet to Horn

Brigitte from France, now playing in Germany, recently shared this testimonial:

Since I started the BE, I improved a lot, my sound is much more stable and I can play much longer. Another important thing is I am able now to play again trumpet and can switch from one instrument to the other, practicing the BE with both ...

I started the trumpet as the first instrument more than 20 years ago but was not a good player because I had no real good basic practice and after 45 minutes to 1 hour I was unable to play because the lips were "gone".

I cannot tell if I can play more now because my favorite instrument is still the horn, but for horn I never stop playing because the lips are fade up, but only because I have something else to do ...

Kind regards,

Brigitte

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San Francisco was GREAT!

What a wonderful week we had in San Francisco last week for the 43rd International Horn Symposium! My sweet husband came along to lend general support and help with book keeping. Doug Wagner stayed close by lending moral support and helping promote the BE message. I enjoyed getting better acquainted with Steve and Lorna Park. (We'd only met once before the symposium in April of 2010.) And, I seriously enjoyed meeting some of my BE for horn friends face to face, and was thrilled to welcome more horn players (and even one tuba player) to the BE group! I learned much from the many horn players who stopped by my exhibit to chat and share experiences.

I believe the symposium this year was historic. It's probably the first time in IHS history that a embouchure method written for trumpet has been formally introduced at a symposium for horn players! Pretty cool, huh?

Steve Park (with precious little assistance from me) really knocked the BE message out of the park with his presentation. In Power Point, he showed dramatic "before" and "after" pictures of his embouchure. The "before" picture showed a mass of soft flesh protruding from under his top lip which had at one time prevented him from developing an efficient high range. The "after" picture showed how the problem was corrected by rolling in. This was graphic proof of one benefit the roll in exercises can provide.

Steve believes that about 2/3 of his students have a mass of soft flesh that protrudes from under the top or even both lips. He also believes that most great brass players who are "naturals," don't have a this problem which enables them to play the full range without the need for much rolling in.

Steve also showed a video of 12 middle school students each playing a "double pedal" F (our fundamental) followed immediately by a high C. Undeniable proof that anyone, any age can learn BE & develop expansive playing range. (Don't expect this video to appear on you-tube. It would require permission from 12 parents before this could happen.)

One of the BE students on horn, a gentleman pushing 80 years old, asked me for a BE lesson. He had felt insecure in his progress so did not allow me to use his name for promotional purposes. In our lesson, he played RO#4, starting on double pedal F (fundamental F on the Bb horn) and slurred all the way up to high F above high C while solidly nailing every note in between. He did this without resetting, but rather in a smooth clean motion. Sheesh! I had to ask, "Exactly what part of BE isn't working for you?"

Another BE student I worked with played his RI exercises with such a lovely tone, he could easily use this as his normal performance embouchure provided he could learn to tongue efficiently with this set up.

Milton, a horn player (not a BE student) who played principal horn for many years told me of an experience that resonated with me. After attending our presentation Milton said he realized what he'd been doing for many years was actually a part of BE. (Well, of course! All successful brass players use the principles of BE whether they know it or not.) Milton had used a rolled in setting on both trumpet and horn which gave him a wonderful high range, but eventually it"morphed" into something too extreme to allow for flexibility. In other words, his chops became unbalanced and too heavy on the roll in side to be efficient. He was forced to go through a difficult embouchure change to correct it. I believe this could have been avoided or even corrected had Milton been practicing the BE roll-out and roll-in exercises consistently all along. (Too bad BE wasn't available back in the day for Milton.)

Another exciting happening came from David, a BE trumpeter in the San Francisco area, who came Thursday for our presentation. David brought a book describing the Maggio method. The descriptions of the Maggio method had a few striking similarities to the embouchure that trumpet players often develop studying BE. What was especially interesting was that David had studied Maggio's embouchure for 30 years, but in all those years never made the progress like he had in just two years of studying BE. This shows where Jeff Smiley's genius is. Jeff has taken the elements from past players as well as his own teaching experiences and organized these elements into a system that is so simple, even children can learn it.

And, BTW, David picked up my horn and played a fundamental pedal F, then slurred through the partials to a double high C -- each note with a nice full tone. Don't we just hate it when trumpet players do that? ha ha ha!

A representative from Conn-Selmer, a tuba player, was intriqued by BE so bought the book. I'm eager to hear how this works out for him. I know only one other tuba player who uses BE.

For all the BE newbies, I'm hoping to make email contact with each and everyone of you. Unfortunately, I don't have all your email addresses, and some of the email addressed I've tried have failed. So if you don't soon hear from me, please contact me by email at: ValerieW78 "at" gmail "dot" com.

Valerie

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