Posted by Jay Bertolet on February 24, 2000 at 18:45:30:
In Reply to: As cheeks poke out like Dizzy Gillespie posted by Ralph on February 24, 2000 at 07:38:01:
If you can do all the stuff you need to do to play tuba, then it doesn't matter if your blowing into the wrong end! Just remember that there is alot to consider when developing the embouchure and what works now may not work later if you are not really clear about all that is required in playing. Any time that I am doing unusual things, I try and take a step back and realistically evaluate what the effect is on the product. Almost always, after careful consideration and evaluation, I reach the conclusion that there are more negatives than positives when doing non standard things. One thing that you said troubles me though. You wrote, "However, would some of you say that it is necessary play this way sometimes or is it just me?". This assumes you are making changes in your embouchure "sometimes" which would make it not consistent. Without hearing you play at all, I can advise you that this is not a good thing. My experience has been that, the more consistent your embouchure, the more consistent your playing. What I said earlier still applies, if you move your embouchure massively all the time and you still sound great, then I'm not going to tell you that you're doing it wrong. Not unless I could find things in your playing that were hindered by what you're doing. Even though it is difficult to do, you might try doing things in a more normal manner and see if you might actually sound better, after a reasonable amount of time. All these years of experience from tuba players past, and the concepts of embouchure and sound that we hold true today, have been developed over many years and that information shouldn't be discarded out of hand unless you're confident to go it alone, secure in the knowledge that you can do it better because it works for you. Good luck!