Re: As cheeks poke out like Dizzy Gillespie


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Posted by ken k on February 24, 2000 at 23:44:08:

In Reply to: As cheeks poke out like Dizzy Gillespie posted by Ralph on February 24, 2000 at 07:38:01:

Years ago when I first started playing tuba I was a mush mouth. I had a nice sound and could get most of the notes, but because of my cheeks puffing and my chops not being held in place all the time, my accuracy and consistency were not what they could have or should have been. In the last 10 years or so I have developed my embouchure so that it stays still and doesn't move around and the cheeks are in all the time. My articulation and clarinty are 1000 times better than they were then, yet at the time I thought it was pretty darn good. I think we can always find out new things. It probably wouldn't hurt to try to keep the face more still. It would be worth a try. Arnold Jacobs never told students they had to play a certain way. He always said to listen for the sound, and most players found the best way to get that sound is with proper embochure development. Usually when watching the best brass players you see hardly any embochure movement (perhaps a little more on tuba players than others, but generally speaking there is not much movement there). Actually as someone else mentioned Dizzy's chops were firm. He only puffed his cheeks out behind his corners. I have heard that he had no control over his neck and cheeks due to some lack of musculature or something. Whether that is true or just an old tale I do not know. ken k


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