Posted by Rick Denney on February 13, 2004 at 14:38:02:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Low register dynamics posted by naturally... on February 13, 2004 at 13:40:59:
With respect to Mr. Jacobs, he was a good analyst of anatomy and human function, but not necessarily of fluid mechanics or vibration and other frequency-domain measurements. But that's beside the point, and absolutely no insult to his genious.
I studied very early as an adult with Mike Sanders, and those few lessons exposed me to the same teaching techniques used by Arnold Jacobs, who Mike studied with. And Mike's work with me focused on moving the proper amount of air, to be sure, and moving it efficiently. In later years, I have coupled that with an understanding of embouchure strength based on my current understanding of impedance, and that has led me to focus on a proper embouchure to go along with the air movement. None of my teachers have been analysts, and all have focused on the results. Also, I don't think about these things or discuss these subjects with my teachers during lessons because I'm there to learn techniques, not theory. But I have been able to multiply their teaching in my own limited practice time by figuring out the underlying mechanisms. I never had lessons until I was an adult, so it's the only way I know.
I don't believe that all teachers have to have a comprehensive understanding of underlying mechanisms to teach. But when they use technical terms to describe things, they ought to know what those terms mean and how they affect the principles they are trying to teach. I saw some confusion about those terms in this thread, and that's why I wrote my little bit of paralyzed analysis.
(By the way, it was finally understanding the impedance issue--the measure of resistance to vibration--that allowed me to cross the mental roadblock about the typical F-tuba low C. Analysis can have practical effects, after all, even after we have become old and stubborn, heh, heh.)
Rick "who thinks analysis paralysis is a problem of paralysis, not analysis" Denney