Posted by Andy on June 24, 2003 at 10:05:10:
In Reply to: Smiling Embouchure posted by Not Happy on June 24, 2003 at 05:56:52:
Arnold Jacobs always said that embouchure is not a study of meat, but a study of sound. If you sound better than everyone else, they'll copy what you do. In other words, don't worry about how it looks if it sounds good. However, if it doesn't sound good, then you have some work to do.
Everyone's embouchure is different because their lip musculature and tooth formations are different. That said, I had to change my embouchure once, due to an injury, by moving over a little to one side. The most helpful thing I did was to practice on the mouthpiece alone. Try doing this 30 minutes a day by playing easy tunes in the middle register at a middle dynamic, and concentrating on making a good resonant buzz. You should find that the embouchure that sounds the best while doing this is your best "natural" embouchure (i.e., the one that fits your face the best). You can then transfer this ability to the instrument. Go back and forth by playing easy music on the mouthpiece and then immediately playing the same thing on the tuba, concentrating on the sound, not what shape your lips are forming. Again, the emboucure that sounds the best is the right one for you. The BERP is a good practice aid for this type of thing.
A couple of general things to keep in mind about mouthpiece placement. First, the lips should form a horiziontal line that divides the cup at approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the way up from the bottom. The idea is to have a long lip surface to vibrate which will help create more resonance. The other thing to remember is that the pressure should be equal on he upper and lower lips. The rim of the mouthpiece isolates the tiny muscles in the lip that run perpindicular to the large horizontal muscles of the obicularis orbis in a basket weave manner. These tiny muscles cause the retraction and protraction of the lips which allow us to change pitch.
Please feel free to e-mail me privately if any of what I have said is unclear to you.