Posted by John Swensen on August 16, 2001 at 08:27:47:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Practice schedule posted by blown chops on August 16, 2001 at 06:10:27:
Playing with excess mouthpiece pressure will cause problems, but the damage from chronic pressure can take months to appear (as chronic pain, even when not playing, numbness in parts of the lip, and worse), so many players do not recognize the relationship. This problem is more common with upper brass players (trumpets and horn players, especially), but the lower brass is not immune. In my opinion, the weight of a Conn Helleberg mouthpiece is close to enough pressure to use when playing tuba (that is, you should be able to buzz on your back, with just the weight of your mouthpiece keeping it in place).
The best way I have found to reduce pressure is to buzz with the mouthpiece, balancing it on your thumb and using one other finger only to keep the mouthpiece from rolling off. Although it may feel (and sound) awkward, at first, in time (weeks or months) you will develop enough embouchure strength and coordination to maintain a seal and get a good tone and range. It may help to start with your lips closer together than normal and use a lot more air to blow them into buzzing. Ten to thirty minutes of buzzing low-pressure arpeggios a day, resting as much as you buzz, should be plenty. If you can only buzz a single note this way, then buzz this single note, but try to extend your range without increasing pressure, a semitone at a time. Since I usually buzz away from the horn, I pop the shank end of my mouthpiece against my palm as a pitch reference (most of my mouthpieces pop at pretty close to a C). Obviously, you want to transfer the buzzing to your playing on the horn as your buzzing improves.