Posted by Doug Elliott on December 18, 2003 at 16:52:29:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Teaching and reality posted by Richard Armandi on December 18, 2003 at 10:32:45:
To clarify: If my position on this were a simple explanation, more people would understand how embouchures work and how to fix problems.
I believe that bad form in any strenuous activity is bad for not only the results, but also injurious to the muscles and nerves that are involved. I have seen, taught, and fixed lots of players who have “lost their chops” due to playing incorrectly for years, and never knowing it was wrong because it worked at the time. I don’t know, but I certainly wonder, if the current crop of “dystonia” diagnoses are nothing more than typical chop problems that I see all the time. That’s why I’m interested in working with someone who has had the diagnosis.
I'm sure dystonia is a very real problem, I just wonder if it's getting to be the current fad explanation for something else that just isn't understood.