Posted by once again... on February 13, 2004 at 12:00:07:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Low register dynamics posted by Rick Denney on February 13, 2004 at 11:28:21:
long tones in the lower register with increasing airspeed will acomplish what you describe above. I see it happen regularly with students. If a student starts thinking about teeth and tongue and whatnot, I have them put down the horn, and do some breathing exercises, with their focus on the lips...air rushing into the body past the LIPS, and blowing the air out in a relaxed manner through their LIPS. Then, when they return to the horn, everything is naturally relaxed in the throat and oral cavity, and they can concentrate on the sound that they want, and not the physics problems of airspeed equals pressure times volume plus aperture divided by...you get the idea. Also, I agree that a player is best served to play in all registers on one embouchure. Mary Ann, we all do the "shift" at one time or another, but practiceloud and low by working your way down, with a nice relaxed middle register embouchure, from a note that you can play loudly with a good sound. Over time, the embouchure will strengthen to the point that the low register can be played with the same embouchure. Interesting reading on this subject can be found in the trombone-L archives, as well as the OTJ discussion forum, which can be accessed at www.trombone.org. Just do a search for "Phil Teele" or "Teele long tones".