Sorry should read :

This I think has to do with my control of the aperture corners NOT being fast and smooth in operation.

Great post John. Francis sorry not on Facebook maybe something I should consider. An exercise I do away from the horn is to form an open low C embouchure and then focus on firming the corners and bringing them Inwards. I just practise flexing the corners in a horizontal way. This has help me train my brain to activate the required muscles. This is…[Read more]

Interesting comments. I agree that Greg doesn’t mention either tongue position or air speed with regards to pitch change. He does mention air support during result driven exercises to maintain pitch volume. So what is air support ? Surely air support is maintaining the flow of air. Flow has speed and quantity. Shape controls pitch which Greg…[Read more]

Just had another idea. Cooling soup lips. Put your finger tips on the aperture corners. Now move your fingers inwards towards each other but not forwards. That’s the movement.

Promise I will shut up now. 😀

Just looked at your video again and your cooling soup lips looks good but when you engage the aperture corners inwards it is a forward movement not inward. An inward movement is very subtle. It looks the same as your cooling soup position but with a smaller aperture opening.

Man I can feel your frustration. Your normal set up looks good to me no pucker. The interesting thing is you said that an inward movement of the aperture corners resulted in a pucker. That’s not what I get. I think your inward movement is a forward one not an inward one. I would hazard a guess that’s the problem. All I can suggest is try to mov…[Read more]

Thanks Greg good to know I’m on the right track. You seem totally committed to this way of playing and I am sold. If you really think my video is of use then by all means use it. Just PM me and let me know what you need.

That would be an interesting video to see. I’m sure you are not far from success.

Thanks. Link should work now I have set it as unlisted.

Here is my leadpipe buzzing video.

John wrote
I could be wrong, but you might be taking the MmmmwwwwaaaaOooohhh setup thing too literally. My take on it was that was to get us setup to put the mouthpiece on our lips and have the sensation of an open throat, easy air and engaged corners.

My thoughts entirely. Maybe Greg can chime in here but having look at the videos again my take…[Read more]

Hi. Great video. I’m not really in a position to comment as you are a far more experienced player than me. However I think your only problem is you pucker far too much.

IMHO if you just back off the pucker I think the buzz will come easily. How do I know because initially I did what you are doing. I pushed the lips too far forward into a pucker…[Read more]

Thanks John.

If you can get the easy feeling buzz on the lead pipe then transfer this same relaxed open feeling embouchure to your instrument. The chances are you will get a note lower than low C. This shows that you indeed have that relaxed embouchure. All you have to do to get the low C sounding great is engage the aperture corners a little more and probably…[Read more]

I’m no expert and learning this myself but for what its worth this is how I buzz the leadpipe. I don’t play with lips forward. I think this is more of an exercise to get a feeling of engaged corners with the centre of the lips relaxed and open. If I am wrong I am sure Greg will correct me. This is how I do it. First I put my lips together in there…[Read more]

Yes as far as I can feel its Passive. With eyes closed it feels that the buzz starts with the lips apart. However when I look in the mirror the lips just touch and that starts the buzz. Feels very relaxed. Buzz starts with little air. Certainly no clamping.

Many thanks Greg.