Steve,

I’m not an instructor, Greg is the master, but I am confident in saying that that was way too much lip buzzing. And that’s what gave you endurance problems.

I have a relatively long commute and there was a little extra tonight. I listened to your practice routine on the way home (Part 1) and you were primarily lip buzzing, mouthpiece buzzing or leadpipe buzzing the whole time. My commute is about an hour, maybe more tonight. That’s way too much.

My $.02, for what it’s worth, is to do ZERO lip buzzing. Lip buzzing probably isn’t going to do anything good for you or your lips at this point. I don’t do any lip buzzing and I feel like I have a good grasp on what I’m supposed to be doing, how the horn works, etc.

If I were you, I would throw out most of what you’re doing and go all in on WindWorks 100%–give it a go; give it a chance. All the other stuff you’ve been trying hasn’t worked for you.

Go back to the beginning and progress slowly, carefully.

The main point you need to get to, and which I don’t think you’ve gotten to yet is what the Ooooohhhhh is all about–engaging/tightening the aperture from the sides/corners, not the top/middle, to ascend along with the tongue arch.

I think Largo starts on the leadpipe; you could start there and just think Oooohhhhhh and while you feel the muscles on the side of your mouth engage as you say Oooohhh, engage/tighten those inward to squeeze the aperture smaller (slightly) and you should ascend. On the leadpipe, there aren’t as many slots as the horn so you may need to tighten it a bit before it pops and it might not pop the first time you’re playing around with it; it may take time.

I would go back to Largo and go all in, 100%. No lip buzzing, that’s probably only going to do you harm right now–like it did today; no permanent damage, but you blew your chops for the day.

I was tempted to post a video but I already practiced this morning and wasn’t confident I could demonstrate anything that would be of help to you. I recently watched the beginning videos (last night) and they mean more everytime I see them. I recommend going back and watching them again and starting at the beginning.

A lot of us have done several “laps” on Windworks and get more out of it each time. I think you will to.

Keep the faith–if you keep applying yourself this much to your playing, it is inevitable that you will win and you’ll become a monster player! The odds are in your favor, but I would try to focus your energies a bit more.

My $.02, FWIW. I sincerely hope it’s helpful. I was thinking today about how cool it will be when you post your “I got it!” post–that you had your “coffee moment”!