Thanks. I was thinking about something similar yesterday–if you never give up, you will succeed. Or, I was thinking about posting something like “I FIGURED IT OUT! Again…for the first time…”

I’ve realized it’s not one “coffee moment” and then on to green pastures from then on out.

I have evolved though over the past year in my relative understanding of WindWorks and how to play.

I don’t know if there’s one true way to play; there probably isn’t. But when I have the most success is when I focus on the various WindWorks mantras:

1. Pinching the lips and overblowing is the most common problem
2. Air should interact with the lips like they’re the vocal chords
3. Less air is required the higher we ascend
4. 1% Rule – Be 1% more efficient for 1% more resonant sound
5. Engaging the aperture corners
6. BCH

Lately, I’ve been trying to focus more on consistency. I feel like sometimes I do a harmonic slur upward and things feel / sound great, then the next time they don’t.

Realized I was pinching, slightly; it’s such a subtle difference, in part because that was my norm for years.

One of the things I’ve been doing lately is thinking of engaging the aperture corners as pushing up or holding up / supporting my top lip as I tighten the aperture to ascend, kind of like tent poles supporting the roof of the tent.

Also, occasionally mixing in some lyrical music–free-blowing stuff with lots of melodic slurs and focusing on my sound helps check in to make sure that what I’m doing physically with my lips/embouchre makes sense, feels natural, is producing a resonant sound, etc. That’s helped me realize when I’ve gotten a little too literal / carried away with certain things described in the course.

I’ve got a long way to go to get where I want to be too, but I’m enjoying the journey…most of the time…