Hi Andrew, thank you for your reply; it is very helpful. Yes by Vental I mean the low trigger range. I am a bass trombonist too and I’ve always felt that I am working too hard in this range. After eight months of working patiently through the Largo to moderato stage I find that I am finally able to consistently produce sympathetic oscillation on the mouthpiece and lead pipe. I look in the mirror when I play and I finally see the classic look of a successful brass embouchure. It is not something that I am trying to force or manipulate to appear, it simply appears as a byproduct of Greg’s approach. What this has taught me is that my instinct about how the embouchure and oral cavity function in this range was wrong. I think I had this mental picture of a much looser embouchure and an oral cavity that was far too large inside. I love Greg’s mma ah oo because it really shares with all of us how a successful player feels when they play. I understood intellectually that things need to be relaxed and open inside so that the air can make it to the lips but I now realize that I was manipulating and overdoing this way too much, almost like yawning with my lips closed. Your reply is exactly what I needed to hear!

Thanks again,

Eric Heidenheim