Embouchure

 I do not plan to go into a lengthy technical discussion of the muscles that form the embouchure. Although such a discussion may be valuable, it is too involved for this medium. However, a few useful points should be made.

EMBOUCHURE FORMATION

I seen several written descriptions of embouchure formation. I have never seen one that didn't leave room for misinterpretation. For a beginner learning to form the embouchure, there is no substitute for a good teacher. Beginners can imitate the teacher in several respects. Furthermore, the teacher can quickly spot and correct bad habits.

Nonetheless, here are some basic tips about embouchure formation:

• The lips should be lightly touching in the center.
• The corners of the mouth should be held firm (thus the cheeks shouldn't puff out).
• The corners of the mouth should turn slightly downwards, as if the player has a determined look on the face. A "smiling" embouchure in which the corners turn upwards should be avoided as this tends to spread the upper lip too thin.
• In some ways, a correct embouchure is similar the lip position for whistling.
• The skin just below the lower lip and above the chin should have a tendency to flatten out and become smoother. A bunched-up chin (dimpled) should be avoided.
• The upper and lower lip should be close to vertical alignment. If anything, the upper lip can be slightly farther out than the lower. This suggestion of lip alignment assumes that the player has a slight overbite in the teeth.

MOUTHPIECE PLACEMENT

Horizontal Placement: in the center (not too far to the right or left). Many young players end up placing the mouthpiece off the to the right side. I believe this is because they discover that they can reach the long slide positions more easily by angling the trombone somewhat to the right. A slight displacement to the right is usually not so serious a problem as to require an embouchure change.

Vertical Placement: 2/3 upper lip and 1/3 lower lip. This suggestion assumes that the player has a slight overbite in the teeth.

MOUTHPIECE PRESSURE

There should be minimal pressure of the mouthpiece on the face. This is particularly important with pressure on the upper lip. If you pull the mouthpiece away and find a white ring on your lips, you are probably using too much mouthpiece pressure (some get that mark more easily than others). Think about it: that ring appears because, for a moment, blood is absent. You depend on a small region of muscles to play well. By using too much mouthpiece pressure, aren't you cutting off the blood supply to these muscles? Keep doing this and you risk fatigue problems as well as the possibility of permanent injury to the embouchure.

I do not think it is practical, however, to play with zero mouthpiece pressure.

Try this: The effects of pressure

Try buzzing a mid-range note on your mouthpiece (with very little mouthpiece pressure), Now, as you continue to buzz the note, gently increase the pressure. For many people, the buzzed note will naturally go up in pitch. This exercise helps demonstrate why younger players learn to use mouthpiece pressure as a shortcut for getting high notes. Once this bad habit is substituted for real embouchure strength, players find it difficult to stop pushing in for high notes.

Try this: Going to the Wall

Stand with your back close to a wall. How close? Close enough that the back of your trombone is gently touching the wall. Then, play some ascending lip slurs in first position. This may feel a bit awkward at first. Here's the idea: the placement of the horn against the wall make it harder to push in as you ascend.
This technique doesn't really work for patterns involving slide movement.

Try this: Reducing pressure in the upper lip

Try tilting the trombone slightly downward as a means of taking pressure off the upper lip. In fact try sustaining a note and very slowly tilting the trombone off the upper lip until contact is lost. Can you play a slow mid-range scale with absolutely minimal pressure on the upper lip?

USEFUL CONCEPTS

Here are some ideas that may be helpful:

• Imagine the opening of the embouchure (aperture) to be an oval, not a thin line. For most players, this means making the aperture more rounded.
• As you ascend into the high range, think of contracting that oval into a little circle.
• However much pressure you are currently using, it is probably too much.

EMBOUCHURE CHANGES

Few things can derail a young player like an embouchure change. As a teacher, one should not plunge into changing a student's embouchure unless it is deemed absolutely necessary. I believe there are two ways to go about adjusting an embouchure: the cold turkey method or what I call the "tugboat" method.

Cold Turkey Method

In this method, one starts over from scratch with the aid of a mirror, careful guidance and a lot of patience. High range usually suffers. Players may become discouraged and start doubting their teacher's wisdom.
If you choose to go this route, try to do it when you don't have playing commitments. For college and high school students, the summer months may be a good time for this. It may be a good idea to spend some time away from the instrument before making the change. This allows you embouchure to get out of shape. Why do this? The new embouchure setting probably won't "feel right." Once you are out of shape, nothing feels right so you may be less tempted to revert.

Tugboat Method

This approach is bit more unusual. It can be tried in the midst of playing commitments when a player cannot afford "down time." Spend a short period of time at the very beginning of the day playing with the new, correct embouchure. Focus completely on playing with the right setting. After this short time, go on to other music or rehearsals and focus only on the music, not the embouchure. Just as a tugboat pushes a large ship around, those focused minutes in the morning may begin to gradually change your playing. This approach probably won't work for radical embouchure changes. It is difficult for most players to first focus completely on embouchure, and then ignore embouchure the rest of the day. Still, for some it may work.