Monday, February 22, 2010

Maintenance Required

In this video I speak of the importance of knowing thyself from the stand point of being in touch with your physical playing needs. This video is focusing on the embouchure and what it requires to keep itself in good playing order. This is of course a very individual matter, and from my experience can be extremely different from player to player.

If a player is in touch with the whole of themselves and is a serious practicer, one can see and feel trends of how certain types of playing affects the embouchure. Just like foods that can cause allergic or other wise unpleasant or unhealthy symptoms, so can our practice diet alter the course of what our embouchures can and can not do. To speak of the embouchure without speaking of the air support systems is a bit incomplete. But in my own experience, it is very clear ( most of the time! ) what to practice to change how my embouchure is functioning and to prepare it for very specific tasks. My intention is to have more videos on the first overlay,( which we refer to as the automatic robotic systems of playing ), discussing, demonstrating and offering practical exercises to be experimented with by those who would be interested to take a try.


2 comments:

Ross said...

Thanks for these videos! It is great that you find value in taking the time to make these, because many players also enjoy and benefit from viewing them and learning from what you have to say!

I am definitely going to be asking myself these questions in my practicing today.

Young Artists Philharmonic said...

Thanks so much! Very valuable information.

I will definitely be thinking about what types of playing effect my embouchure.