Author: d-oboe
Date: 2006-04-07 21:12
Damaging embouchure is usually more of an issue with brass players as their "reed" is their lips. Our lips just seal the reed. However, know that anything done incorrectly for too long will result in injury - at worst extreme pain, or at best a nagging bad habit.
The embouchure is a funny thing, in that its muscles don't really get used EXCEPT for when we play oboe. There is generally no cross-training, as singers can do, or piano players, or string players. That means we really must practice moderately (max 1 hour at a time) more frequently. At my particular level, I find that 3-4 sessions (1 hour) throughout the day allows me to generally complete a decent amount of work.
You may not need as much! If you set out to achieve a small goal, it may well take you only 45 minutes total...and that's perfect.
As for embouchure, the best thing for that is an endurance exercise, where you focus only on blowing, and keeping the sound together.
Here's mine:
I play, ****continously**** 6 two-octave scales in this format:
-metron @60
-5 whole notes, breathe out one beat, breathe in one beat, 5 whole notes, etc
So the first bit would go, if I started on D major:
D (1,2,3,4), E(1,2,3,4) F#(1,2,3,4) G(1,2,3,4) A(1,2,3,4)
breathe out one count
breathe in one count
B (1,2,3,4) C#(1,2,3,4) D(1,2,3,4) E(1,2,3,4) F#(1,2,3,4)
breathe out one count
breathe in one count....etc!!!
In total it sums up to about 12 minutes (minus the short breaths) of continous playing.
You might not need this much; try one octave scales, with 2-whole-note phrases.
Your lips will be pretty dead by the end, so I would recommend doing this at the end of your last practice session.
d
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
