Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2004-09-15 18:40
Hi --
I don't think I was trying to say that "air speed" is used to alter dynamics. My point was that without good air *support*, you just can't get a pretty tone that is dynamically elastic.
I am also self-taught, and the biggest mistakes I made at the outset were to take too much reed, to make an embouchure that was rigid and tight, and to push the air, rather than support it. You can definitely get most of the notes out that way, but it leads to a one dimensional, forced sound.
I like your idea of the embouchure serving a "cushioning" function. I sometimes play a little game with myself, telling myself that I will play without touching the reed at all. Now, of course, this is not possible, but it provides a good corrective to the too-tight tendency that I have.
I also like your idea of imagining someone pulling the tone out of the bell, rather than you pushing it out. A piece of imagery quite like this that has worked for me is to imagine that I am playing all the way through instrument to the bell, not "blowing hard", but keeping (as you say) a very, very relaxed embouchure and well-supported "free" air all the way down the length of the instrument. When I started doing this, all of a sudden my high notes, which had been really pinched and awful, starting just floating out.
Glad to see a little action on this list!
Susan
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