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fig.17
David and Sarah
Minchin are brother and sister, they are 30 and 31 respectively and play
the bass trombone, tuba (David) and trombone (Sarah). Both of them have
studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and been
section leaders of the National Youth Brass Band.
Whereas David has
played the cornet, tuba and now bass trombone due to changes in his
embouchure and repetitive strain injury, Sarah has always played the
trombone. Sarah has not had any major problems with any aspect of her
playing.
Sarah learned about
embouchures and her muscles only at music college. She is aware that her
embouchure works well and that she rocks her stomach muscles up for
higher notes and down for lower notes (“tipping”) and thinks of
“giving birth” using her pelvic floor muscles when playing higher
notes. She says that brass teaching is much more difficult to do than
string or piano – which she also teaches because “you can’t see
the insides of your pupils”. You “need to treat yourself as an
athlete as stamina is critical for playing at a good level”.
David is a brass
teacher for the county of Cambridgeshire. He began at the age of seven
with a local brass band on the cornet. After realising that high his
technique was stopping his progress he moved on to the tuba at the age
of 15. This was despite the fact that he had gained Grade 8 at the age
of 13. He felt that his face shape had changed and his lips were too
thick for the cornet.
Even throughout
Music College David says that he was not told about his embouchure or
his body. The college was more interested in music and sound although
brass players on smaller instruments were often discussing embouchure
changes.
Since he has been
teaching brass pupils, David has thought more and more about player
problems. He feels that beginner players need to think more about the
adjustment of their jaw, and should open the space between the teeth
more. He tells his pupils to use vowel sounds and to listen to the note
that they are producing.
David relaxes the
back of his rib cage when inhaling and tries to open it forwards,
backwards and sideways. He uses a pivot technique for his jaw and uses
lots of air. He advocates using the lip slurs of J. B. Arban “Cornet
Method” (Boosey and Hawkes), and reading James Stamp Warm-ups &
Studies, published by BIM and John Ridgeon’s “The Physiology of
Brass Playing”.
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