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musiclifeline
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 7:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anyone care to post a summary of the concepts? I realize that doing a search of the forum would return LOTS of hits, as this method is mentioned a lot, but sifting through those could be a pretty annoying task...
Thanks in advance.
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Shaker
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 8:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi,

There are a lot of concepts covered in the Balanced Emboucher; it's not just an emboucher book. It has a lot to do with how to prepare, how to calm your nerves, double/triple tonguing, ect... The main emboucher part focuses a lot on tucking in and rolling out. You roll the emboucher in for higher notes and roll it out for lower notes. A lot of the exercises in the book are interval type exercises to get you rolling in and out. I use this method about 50/50 with my regular emboucher... I'm working on it. I've found the best way for me to approach it is to gradually use it more and more along with my old emboucher. If you go into it head first and try to completely abolish your current emboucher, you may not be able to play well for about a month or 2 until you get used to it... I couldn't afford to do that. My range has increased about 2 and a 1/2 steps (from the 2nd F above the staff to Bb)in just the past 3 months. But anyways, I hope this helps you understand the concept a little better.
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trumpetteacher1
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm taking a short break at a local school. I'll add stuff about the basic concepts this weekend. In the meantime, anybody who wants to contribute, please chip in!

Jeff
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LFRoberts5
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 3:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of the things about BE is that it uses scientific fact to help us as trumpet players. Let me explain.

The famous weight lifter/body builder guru Joe Weider has spend his life finding the best ways for muscle development. One of his findings is: Muscles respond better to INDIRECT stimuli.

This means that for example: to learn a golf swing one of the best ways is to watch a pro and "subconsciencely" let your body INDIRECTLY follow what you see and imitate it.

Not learn it by trying to make your body DIRECTLY: " keep your head down, tuck your left elbow in, keep your right arm straight, bend your wrist at the top of your swing, etc,
etc, etc. That is why martial arts studios have mirrors on the walls. So students can watch the teacher and imitate.

This is practiced in BE. Jeff has you practice two opposite exercises, The Roll/In and The Roll/Out. By doing these extreme opposite exercies your body (chops) will INDIRECTLY respond faster and better to achieve a balance that comes across in your playing as: Better Tone, Better Endurance, Better Articulation, Easier Playing, Better Flexibility, Easier Range, and eventually an Expanded Range.

I have my 10 YO son learning the BE Method and the other day after about one month of BE he "hit" a couple G's above high C.

Why not start out and get all the physical aspects of trumpet playing out of the way in the beginning and then you can concentrate on making music and not having to worry about your "chops" or range or endurance all the time.
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Lex Grantham
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Post has been moved to "Balanced Embouchure Lessons With Jeff Smiley".



[ This Message was edited by: Lex Grantham on 2003-11-15 01:06 ]
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Lex Grantham
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Post has been moved to "Balanced Embouchure Lessons With Jeff Smiley".

[ This Message was edited by: Lex Grantham on 2003-11-15 01:07 ]
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Larrios
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 2:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good morning!

I'll attempt to summarise some BE concepts.

BE is a development system for trumpet, with its main focus on improving lipposition. Meaning: getting the lips to move more efficiently. To achieve this goal, Jeff uses an indirect approach, based on universal principles. The coördination of a trumpet embouchure is very complex and it operates on an unconcious level. That's why an indirect approach is needed. A direct approach to alter the coördination at an unconcious level, might work for some, but the others will struggle. An indirect approach will also make sure that you will be able to maintain your current playing level, as you are developing your embouchure. Adding strength to your actual playing, rather than completely breaking it down, which is the risk of more direct approaches. The use of universal principles is also vitally important, because this means that the principles outlined in the book will work for everyone.

Now lets look more closely at the different concepts of the method. The main concept used to achieve an efficient balance point in one's embouchure, is expanding the lip range of motion. A limited range of motion is for many the main reason why progress has stopped or why high notes are not available. Lips are weak muscles and hard to strengthen, if you don't know in what direction to search. A limited range of motion can offer a sense of security, but to grow and improve, an expanded range of motion is required. The basic idea here is simple. At first you will learn the extreme ends of the total range of motion package, which are rolled-out lips on one side and rolled-in lips on the other side. These extreme lippositions have a specific sound and feel. Once you've experienced both the correct sound and feel at the opposite ends of the range of motion, you are ready to bring that feeling into the normal playing range. (The excersises are explained in detail and will properly guide you through the process.) As you develop, your lips will unconciously find an efficient balance point bewteen rolled-out/rolled-in, resulting in a balanced embouchure.

There is more to it though. Jeff has several other techniques to help improve lipposition and general playing control. They are all part of the method and equally important. One of them is tonguing on the lips: starting a note by striking the top lip with your tongue. This shifts your lips in a more efficient position. Both your lips will have contact with the air, forcing them to make a better airseal; your teeth will be the proper distance apart, as your tongue has to move between them; and last but not least, you will have a more consistent amount of lip in your mouthpiece. This excersise increases the feel, especially when combined with the 'zip'. (Ending the note with the tongue against the lip, creating a specific sound.) That's a huge benefit, which doesn't require a great deal of thinking.

Then finally there are also the hold-till-empty and crescendo excersises. Hold-till-empty is used to warm up the breathing engine, linking it to a big sound. The crescendo excersises are about capacity and control, linked to time. Both excersises are simple and effective ways to learn how to bring more of your resources into play and controlling them. We all have more potential than we think!

The above excersises can all be part of a focussed warm up. Suggestions are found in the lesson plans available in the back of the book. There is still a big part of the method uncovered: lip slurs. Their main goal is to improve strength and coördination over the complete range of motion, filling up the gaps of the total range of motion as well. A special technique used in the BE lip slurs, is the 'snap'. This is an accent on the top notes of the slurs. It has a specific sound and coördination, again increasing the feel of your embouchure. Lip slurs should be done when the range of motion excersises have been succesfully experienced.

Final note: every excersise is explained in detail in the book, making it a good guide through your own development. Most excersises require a certain sound and feel, being part of an indirect approach. Therefore the books comes with a CD. Playing along with the CD will give you feedback on how you are doing and if you are on the right track. Learning the specific feel is something that can only be done by regular practise.

In my opinion, Jeff has done most of the work for us, by writing this self-help book. Lets thank him for that, by the finishing touch to a more efficient embouchure: practise!

Ko
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Ricetrpt
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 8:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quick Question:

Doesn't all the rolling out and rolling in make for A LOT of embouchure movement? It has been my experience that lots of movement makes moving between registers much more difficult. If we can use the same embouchure for all registers, and do our best to only change the apeture size (with minimal embouchure movement), won't it be easier to get around the horn? Lemme know what y'all think.
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trumpetteacher1
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 9:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rice,

This link may be interesting to you.

http://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?topic=13761&forum=2&20

You have to start the development process somewhere. In the beginning, more movement is better than not enough movement, in my opinion. Refinement to less movement is inevitable. But still, some players will always need more apparent movement than others.

Jeff Smiley

[ This Message was edited by: trumpetteacher1 on 2003-11-15 12:07 ]
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trumpetteacher1
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shaker, Lloyd, Ko,

Wow, terrific posts! Thanks! It's neat to see some of the same concepts from different points of view.

No need for me to add much here, as you have done the work already.

Thanks also to Lex, who graciously moved his long post to another thread, and to Ole who provided a link to the interview I did with him a while back. Many basic concepts were covered in that interview.

Again, the link is:

http://abel.hive.no/trumpet/smiley/

Jeff

[ This Message was edited by: trumpetteacher1 on 2003-11-15 12:46 ]
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HJ
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 2:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Rice,

Of course you are right. The lips should move as efficient as possible. No big movements and a lot of fiddlin' and diddlin' with mpc position. But HOW do you accomplish that?

I tell my students that for me it is absolutely impossible to tell them what to do. That's a great teacher, huh, LOL. But it is also very true. Can I tell somebody to move his tongue one milimeter up and at the same time move his mouthcorners half a millimeter in, thus getting a cushion of exactly half a centimeter. Hold that for the whole phrase and blow at a speed of 50Mph... How can anybody do that. And yet that is exactly what we are asked to do. The only way is an unconcious way, and in that respect, Jeffs method offers you the best way to get there.
To me it feels (I've been doing the BEfor 1 1/2 years now) that if you are able to make the movements described in the book, and make them sound the way they sound on the CD, you'll more and more be able to use those movements in a very small and unconcious way. Maybe when you exaggerate it this way it is as if you look through a magnifying glass and see what's hidden from the bare eye. Or rather feel what's hidden from the bare lip. Yes, in my next life I am going to be a writer, no chop problems whatsoever, haha.

Bert

[ This Message was edited by: HJ on 2003-11-16 08:34 ]

[ This Message was edited by: HJ on 2003-11-16 08:36 ]
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HJ
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 2:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Ko,

Welcome on the forum. I was going to write an email and let you know, but you sent me one about this forum. Nice to meet you here on the net. We'll keep it in English, maybe some of the other guys will learn something from us and I don't think they understand Dutch.

For the people who want to know: Ko is from Holland, and so am I. In fact we know each other via Jeffs book, and Ko has visited me two times, just to talk about the BE concepts and learn from our experiences. And although I am a little older and already have a professional career as a trumpet player, I think I learn as much of his insights, as he learns from me. He is very critical, and very serious about all the BE experiments, so I think that everybody can learn from this guy also.

BTW great post! Nice to have a summary of Jeffs book. I might make a translation and give it to some of my students.

Bert
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mcamilleri
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 12:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Regarding the range of movement, and the roll-in, roll-out. The BE exercises cover a HUGE range of motion, and as Jeff clearly states in his book, this range of motion is far greater than that used in normal playing.

Part of the purpose of the range of motion is to shut down self-defeating habits. For example, in the roll-in lip clamp, it is almost impossible to play with a flat chin. In the double pedals, it is impossible to play with a smile or stretched corners. By doing these exercises you get to experience what it is like to play with corners flexing inwards, or lips rolled in, or with high air pressure etc. Once you have the feeling of these experiences in the extreme range of motion, you can begin to use them in normal playing.

If you try to change your embouchure in normal playing, all that usually happens is that you put on another set of habits over the bad ones that you already have, and get no-where. Because any change feels strange, and normally makes you play worse in the short term, you end up tinkering, only making minor changes, and never get anywhere. The extreme range of motion comes at it from way out in left field, and gives you the opportunity to find a more efficient playing setup.
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