Air Leakage

[Min]

Hello.
I am an amature trumpeter tryin to aply TCE on my embouchure.I've been trying it for a while(nearly a year) but still I can't perfect it.Front row of my(upper) teeth is not regular.One tooth(which is next to the center teeth) stand back of the row .It makes a gap vertically and horizontally.Air leaks from the gap.
Now I still can barely make somewhere around high C.I think I am feeling the sense of the "air compression" from my top lip to my throat.But I also feel the air leakage!
Is there anybody who had a same problem and conquered it.
Can I ask anybody for advice please?

(I'm from Japan.Sorry,my English is not very good.)

[terrys17]

I have fairly straight teeth in the front, so I can't comment on this part. But the two things I have found most helpful in my tce journey are:

1 -Spit buzz : Practice this without the horn, and then with the horn, making sure the spit
buzz is the same in both cases. In my case I found that tipping the bell down slightly
made all the difference.

2 -Push your tongue forward harder and harder as you go higher. This creates more of a
seal between the top of your tongue and the bottom edge of your top teeth. By pushing
harder you should be able to create the compression you need in spite of crooked teeth.

Good luck

[Min]

Thank you for your advice, terrys17!

I tried spitbuzz without a mouthpiece.I found that I tended to force the sound with the mouthpiece on.I think I just need to concentrate on spitbuzzing.You are right!Sound must come as a result.I'll keep concentrating on the action,the position...and maybe on the sensation of the air compression as well.

And the second point.Yes,I should practice more to make my tongue stronger rather than blaming the difficulty on my teeth.And then...maybe I'll be able to do tongueing higer than high C!

Thank you very much for your advice!




[ This Message was edited by: Min on 2004-02-16 06:10 ]

[ This Message was edited by: Min on 2004-02-16 06:14 ]