Euphonium Embouchure

[ydave]

I have recently come back to playing the euphonium after 15 years away from brass playing. After 4 months I had attained a good level of playing again but found my top notes were very thin especially above top D. I then changed my 4AL mouthpiece for an SM3, my tone improved but top C & D went thin and squeaky!

7 months into my come back and I'm having lessons from an accomplished cornet player & teacher. It appears I have forgotten the basics & picked up bad habits which we are trying to rectify:
- My mouth piece has been dropped to centre on my lips (I was hardly using the bottom lip),
- I'm fighting a large amount of chin movement,
- keeping the inner part of my lips from going into the mouth piece,
- contracting the corners of my mouth inwards and generally tensing my lips,
- concentrating on diaphragm and vowel singing.

I can no longer get above middle C without "cheating"!

I am persevering with this for now, but my teacher also stresses keeping the front teeth level.
My question is this- is this best for the Euphonium?
When I do keep my teeth level my tone disappears leaving a very rough sound in its place. My top lip does tend to over lap my bottom, is this what some people mean by directing the air down rather than straight forward into the bore of the mouth piece. As an experiment I buzzed a cornet mouth piece and found it easy to keep my teeth level not so on a euph mouthpiece! Perhaps blowing the air straight to the bore of the shank is best for cornets & directing it to the bottom of the mouthpiece for euphs?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thankyou.

Dave

[jp_euph]

Hi,

Listen to your teacher.

JP (Bmus hons, PGCE)

[njh]

I have recently come back to playing the euphonium after 15 years away from brass playing.

Dave

What instrument did you play before. Was it also a euphonium? Maybe after 15 years of rest you should consider if that is still the correct instrument. Have you tried smaller (baritone) or bigger (Eb bass) or perhaps even bass trombone?

-Nigel

[jp_euph]

go back to a smaller mouthpiece.......

an SM3 is bigger than a 4AL.

why not try a 5 AL wick
or a 5G Bach mouthpiece

take your instrument to a good music shop, and ask to try different mouthpieces.

[ydave]

thankyou for the input, sorry for large delay.....

Nigel- no I haven't concidered other instruments, but niether would I as I love the Euph. Besides before my mouthpiece change and lessons I was doing very well, esp. my sound, production and technical ability. So it appears I have tryed to fix something that wasn't broken and in the process broken it! I can now comfortably get up to an A above the stave again but its a slow battle back to my high notes.

J.P.- I am taking on board what my tutor advices, but i don't think I'll ever know if its the mouthpiece, the advice or both which distroyed my playing. The teeth worry has been forgotten about and my sound is coming back as is my range. I have also gone back onto a 4AL but a new one (my original 4AL is a bit smaller but too battered).

My "bad habbits" have gone, but my playing is not as good as a result. I have cut my practise, started to take days out and stopped being so embouchure obsessed concintrating instead on my breathing this is helping.

Advice always welcome, thanks

Dave