Posted by Doug Elliott on August 26, 2003 at 23:23:39:
In Reply to: Accuracy problems posted by perplexed on August 26, 2003 at 21:11:48:
You say he/she has a "strong, well-formed embouchure". I will bet that it's close to half-and-half or maybe a little lower, and the problem occurs when the embouchure switches from upstream to downstream right at middle G. The solution is to bring the mouthpiece to either a higher or lower position to try to keep the airstream going whichever way works best for that particular student, without changing in the midrange. I have seen that problem over and over in half-and-half embouchures that shouldn't be. It's right for some players but not others. One lip or the other should predominate in the mouthpiece for the entire range, or there will be transitions like that. It's usually a weak lower lip that flips out in the low range and has to come back in to go higher. Good attacks or slurs are impossible right in the midrange where the lips can't decide which one will predominate.