Posted by Roger Lewis on September 16, 2003 at 07:05:03:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: High Range for a student posted by Mary Ann on September 15, 2003 at 13:38:22:
Hi Mary Ann.
I agree that there has been a lot of poor teaching that has been handed down from teacher to student through several generations. Take, for example, lip slurs. When I started working on them really hard (sometimes 8-10 hours a day for a month) I was instructed that focusing the air would make this work. For 30 days I sucked at lip slurs. Then on the 31st day I walked into the practice room and they were all there and I was (pardon the ego) incredible! What changed?
My brain finally figured out what I was asking my body to do and IT made the proper corrections to make it work. 20 years later my brain told my body what it did. IT WAS THE LOWER LIP! So for 30 days I beat my head against a wall working on air stream which eventually led to the proper thing, but I never knew that I did it. When I analyzed it heavily later on in life so that I could teach it without perpetuating the, perhaps incorrect, directions of my teachers I found that it has to happen from a change in the tissue that upper lip is given to vibrate against and that the change in the air is a secondary and less important issue.
Roger "This is why my book will be called Myths About Brass Playing and How To Combat Them" Lewis