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When I started to play the horn as a
teenager I got the firm impression that only people with thin lips
would have the potential to become really good horn players. This myth
stayed in the back of my mind for many years and certainly delayed my
progress in several areas. My own, somewhat thick lips became the
excuse and explanation for various problems. My own creative
problem-solving and flow of new ideas on how to improve technically
slowed down considerably because of believing in this myth.
Later I have run across other myths that for some people had been
damaging to their progress and self confidence, but often later proven
to be wrong.
Many
of these myths turn into negative advice and rules on how not to
do it. This kind of advice is handed out freely as pompous statements
in the form of “never do this/never do that”, understood:
“To do this or that is against every law, written or unwritten, and
if you do this or that anyway, your playing/your chances/your
whatever will be severely damaged.”
Below follows a collection of such “nevers”; statements that can have a
negative effect on the minds of sensitive people. Some of the rules are
self-experienced, and others have been told me by students and colleagues. Each one will be presented separately with my comments.
“Never puff your cheeks.”
My first horn teacher told me this, and I followed his advice
obediently. However, one evening, as I was watching the orchestra where
he played, I noticed something strange in the horn section;
surprisingly for me, my own teacher puffed his cheeks occasionally!
When asked about this during my next lesson, he thought about it for a
while, then smiled and held firm to his earlier advice, but of course,
the grain of doubt had been put into my mind. Later I have found that
puffing the cheeks occasionally when playing in certain ranges or
dynamics might help to give stiff corner muscles a quick, temporary
relaxation. It might also help producing a different tone colour, if
one is unable to create that on the normal, non-puffed setting. So, my
answer to this rule would be: Yes, for the most part, although no rule
without exceptions!
“Never move your embouchure.”
To move or not to move – this rule is quite common, and in my opinion
somewhat dangerous. Watching good players on different brass
instruments, from trumpet to tuba, one can see gradually more and more
movements in the face muscles as the range gets lower. The horn has an
extremely wide range, covering four octaves, and many great players do
what they have to do with the embouchure to make the tones come out
sounding the way they want. And, “what they have to do” sometimes will
include visible movements in the cheeks, lips and jaw. If people
believe in this negative rule too much, again the flow of creativity
will be stopped, and one may easily get stuck, doing everything “right”
visibly and still not get the desired sounding results.
“Never drop your jaw.”
Fortunately, nobody ever told me this in my early days, but I have had
numerous students who had to learn to break this rule if their low
range was ever going to exist. The question is, of course, when and how
much to drop or move the jaw.
“Never speak about embouchure.”
I do have some sympathy for this
one. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as they say. Some
people get over-analytical and forget the more important factors, like
focusing on the actual musical plan and the flow of air. However, the
work of the facial muscles is also important, and sometimes it might be
necessary to discuss and maybe also to adjust various parts of this
work.
“Never
moisten your lips/Never play on dry lips.”
I have heard and read both of these
statements. What is one supposed to believe? I think either way can
work, judging from what I have seen and heard in different players.
“Never buzz on your lips without your mouthpiece.”
Several horn players seem to have had negative experiences doing this,
and then they turn around and tell everybody else not to do it.
However, I wish to speak for those of us who have found it very useful
to buzz on the lips alone. When done in reasonable amounts, and when
considered nothing more than “aerobics” for the face, my experience is
that buzzing on the lips can be constructive for strength and control.
“Never raise your shoulders when you breathe.”
This is indeed a super negative statement, especially for players with
a small vital lung capacity from nature. When “normal” people (not
brass players) sigh, one can see that their shoulders will be raised by
the extra deep inhalation, in a very natural way. Of course I do
understand the initial reason for this recommendation of keeping the
shoulders low. Unwanted tension should be avoided during playing. But
if one wants to utilise the full lung capacity, at times it is
necessary to explore the feeling of a very deep sigh, and to permit the
shoulders to be moved upwards by the air that thus will fill the lungs
in all directions, also upwards.
“Never breathe through your nose.”
Isn’t this one interesting! Nature has
equipped us with two ways to inhale, and although we get more quantity
when inhaling through the mouth, the way of the nose can be just the
right solution in certain situations. “Sniffing”, as done by tuba
players and flute players at times, is well worth exploring. Also there
are times when a deep and calm inhalation through the nose will have a
wonderfully soothing effect on our body, and thus on the performing.
“Never play without support/Never use or mention
support.”
Excessive use of body tension while playing can be
very negative, for sound quality, for endurance, and for the player’s
well-being. The “wind-and-song” concept will be sufficient for most
people, most of the time. However, the larger muscles in the body
can help the smaller ones. For me, selective use of the lower
abdominal muscles has turned out to be a life saver in extreme
situations (for high and soft solos and entrances, for example).
“Never put your tongue between your lips.”
This again restricts creativity in
finding the best and cleanest possible attacks for whatever occasion in
the music. Personally, I sometimes break this “rule” in the middle and
lower range, for the sake of the utmost clarity.
“Never start a tone without the tongue.”
One of my teachers said this to me, and being obedient to this rule
eventually led to unwanted tension and fear of soft attacks. Only when
I started to experiment with air-attacks was I able to break down my
hang-up.
“Never stop a tone with the tongue.”
For the most part, this is good and tasteful advice, but I have
experienced situations in the orchestra when a conductor wants a
special effect, an abrupt kind of stop to a brass chord, for example.
Then tongue-stopping can be “correct”.
“Never play on the B-side below written g’.”
I cannot count all the students I have
had over the years who had been raised by this rule, and who had to
suffer through a period when they needed to discover and learn all the
other options for fingerings on a double horn. No violinist would ever
dream of not teaching the students all the fingering options on
all four strings. Only with this knowledge (i.e. really knowing all
options of both sides of the double horn) can one be truly free
to choose the best fingerings for whatever musical context.
“Never play on a Conn/Alexander/Holton/Paxman/Yamaha
etc.”
This is an interesting and very often geographical
“rule”, mostly originating from one dominant teacher/player, who
transfers his or her phobias to students and to other players who hope
to get some gigs in this neighbourhood. When this one person then
maybe changes equipment, everybody else gets liberated from the old
rule, but sometimes will have to obey a new one. My own feelings about
these kinds of statements are very negative indeed. Often the people
who have such strong opinions do not have the courage to participate in
- or even want to know the results of - blind tests, not to mention
accepting that different players may sound their best on
individually different instruments.
“Never play on a cupped mouthpiece/Never play on a
straight mouthpiece.” There are many
variations on these statements, some of which also have to do with
sizes etc. The way I see it, people have different teeth, lips and
overall facial setup. In addition, there is different taste and
priorities out there regarding sound, range, clarity etc. Some sound
great on cupped mouthpieces, others do just fine on straight
mouthpieces. Also, on the issue of changing: Unfortunately it is all
too easy to mess up people’s minds through a change of equipment such
as the mouthpiece. There are players (and teachers) who tend to blame
all playing problems on the equipment. Thus there will be an urge for
changing, again and again. Caution is my advice, even if a change seems
absolutely necessary.
“Never
tap your toe while playing/Never play without tapping your toe (foot).”
These are two confusing and directly
conflicting rules. For participating in classical music I do think it
is an advantage to be able to play without any visual signs of how one
feels the beats. For other genres the situation and culture is
different.
“Never watch the conductor.”
Yes, we are many experienced orchestra players who will be sympathetic
to this one. However, one could have the conductor somewhere in
the very corner of one’s eyes, just in case something unexpected would
be happening….
“Never leave before you get paid.”
I wish I could manage to live by this one. But real life is not always
what one would wish.
CODA
There are no rules without exceptions - also not
this one!
Therefore, be cautious the next time you have
the urge to utter: Never do – whatever. Your statement may be a
true reflection of your own, current opinion on the matter, but
nevertheless, other individuals may have found other, equally good
solutions. If you say: In my own, humble, subjective,
personal opinion and experience, this is how it works for me, then
you open up for others – and especially students - to find their own
ways. Maybe in the end they will agree with you, after all, at least on
some issues. One can only hope! |
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Never Say Never
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