We have music lessons at our church on two Monday nights a month, starting in the FALL. This just seems like a good time to start to learn an instrument for band, orchestra, etc. Summer vacations seem to get in the way of music lessons. I remember many summers in high school when I could not even practice, since I used a school instrument. Then when school started in the fall, I felt like I was starting all over again. I can still remember the week I started baritone horn lessons in 7th grade. My teacher was the chorus teacher, Philip Bailey, and he offered to let me play this instrument. Since the school already had an instrument, I would not have to buy one. Sounded like a good deal to me! The only problem - I thought I only needed to blow into the mouthpiece and then I could play the horn. Not knowing anything about embouchure (the correct buzzing technique), I played away, not sounding very good. It was not until my first year of college, when I took private lessons from Mr. Michelson, that I learned how to play the horn properly. It took about one semester of work to break my bad habits - one was a chin that moved up and down with every note played. So I learned that beginning right is more important that just beginning!
brass embouchure(from wikepedia.org)
While performing on a brass instrument, the sound is produced by the player buzzing his or her lips into a mouthpiece. Pitches are changed in part through altering the amount of muscular contraction in the lip formation. The performer's use of the air as well as tongue manipulation can affect how the embouchure works.
Diagram of a trumpet mouthpiece (cut-away view):
1.Inner rim diameter
2.Rim width
3.Rim contour
4.Rim Edge
5.Cup
6.Throat
7.Backbore
8.Shank
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