dude same ive been playing for four years and ive been playing it wrong

I think you sound great , bud

In books 🤪

Your local symphony trombone section could have been a good resource for private lessons, or any other professional level trombonist.

Same here

Terrific! Glad you have found it helpful!

@@markeybone Thank you for replying and for your work! I can hear the improvement already!

That’s a good question; the bottom line is that it can look a bit different with each person depending on how the facial muscles work. The premise is to keep the skin around the lips directly up against the gums/teeth so no air gets in between (it’s that air that can cause difficulties/inconsistency). The goal is to use as much energy as you need, and as little as you can, to make that happen. For me, that winds up being much less of a “smile” and much more of a tucking back/puckering of the corners. It’s a bit hard to describe with text, but I hope that it’s helpful

@@markeybone Thanks James. I can get an idea from your answer. Happy new year!

Good question - the answer is that it changes as we play. Often, when we’re playing in the upper register we are air pointed down, and in the lower register air pointed up. Some people like to talk about pointing the air up or down, others (as I do) discussing lip position changes, but it amounts to the same basic thing. The important thing is fluidity within the interior of one’s embouchure.

​@@markeybone I wonder if you have ever looked into the existence of players that are bottom lip dominant and anchor their top lip instead. They direction of the air is opposite (aim the air up for the high register). I know that you have spoken about anchoring your top lip in the past and it gave you issues (probably because you are a top lip dominant player and that would restrict the lip you need). I bring this up because I am a bottom lip dominant player and I use a 60/40 set with more bottom lip present in the mouthpiece.

@@markeybone kzfaq.info/get/bejne/edWoocubsbO6cqM.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i66hatl0zs7FiJs.html

@@jeremyo2744 that’s a good question; I realize there are players out there such as yourself who are indeed bottom lip dominant. The truth is that I wouldn’t necessarily suggest a change in such a case-but it also wouldn’t be out of the question, especially if there are underlying issues. This video is intended for beginners, or teachers of beginners. At that age, I believe that these principles still apply, particular with forming an embouchure from the beginning. I know there are those who might say that setting up this way in every case is a bit like putting a square peg into a round hole. However, I think that when we allow ourselves to understand that there IS flexibility with embouchures, we also allow ourselves to say that certain principles can indeed apply in nearly all cases, in that a person doesn’t need to have exceptions that apply only to them. It’s hard to put into words with limited space!

Not exactly a “smile” - it’s more both bringing the corners firm against the teeth, and also keeping the chin firm against the jaw. When they’re both engaged, it avoids the true “smile” embouchure, which can happen without chin engagement and really brings the corners up, typically towards the ears. Everyone will look a little different, and there are many people who may look less like the bit of “smile” than it appears I have.

For the first couple of days play longer duration tongued notes, medium volume, middle range to start. Practice until your lips start to feel tired, then stop. Add more practice time each day and gradually move on to tongued quarter notes and lip slurring across partials, eventually playing a bit higher and lower each day. Also, buzzing the mouthpiece each day will help get you back "up to speed," in a couple of weeks.

thank you all:)