Embouchure Flexibility Within Your Solo

It’s all well and good to practice flexibility when you work on exercises specifically designed for that purpose. But, do you work on it in the middle of your solo?

Often times in when we are in the middle of a solo, right in the thick of it, the idea of moving your embouchure and changing it as you play, goes out the window. The pressure of that solo just takes over!

Then, the way that you practiced and what you thought you were going to be doing to get out your notes as you play, just vanishes. And the notes just come out how they come out.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. I think that if you really practice this idea of having a flexible embouchure, one that can move and change as you play, then in the middle of a concert or a recital or an audition, your embouchure will respond to this training. Then you’ll hit the notes with the sound you want.

I had this same problem in my early performing days. I even remember asking, why is it that I play a solo in a recital or something and I lose my low register? It took a long time to figure out that it was all because my embouchure stayed high. It did not change to reflect the different, octaves that I was playing in.

Do you recognize this problem in your own performing?

To work on this, as I practice my solo, I listen to my sound and find spots or sections where the I need a lot of flexibility. Then I take it out of rhythmic context and work on it as if it is a flexibility exercise. I use my embouchure to move through the passage making sure that I don’t tighten up. When that begins to feel pretty good I might put it back into context but perhaps slow. I will work on this process until I get it up to tempo.

Pay special attention to how the embouchure moves. Most solos have a wide range of octaves which gives the solo interest. If the embouchure is stressed from playing high notes then the performer is going to have a difficult time playing in the low register. The low register will be quite weak. The reverse is true as well. If the embouchure is used to playing low notes and doesn’t adjust to the upper register then it is ripe for squeaks.

Also an embouchure that doesn’t adjust causes the performer to have many intonation problems. A well placed embouchure gives a fantastic tone, and a fantastic tone is more often in tune.

The real proof of whether or not I my embouchure remains flexible is if I can start at the beginning of the piece and get the tone I want from my flexible embouchure when I arrive at that particular spot. If I don’t quite have the tone I’m looking for, then I will go back to my process and repeat.

I need to practice this until my flexible embouchure automatically moves at those spots. It should be such that I don’t have to work at it, but that it just happens. That is the goal anyway!

Work on this in your solos. During a performance you will be glad you did!

Have fun!

DoctorFlute

Watch me demonstrate this FluteTips 91 Embouchure Flexibility Within Your Solo