Thoughts on Robert Verrill's Tongue Controlled Embouchure and Buzzing Video

Greetings,

Here are my thoughts regarding Robert Verrill's TCE video and captions (yesterday's post)

Firstly, I included a dental map in case you don't know what your teeth are called. Incisors are front teeth, canines are the pointy ones a few teeth from center,and molars are the big ones farther back--the ones that most often get cavities...

OK. Here is my annotated commentary on Robert's video and captions.

"Get the feel for having the jaw wide apart."

It is important not to clench teeth because this makes the tongue recede and causes a collapse of the functioning embouchure. If you have trouble keeping your tongue forward when you play, this could be why.

"Make tongue very wide and push down (not out) against the inside lower lip and push the lower lip up so that it feels like the lower lip is buckling under the pressure of the tongue."

I often refer to this idea as the tongue being vertical in the front of the mouth, pointing somewhat downward.

"Push the middle part of the tongue hard against the canines all the way back to the molars and push less hard against the incisors so that there is a seal between the teeth of the upper jaw and the wide tongue."

Only the center part of contact line between teeth and surface area of the tongue releases and closes to create articulations--your upper front teeth.

"By huffing, the air escapes from the weakest point which is at the incisors, because you push the tongue less hard there. Remember it is the air that creates the aperture between the tongue and the teeth. The tongue resists the air."

I created the "Hit" or "Hid" Inhale Exercise partly to get this feeling of controlling the air at the incisors.(There is a video of this exercise in the LeGrand Virtual Studio Archives.)

"Now bring the top lip down so that it is touching the tongue. It’s like you’re puckering the lip down rather than out. TCE is a two stage compression technique. The tongue presses against the incisors and also against the inner upper lip."

I think the image of "puckering the upper lip down" is fantastic! The idea of 2 part compression is one I have always advocated--"emm,p" for starting to play/buzz or the concept of "zipping it up." (Just ask if you don't know what this is!)

"You’ve got to continue bringing the top lip down so that it gently touches the lower lip as though you were saying a ‘p’. It’s tempting to close your jaw and let your tongue recede. Don’t! The jaw must remain wide apart and the fat tongue must continue to push down against the inside lower lip, against the incisors and against the upper lip."

Yes! As the tongue pushes forward and down it increases your control at the contact area between teeth and surface of tongue.

"Now spit buzz. Think of trying to spit hairs off your tongue. It’s like simultaneously saying a ‘p’ and a ‘th’. Don’t let the air destroy your embouchure setup. The air creates the aperture. Keep the lips gently touching and the wide tongue forward."

Yes! The air creates the aperture between your tongue and upper teeth. Don't blow so hard that your embouchure collapses.Think of "fuzzies" on your tongue if the thought of hairs on it sickens you. We don't want to have gag responses while working on this!:-)

[Brass specific] "To place the mouthpiece, pucker the top lip down and push the mouthpiece vertically up, so that you fell you’re getting the meat of the upper lip into the mouthpiece."

[Trumpet specific] "Also push the wide tongue downwards against the lower lip so that the lower lip buckles outwards and meets the mouthpiece rim. There is more mouthpiece pressure on the upper lip than the lower lip, but you could easily create enough pressure on the upper lip if you were to hold the trumpet with only your right hand."

"To play high, you need to be able to roll your upper lip in against the tongue. The variation in the lip roll from playing low to high is only very slight. To get the upper lip-tongue connection so that the upper lip roll works, I push my tongue right out of my mouth and as I bring it back into place, the upper lip rolls inward against it. I’ve seen a picture of Maurice Andre sticking his tongue into the mouthpiece in his setup."

As Keith Underwood says, "...like licking an ice cream cone."

"Because the top lip is pushing down against the tongue, as you bring your tongue back into the spit buzz position, the top lip comes down to meet the bottom lip."

I call this a "Tootsie Roll embouchure" because you can simultaneously feel the wide, rolling upper lip muscle with your tongue and your wide, rolling tongue with your upper lip.

"Now spit buzz whilst maintaining this setup."

Remember that your tongue sliding down the inside of your front lip keeps your tongue in contact with your upper teeth.

"To play high, the upper lip comes down more and as it does, rolls very slightly inwards against the tongue. Also the tongue pushes harder against the incisors. It’s a two stage compression. If air escapes from the side of your mouth, it’s because you’re not making the tongue wide enough, or your wide tongue isn’t pushing hard enough against the canines."

Wide and forward tongue , pointing downward slightly, is the big deal...

"To play low, push the upper lip down less and relax the tongue, but still keep the tongue wide and forward. For going lower than C below the stave, roll the lower lip out slightly as well."

Flutists, remember to keep some contact, without pressure, between the skin just below the outer corners of your lower lip and the embouchure plate.

"It took me a long time to get the feel of the two stage compression of TCE, but once I did, within 5 months I could play a strong G above top C and during this period when I made the most progress I was only practising ½ hour a day. For a while after, I had a high note and a low note embouchure."

He means he had separate embouchures for low and high notes at first.

"I learnt how to smoothly connect the embouchures by playing a super G immediately before every exercise. Getting the upper lip feel was also important for being able to move smoothly from low to high."

Buzzing intervals is the best exercise I know for improving smooth intervals. The integrity of the embouchure has to be maintained and one can't achieve a good result if blowing too hard!

"Because the two stage compression in TCE is much more efficient than going from ah-ee with the back of the tongue as in more traditional methods, with TCE there is much less pressure in the lungs and so you can play really high without feeling dizzy. I’m no expert on physiology, but I reckon that if there is too much pressure in the lungs, then the heart finds it difficult to pump oxygenated blood from the lungs into the brain…TCE is not a panacea. You will have to listen. Also you’re going to have to practise hard if you want to develop any finesse. At the moment I don’t have that much time to practise—there’s more to life than playing the trumpet."

...or the flute!

Thanks to Robert for sharing his insights and expertise!

Best,
Catherine