Matching Students to Instruments; Assembling Instruments;
Holding Positions
Handouts = Facial Characteristics.docx; Altered Mouthpiece.bmp (me only)
Test #1 is through Embouchure and Mouthpiece Placement
- First
– why people choose to play brass
- Thrill of sound production
- Certain personality types lean toward it
- Non-musical reasons (parents played, in the attic, TV personality, shiny)
- Particular brass instrument
- Personality type – instrument and/or music; shapes personality?
- Physical size
- Tuba needs large lung capacity
- Longer arms needed for trombone (slide extenders) and trumpet
- Cost
- Good ear
- Instrument already owned by family
- Arkadelphia schools – all students try most instruments
- Facial
characteristics
- Some lead to successful brass playing, others away from it
- Tooth structure, muscle fiber, lip size
- Good features
- Devoid of bad features
- Four
strong and even front teeth, the more square and flat the better – braces thin
lips for tpt and horn
- Neutral features
- small overbite, ¼” or less – can compensate for it
- small under bite, ¼” or less – usually better range, worse tone
- crooked teeth, but not to an extreme
- dislocated
incisor (front center teeth) forces player to play off center (no problem)
- Bad features
- teeth
- corner of any tooth protruding tends to cut lip, perhaps dentist can help
- Extreme spacing of front teeth
- Overbite, which cannot be compensated, not a good foundation
- Single front tooth sticking out cuts lip
- Overcrowded teeth often cause crooked teeth
- Very crooked teeth, often causes cut and bruised lips, disturb air flow
- Inward slanted teeth
- Extremely protruding jaw requires more practice
- Lips
- Upper lip which is short (see gums when smiling)and must stretch to cover upper teeth usually stretched beyond a position of strength
- Very stiff lips
- Not determined by size
- No easy range
- Slow response, air heard before tone, note start hard
- Very impure sound
- Fleshy part of upper lip which hangs down excessively
- Hidden flap on upper lip
- Solutions
to dental problems
- Braces- which can cause other problems – more on this later
- Bent mouthpieces or cushion rim on mouthpiece

- Sharp edge on tooth because tooth is twisted can cut lip; dentist can take the sharp edge off with a grinding wheel
- Facial structure is more critical on high brass than on low brass – smaller mouthpiece, greater tension, faster lip vibrations
- Thin lips tend to move successful on high brass
- Features
which usually work better on low brass
- Lips
- Heavier thicker lips
- Short upper lip shows when student smiles
- Hidden layer of flesh
- Some response problems in lips
- Teeth – open bite
- Muscle texture some students will require 3 times as much effort to play high brass
- Lips
Rule: Let the student try it before you make a judgment- many students overcome seemingly extreme physical disadvantages if they have the talent and the desire