If you are reading this, it’s likely you’ve read some of BTB’s other blog posts. You must have, right? There’s no effing way Google sent you here otherwise.

Anyways, I recently had sort of a revelation about playing, and in particular my own journey with this demon hell-pipe while skimming through a copy of Roy Stevens’, “Embouchure Self-Analysis.”

Before reading the book, the only thing I knew about the Stevens-Costello approach to embouchure development was that the players who master the techniques can rest the trumpet on the palm of their hand and rip up to loud-as-shit double and even triple C’s!

Roy goes on to explain how setting the embouchure in a particular way with regards to the teeth and lip placement promotes healthy development of the embouchure muscles. This ultimately leading to consistent, day-to-day ease of playing and extraordinary range.

The main issue players face, he says, is a weak masseter muscle in relation to trumpet playing. While the masseter itself is damn strong, it’s natural function is chewing food, not holding the jaw in a position helpful for trumpet playing. As the masseter tires, the jaw recedes. This opens the space between the teeth and makes playing harder on the chops.

I found this exciting not only because it validated my obsession with jaw-related trumpet issues, but also because Stevens’ approach to embouchure is similar to what I discovered “naturally” through a straight ass-load of annoying, repetitive trumpet practice.

The reason I want to share this with you is because the process of beginning to understand the embouchure in this way – and build a strong foundation – for me, took a solid seven years. When I started out, I did not know what I was doing, and basically set off on a path trial-and-error. However, through lots of experimentation I got a pretty OK idea of enough things that make playing easier and more reliable.

Did I mention it took seven years?

Sure, the wannabe optimist in me would like to think that was time well-spent, or at least not time wasted. But the other, more powerful and sinister, realist-pessimist inside me was looking through a mountain of practice journals the other day and found most of the pages filled with exercises I didn’t stick to, didn’t learn from, and most disturbing of all, can’t even *&^%#$@ remember practicing!

While it’s possible you can set your chops the way Stevens suggests and get good results, many of us may be better suited to what he refers to as the “evolutionary approach” to embouchure development. The point of this post, then, is to outline a simple and effective formula for gaining an awareness of how your body best works with the trumpet. I believe that with about three years of solid, dedicated practice anyone can learn what it takes to play and how to develop an embouchure that can take a beating without negative consequence or learning bad habits.

So let’s go! But before we do, keep in mind that the usual disclaimers apply; I’m a non-musical hack, I’m the worst trumpet player ever and you shouldn’t take my advice ‘cuz I’m just some asshole with a laptop.

Playing Mechanics

To give you an example of the kinds of things that have helped me, here’s a short list. Since we are drawing motivation from the “Embouchure Self-Analysis” book, I’ll mention that not all of these bullet-points are related to the Stevens-Costello approach. In fact, the anchor-tongue concept goes directly against the grain of their ideas for embouchure development. By using the anchor tongue and channeling the air toward the aperture, the air bypasses the cheeks robbing them of the opportunity to strengthen by resisting the air pressure inside the mouth. So, to develop a stronger embouchure, Stevens suggests keeping the tongue low in the mouth. It’s all good.

Here are some things that have helped:

1. How to Hold the Trumpet
2. Abdominal Support and Breathing Habits
3. Throat Aperture
4. Anchor-Tongue and Tongue Position
5. Teeth Aperture
6. How to set the Lips in the Mouthpiece
7. Control of the Embouchure “Grip”

Before we go further, imagine you’re reading a book on how to play the trumpet. The instructions say, “Engage your abdomen muscles to make them tight. Great. Now set your teeth  roughly a ¼ of an inch apart. Nice. OK, now set your tongue in this super-particular way and place the lips inside the mouthpiece just so. If you don’t do this part right, you’re in big trouble – so pay attention. Perfect. Now breathe deep and make sure to keep those abs tight! Can you hear the sound you’re about to play? I sure hope so. And be careful that you’re not using too much mouthpiece pressure! That’ll really screw ya up! Ready, set, GO!”

…Good luck with that.

And while it can be a little confusing at times, a simple awareness of each of these building blocks, I think, can make it easier to play. The goal is to learn what makes your chops tick and to learn how to direct your own practice with total confidence.

Increasing Your Trumpet-Related Body Awareness

I learned the value of each item on the list above by playing some boring, repetitive exercise nearly daily, really slow, for at least a few months. And I’ll tell you what, that shit worked – every damn time.

However, many of the discoveries came accidentally while working to improve some other area of my playing. For example, I got a hold of the abdominal support by practicing ballads and discovering inconsistency there in the low register. The throat aperture became something I could lean on a few years back while playing around with some long-tone type exercises using tricky alternate valve combinations and aiming for good pitch. More recently, I went back to slow lip-slur practice, and over the course of a year noticed the slightest bit of jaw recession at top line F. After several months focusing there, I eventually built the strength needed to hold the teeth in alignment. Learning the teeth position that register opened the potential ceiling for future range development.

Suggestions for Getting Started

Even though people think it’s lame, check out how you’re holding the horn. We are taking an inanimate object and using it to complete a kinetic-chain. It’s important! Take a few minutes each day to practice holding your trumpet properly until it is complete habit.

From there, I’ve found that the two most helpful mental images for developing embouchure strength are to keep the teeth close and the lips closer. I find messing with the teeth while playing can feel pretty weird, but you can strengthen the jaw by simply holding your horn at a consistent angle while practicing slowly over the break where you normally start to pivot. To set the chops, roll your lips in just enough to get the rim of the mouthpiece on the skin around the lips, and keep the top and bottom lip touching inside the rim of the mouthpiece. This might feel weird if you’re used to opening the aperture to play. But it’s all good, because doing this is going to help your chops get strong AF. It’s also a good idea to get used to keeping the abdominal muscles engaged while taking open breaths.

From there, it’s really just a matter of practicing some basic technical exercises while keeping these pointers in mind each time you pick up the horn to play. And be kind to yourself. Everybody is different and we all get to our goals in slightly different ways. Starting with the tips above, and making friends with time, you’ll be in good shape.

Set it And Forget It

One more thing, time flies – unless you’re counting the days.

When I first started tracking my practice routines I counted the days in a journal. On day 1, I wrote, that’s right, “Day 1!” Then came days 21, 53, 67, 100, 200 and so on. I couldn’t believe how much ass I was kicking! Except for one thing – it was taking way longer than I thought it would to get better.

At the start, I thought it was going to take about three months to “get it.” Here we are seven years later still plugging along. So the challenge – especially if you feel you’re starting late – is to keep it going long enough to get the results you want. Since trying to do something every day for the next six months is hard, you’re better off just figuring out what you can realistically do in a day – and doing it. It doesn’t have to be every day, but it does need to be consistent.

Improvise Immediately

I know I said that last tip was the last tip, but this needs to be shared as well:

Whatever learning to improvise does to your brain – you’re wise to get on that train now. You can strengthen the connection between your voice and trumpet playing in as little as 5-15 minutes a day. This makes everything easier. Even if you’ve just begun playing the trumpet and only know how to play one note – turn on the radio and play that note! From there, all you have to do is listen.

I Think What I’m Trying to Say Is…

If I got all my teeth smashed and needed to relearn to play, I’d think twice about doing that. HAHAHA! But seriously, this slow and steady approach with attention to the details of playing is the path I’d take. Of course, this article is only a general overview and there are many little things that come up along the way. But all-in-all, I think approaching practice from this perspective will get anyone back into tip-top shape within a few short years.

This may run in direct opposition to our “Best Chops Ever in Six Weeks or Your Money Back!” culture, but taking the time to develop a solid connection to your playing will serve you for the rest of your life.

Thanks for Reading!

Hope you guys and gals enjoyed this one – and FYI, The Ultimate Comeback Kit, BTB’s step-by-step guide for trumpet players looking to get back in shape and on track with the right habits will be open for enrollment from November 7-11. If you miss it this time around you’ll have to wait for next year.

All the best,

James