1. Consider your posture first. Investigate the Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais.
2. Listen to and imitate great tone quality. "Imagine
the most beautiful tone quality."
3. Use lots of air! It's free! Fill lungs! Of course,
your ribs and abdomen will move.
4. Feel the resonance of your tone through the floor into
the soles of your feet.
5. Inhale thinking "OH"; exhale thinking "HO".
Keep opening between lips round.
6. Always keep the air column moving. Think of wind.
7. Think of the analogy of water moving through a hose.
8. Use "thick", wide air for low notes; use fast,
"cool" air for high notes.
9. Think of using a "rope of air" for low notes;
use a "thread of air" for high notes.
10. Have moisture in your breath; pretend you are fogging
inside of mouthpiece.
11. Keep your mouth "tall"; think of having a
hot potato in your mouth.
12. Keep your mouth in an oval shape; think of having a
hard-boiled egg in your mouth.
13. Think of a free, unimpeded throat. Do not create resistance
in your throat.
14. The tongue should be at rest in the low part of your
mouth.
15. Shape your tongue like a ski jump-a little elevation
in back to low in front.
16. Consider the look of the "brass player's face".
Read Farkas: The Art of Brass Playing.
17. Keep the inside of your cheeks touching your molars;
funnel the air to the lips
18. Keep corners of lip firm; "think!" inward
direction of corners when ascending.
19. Never allow the chin to bunch up. Keep the chin flat,
down, and in a point.
20. Think of having thick muscle fibers in your lips; lips
are a cushion for mouthpiece.
21. Be able to sing the notes. Are you able to hear the
exact center of every pitch?
22. Be able to lip buzz (free buzz) at least enough to
demonstrate how the lips work.
23. Be able to mouthpiece buzz almost everything you are
expected to play.
24. Your lips should be aligned properly; be able to start
notes with a "pa" attack.
25. Be able to start notes just as easily with a breath
attack ("ha" attack) or tongued.
26. Consider the "buzz point" on your lips for
every note in your range. It changes!
27. Perform lip ripples (glissandos) from low to high and
high to low.
28. Distribute the pressure of the mouthpiece equally on
both lips for all registers.
29. Use the "pivot system" to direct the air
stream through lips naturally for all registers.
30. Allow tongue elevation changes to take place naturally
for register changes.
31. Do not raise the tip of your tongue for high register-only
the back of the tongue.
32. Adjust your mouthpiece pressure for dynamics; use less
pressure for soft notes.
33. Shape your notes; allow a gentle taper or "round
off" to add elegance to your sound.
34. Use vibrato to enhance tone quality; think of a fine
singer or string player.
35. Remember "Never louder than lovely."