by Marty Schlenker
Dear Fellow Amateurs,
Several columns ago, I mentioned that John Ericson’s writing on horn embouchure had improved my understanding of the utility of keeping the corners of one’s lips tight, so that the correct balance could be achieved between “pucker” and “smile.” I renewed my focus on where I was setting my corners, generally narrowing them.
Then, I saw this mind-bending short video of Marc Papeghin playing his horn transcription of the finale of Sibelius’ fabulous Violin Concerto, posted to the “Horn People” Facebook group on August 30. As if the virtuosity wasn't enough, his entire face barely seems to move. His corners don’t show signs of deliberate positioning—they barely seem to be working at all. How I would love to know what’s going on inside the mouthpiece to enable the rest of Marc to appear so relaxed!
Question answered…? Matthew Haislip posted a short but fascinating video to the “Horn People” Facebook group on September 12 showing an embouchure view from inside the mouthpiece. In an earlier column, I stated a hunch that I needed to make my aperture smaller so that air would pass through it faster and I would gain range, flexibility, resonance, etc. This video appears to reinforce that idea, as the player’s aperture appears quite narrow, but Dr. Haislip’s comments about how to achieve this seem counterintuitive to me. To work excessively to manipulate the lip surface inside the mouthpiece, he says, is to fight the horn’s general tendencies.
If I had more practice time, maybe I’d have a more settled perspective. Please contact me with your thoughts on and experiences with this at marty.schlenker@cavaliers.org.
Your servant and kindred spirit,
Marty Schlenker, Amateur Hornist
