"The Balanced Embouchure" is a unique approach to the
fundamental challenge of playing brass wind instruments. At the
core of the method is a series of dynamic range-of-motion
exercises which affect lip position.
These exercises tend to enhance every player's embouchure
development - often dramatically. After years of teaching
thousands of trumpet lessons in the "real world," ranging from
beginners to students who had struggled for years, I confidently
make this statement on the first page of the book: The Balanced
Embouchure is...
The book is 149 pages in length. Here are some of the topics:
Mechanics - a detailed look at all embouchure elements - lips, tongue, and air.
Philosophy of Teaching - focusing on learning universal principles and letting the unconscious mind do the rest.
Health - the least invasive ways to maintain your health and well-being.
Performance - overcoming fear by looking at the bigger picture.
Hardware - horns and mouthpieces, philosophy and products.
Exercises - Thirty pages of exercises, including the fundamental range of motion exercises [Roll-Out, Roll-In], 17
specifically designed Lip Slurs, Double Tonguing exercises, and other exercises that are difficult to explain in this
short space. Included are photos and text which explain in depth how the exercises are done, step-by-step. Finally,
most of the exercises are performed by my students on an enclosed CD, so that there is no guesswork regarding
how the exercises should sound. When you hear kids playing them easily, it gives you confidence that you can too.
Lesson Plans - samples of how the exercises are organized in a practice routine.
Troubleshooting - the information here is alone worth the price of the book. Topics of discussion include focusing
the double pedal sound, keeping the rolled-in lip position from collapsing, the broken embouchure, protruding top
lips, big lips, braces, throat tension, excess mouthpiece pressure, double buzzing, and so on.
Although I am a trumpet teacher - and the book is optimized for
trumpet - the exercises also apply to French Horn, Baritone,
Trombone, and Tuba. For those instruments, it just takes a little
extra tweaking, primarily because of the differences in mouthpiece
size. So far, French Horn has the most documented "tweaks." For
more details, look at the Testimonials and Resources pages.
...A Dynamic Development System That's Easy To Learn
And Works For Every Trumpet Player...
Look over to the left, and you will find links to several chapters
from the book. This will give you a taste of how it is written.
COMMENTS
"I've been doing BE for five years now, and it has completely changed the way I play, the way I teach
and my whole perception of how to play the trumpet."
Bert Lochs - Trumpet
The Netherlands
"I am SHOCKED that your system has not taken the brass teaching/playing world by storm."
Christian Hansen - French horn
USA
"I think your approach makes a great deal of sense. You've packed an amazing amount of useful
material into a very concise book."
Stan Baptista - Trumpet
USA
"After years of fear and struggle with my playing, I discovered your book and this one has changed my
playing and my life."
Jean Gobinet - Trumpet
France
"I have been using your book with many of my students for about a year now (I also use it!) and I am
having INCREDIBLE SUCCESS with your suggestions, thoughts, and theories with all of my students."
Jeff Lewis - Trumpet
USA
"...I wish this book had been available to me when I first started playing trumpet. You will still need other
method and etude books like Clarke's, Charlier, Laurent, Bugs Bower, Arban and books on scales and
chords, etc., to develop all the musical and technical skills required on the trumpet. But the Balanced
Embouchure will give you what none of those others do: the ability to play the notes that are in those
other books."
Charly Raymond - Trumpet
USA
"At age 57 and after 14 months of doing the RI/RO exercises and incorporating the Zip idea into the
flexies that I do daily, my understanding and experience of playing a brass instrument has been
thoroughly revolutionized and transformed."
Andrew Joy - French Horn
Germany
"Thank you for your time and your book. I can't understand why this method isn't being taught
everywhere... "
Mike Lyons - Trumpet
USA
"If someone asked me to sum up my experience with BE, I'd say something like, "I bought a trumpet
when I was 51 years old, and three years later I'm hitting 4th ledger line G above the staff. Any
questions?"
Paul Harmon - Trumpet
USA