[TPIN] Off Center Aperture Questions

[William Graham]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Arndt" <darndt at oriongate.net>
To: "'Mike Boyd'" <mb at psaparts.co.uk>; "'TPIN'" <tpin at tpin.okcu.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 9:49 AM
Subject: RE: [TPIN] Off Center Aperture Questions


>
> Note that most players play a *little* off center.  And... One question is
> "centered with what?"
>
> Your lips?  Your teeth?  Your jaw?  Most people (and their parts) are not
> perfectly symetrical!  When I line up perfectly in the center of my lips, 
> I
> notice that I'm a wee bit out of line with my two front teeth, etc.
>
> There are and have been great players that play WAY off center.  Nick
> Marchione - a monster lead player/1st trumpet, plays way off center.  He
> also appears to play to with great ease.  Roger Voisin, infamous principal
> with the BSO for years, played way off center, and VERY downstream also.
>
> While I do believe it is theoretically better to play centered, it's clear
> that this isn't a show-stopper given the company you're in.  Changing ones
> embouchure is dicey business (I did it years ago with some success, but I
> admit that the wisdom of doing so is questionable).  It's hard if you're a
> young player - and VERY hard if you've already developed some real
> expertise.  Work with what you've got, unless you're very young.

In my opinion, it's good practice to teach yourself to play on different 
parts of your lip. I practice playing to the left and right of "center" 
regularly.....It gives you the versatility to be able to play if you get an 
injury, or a canker sore on your lips, plus it can extend your 
endurance....When I am so worn out that I can't seem to play another note, I 
can get a, "second wind" by playing off center to one side or another, and, 
since I have practiced it, it is no problem.