HEY!!!

I am a beginner and was wondering how much mouthpiece pressure to use. Should it be pushed firmly on the lips or just barely touching??? Thanks In Advance!!!!

whatever is comfortable with you. Its up to you. I do not suggest slamming your face with pressure though. i prefer to use a good even amount of pressure without it ever hurting or notice that im using it. then again thats how I do it and you should find out what works for you.

As a novice I originally found that more pressure = less chance of air escaping while your playing. Have to agree with Mas though, cos if you push the piece too hard, it will eventually hurt. After a very good practice session, i found that there would be a small red ring just above my upper lip which tingled a bit, but didnt feel sore. Hope this helps. Happy playing.

Never ever ever ever ever use lots of pressure. Use just enough to keep a steady, smooth tone. If air escapes out the sides of your mouth, try adjusting your embochoure first, unless you are already using barely any pressure.

It`s hard to say exactly how much pressure is the right amount for two reasons. One, there isn`t really a measurable unit of pressure we can just say.... e.i. use about 3.5 of it... If there is, I`m not an engineer and I don`t knoww aht it is, nor will most, if any, musicians. Don`t know how you would measure tourque at your mouth either....

Also, every musician uses a different amount. I`ve seen several older pro trumpet and trombone players that use the "grip it and rip it" method of grabbing the horn and atempting to shove it down their throat. Of course, they say "don`t do what I do, it`s Wrong", but again, it works for them. That`s why tehy call the pinky crook on a trumpet and the first brace on the trombone silde "octave keys". And on the other end, a lot of us have heard stories of the guy(s) who could walk up to a trumpet hanging from a ceiling from string and, with no hands, blast out double G`s. (The story I heard came out of drum corp, from Santa Clara Vangaurd in the early 90`s.) Doesn`t seem possible, but a lot of people swear they have seen it.

My point? Um..... oh yeah... Find your own comfortable pressure. You should be aiming to use LESS before MORE, but you have to find it yourself. The best way, ask someone much more experienced if you are doing it right. That way, you don`t get into those nasty habits that us teachers always make fun of at the bar.

about that hanging horn thing. people do practice that way. They will hang the horn from the ceiling then proceed to do slurs and what have you and it teaches them to use the air properly and eventually there is no tension so you can play high with great quality of sound and accuracy. Weird stuff.

thats interesting... I have never heard of someone suspendign their instrument and practicing slurs and long tones... Might have to try it sometime.

applying lots of pressure with no embrochure works. having a solid embrochure and little pressure works too. whatever makes you comfie.

One way to find the good pressure for you, as a player, is long tones. Just experiment, starting from: barely any pressure---->some---->"in your face"

However, from my measly 7 years of playing bone....I noticed that, you should use LESS PRESSURE, for tone quality and range.

For example...I had this one part in Samba Del Gringo (professional version..forgot arranger)I had to go to a high C sharp...I relaxed, and I reached the note no problem. However, at the performance, i got slightly nervous, and used pressure, and couldnt get the note out...

Like the others said, it depends on the player, but I think everyone would agree that, with less pressure, you gain more.

i have the "horn suspender" method. basically it works great for flexabilities. if you use it you will devlop range far faster than your counterparts. as to howmuch preshure less is better but a little is ok. preshure while it can increase lip vibration speed eg raise pitch will hurt your tone quality maby not right away but it does. a good rule is more air less presure. Find what is comfortable then ease up a little.