"BE" is short for Balanced Embouchure, a development system designed by Jeff Smiley, a trumpet teacher in Garland, TX. I've been using BE for over two years & am very pleased w/ my progress. I'm acquainted w/ quite a few amatuer hornists who are also enjoying success using BE, but this is one of the first professional hornist I've become acquainted w/ that's using BE. Below are excerpts from two unsolicited messages he sent me the first week in July. I'm quoting him below w/ his permission. I've added a few comments in [brackets] to clarify some things that may not make sense to those who aren't familiar w/ BE. ~Valerie
------
Hi Valerie,
I've been enjoying your comments about BE for a couple of years but have only been doing it for 5 weeks. Still,I find it to be the best thing I've done yet and plan to keep it up forever. I've been first horn in the Deutsche Oper Berlin for 22 years and 7 years in other orchestras Mannheim,Mainz,Caracas,Utah as sub third).I like to keep a low profile and find that I'm often misunderstood when I contribute to forums,anyway,so I thought I'd just tell you that I've had great success in the past 5 weeks,with few moments of doubt(sometimes my chops go through a "stuffy"phase which,from what I've learned in the forum,is normal)and am going to keep at it until I retire in 9 years,I believe.
[When I asked how Paul became involved w/ BE, this was his reply:]
I have been following various forums in trumpet herald for 2-3 years and have always been interested in BE a little just because of the volumes of comments in comparison to my Reinhardt forum which I have been doing for 2 years.I must say,I have had times when the middle range didn't want to speak and the low range was almost nonexistent.Reinhardt pivot system is dependent on one finding which type one is and if you don't get "typed" by a Reinhardt teacher it's hard to get the complete benefits of the system. So,the middle range was not always a problem but enough to keep me looking for methods to help that. I have no problem with the high range but I wouldn't mind a double C either, just for fun. Not every day feels great and I have to worry about feeling good 3-5 times a week in the evening during performances but it seems that I don't have to really feel good to play well with BE. Oh yeah, i got side tracked: having been curious about BE I jumped at the chance to learn when a trumpet player mentioned that it had helped him and his students so much. He lent me the book and we've met twice, last Monday being the second time. . .
Paul Sharp
----------
[BE is designed to be a self help program to improve whatever embouchure the player has. It's not a prescribed "correct" embouchure for everyone to conform to. For a good Q & A about BE see:
http://users.actrix.co.nz/mcamilleri/BE/BEFAQ.htm ]
[I have no financial interests in The Balanced Embouchure. I'm just a happy BE student who enjoys sharing good news with my fellow horn players.]
Sincerely, Valerie Wells
