Acclimation Tips

If you use Monette mouthpieces with the same physical approach and sound concept that you are used to with your old mouthpiece, you will be working too hard to obtain optimum results. The following tips are based on our experience with thousands of players. They will help you make the transition quickly and easily to a more efficient, resonant approach to playing.

Don’t play high on the pitch.

After years of working with many great artists, part-time performers, and amateur players from all over the world, it is not an exaggeration to say that probably 99 out of every 100 players we meet play high on the pitch. This is not the fault of the players, but rather a result of what we have all had to learn physically in our body use to compensate for the inconsistencies inherent in conventional equipment. Playing with this extra tension in the body negates most of the advantages our mouthpieces offer.

Virtually every player we meet plays to some degree with his or her head in front of their spine rather than over their spine. Most also play with their heads tilted up, compressing the back of the necks. Both of these practices block the throat, and cause the player to play high on the pitch. Here are some tips for overcoming these habitual patterns of body use:

Tips:

• Practice keeping the head over the spine while bringing the instrument and mouthpiece up to your lips to play. Use a mirror or have a friend video you in profile as you start to play. When you bring the equipment to you, you control it! When you bring your head forward to meet it, it controls you (and you block your throat in the process!).
  
  
• Try lowering the bell of the horn a few inches as you play, while maintaining the same embouchure and angle between the instrument and face. This will extend the back of the neck and help open the throat. Notice the difference in pitch and how much one needs to adjust the position of the tuning slide when playing with the neck extended and the throat open in this way. Notice that the upper register will improve immediately.
  
  
• Keep the elbows out away from the ribs to help keep the chest open, and keep the shoulders down and broad while playing, resisting the memory of raising them when playing onto the upper register. Many players raise the shoulders automatically as they bring the instrument up to play.
  
  
• Keeping the feet parallel when playing will help keep the hips open and help one to use the entire body while playing. This will help keep one “on center” and will improve every aspect of performance.

For more information and tips, please see the section on Pitch Center, Body Use, and Resonance.

Proceed to tip Think lower = higher >>