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Never Say Never - Again

Frydis Ree Wekre on myths and negative rules

When I started to play the horn as a teenager I got the firm impression that only people with thin lips
would have the potential to become really good horn players. This myth stayed in the back of my mind
for many years and certainly delayed my progress in several areas. My own, somewhat thick lips
became the excuse and explanation for various problems. My own creative problem-solving and flow
of new ideas on how to improve technically slowed down considerably because of believing in this
myth.
Later I have run across other myths that for some people had been damaging to their progress and self
confidence, but often later proven to be wrong.
Many of these myths turn into negative advice and rules on how not to do it. This kind of advice is
handed out freely as pompous statements in the form of never do this/never do that, understood: To
do this or that is against every law, written or unwritten, and if you do this or that anyway, your
playing/your chances/your whatever will be severely damaged.

Below follows a collection of such nevers; statements that can have a negative effect on the minds of sensitive people. Some of the
rules are self-experienced, and others have been told me by students and colleagues. Each one will be presented separately with my
comments.

Never puff your cheeks. My first horn teacher told me this, and I followed his advice obediently. However, one evening, as I was
watching the orchestra where he played, I noticed something strange in the horn section; surprisingly for me, my own teacher puffed
his cheeks occasionally! When asked about this during my next lesson, he thought about it for a while, then smiled and held firm to
his earlier advice, but of course, the grain of doubt had been put into my mind. Later I have found that puffing the cheeks occasionally
when playing in certain ranges or dynamics might help to give stiff corner muscles a quick, temporary relaxation. It might also help
producing a different tone colour, if one is unable to create that on the normal, non-puffed setting. So, my answer to this rule would be:
Yes, for the most part, although no rule without exceptions!

Never move your embouchure. To move or not to move this rule is quite common, and in my opinion somewhat dangerous.
Watching good players on different brass instruments, from trumpet to tuba, one can see gradually more and more movements in the
face muscles as the range gets lower. The horn has an extremely wide range, covering four octaves, and many great players do what
they have to do with the embouchure to make the tones come out sounding the way they want. And, what they have to do sometimes
will include visible movements in the cheeks, lips and jaw. If people believe in this rule too much, again the flow of creativity will be
stopped, and one may easily get stuck, doing everything right visibly and still not get the desired sounding results.

Never drop your jaw. Fortunately, nobody ever told me this in my early days, but I have had numerous students who had to learn to
break this rule if their low range was ever going to exist. The question is, of course, when and how much to drop or move the jaw.
Never speak about embouchure. I do have some sympathy for this one. If it aint broke, dont fix it, as they say. Some people get over-
analytical and forget the more important factors, like focusing on the actual musical plan and the flow of air. However, the work of the
facial muscles is also important, and sometimes it might be necessary to discuss and maybe also to adjust various parts of this work.

Never moisten your lips/Never play on dry lips.I have heard and read both of these statements. What is one supposed to believe? I
think either way can work, judging from what I have seen and heard in different players.

Never buzz on your lips without your mouthpiece.Several horn players seem to have had negative experiences doing this, and then
they turn around and tell everybody else not to do it. However, I wish to speak for those of us who have found it very useful to buzz on
the lips alone. When done in reasonable amounts, and when considered nothing more than aerobics for the face, my experience is
that buzzing on the lips can be constructive for strength and control.

Never raise your shoulders when you breathe. This is indeed a super negative statement, especially for players with a small vital
lung capacity from nature. When normal people (not brass players) sigh, one can see that their shoulders will be raised by the extra
deep inhalation, in a very natural way. Of course I do understand the initial reason for this recommendation of keeping the shoulders
low. It is of course best to avoid unwanted tension (such as raising the shoulders with no air involved) during playing. But if one wants
to utilise the full lung capacity, at times it is necessary to explore the feeling of a very deep sigh, and therefore to permit the shoulders
to be moved upwards by the air that thus will fill the lungs in all directions, also upwards.

Never breathe through your nose. Isnt this one interesting! Nature has equipped us with two ways to inhale, and although we get
more quantity when inhaling through the mouth, the way of the nose can be just the right solution in certain situations. Sniffing, as
done by tuba players and flute players at times, is well worth exploring. Also there are times when a deep and calm inhalation through
the nose will have a wonderfully soothing effect on our body, and thus on the performing.

Never play without support/Never use or mention support.Excessive use of body tension while playing can be very negative, for
sound quality, for endurance, and for the players well-being. The wind-and-song concept will be sufficient for most people, most of
the time. However, the larger muscles in the body can help the smaller ones. For me, selective use of the lower abdominal muscles has
turned out to be a life saver in extreme situations (for high and soft solos and entrances, for example).

Never put your tongue between your lips.This again restricts creativity in finding the best and cleanest possible attacks for
whatever occasion in the music. Personally, I sometimes break this rule in the middle and lower range, for the sake of the utmost
clarity.

Never start a tone without the tongue. One of my teachers said this to me, and being obedient to this rule eventually led to unwanted
tension and fear of soft attacks. Only when I started to experiment with air-attacks was I able to break down my hang-up.

Never stop a tone with the tongue.For the most part, this is good and tasteful advice, but I have experienced situations in the
orchestra when a conductor wants a special effect, an abrupt kind of stop to a brass chord, for example. Then tongue-stopping can be
correct.

Never play on the B-side below written g. I cannot count all the students I have had over the years who had been raised by this rule,
and who had to suffer through a period when they needed to discover and learn all the other options for fingerings on a double horn.
No violinist would ever dream of not teaching the students all the fingering options on all four strings. Only with this knowledge (i.e.
really knowing all options of both sides of the double horn) can one be truly free to choose the best fingerings for whatever musical
context.

Never play on a Conn/Alexander/Holton/Paxman/Yamaha etc. This is an interesting and very often geographical rule, mostly
originating from one dominant teacher/player, who transfers his or her phobias to students and to other players who hope to get some
gigs in this neighbourhood. When this one person then maybe changes equipment, everybody else gets liberated from the old rule, but
sometimes will have to obey to a new one. My own feelings about these kinds of statements are very negative indeed. Often the people
who have such strong opinions do not have the courage to participate in - or even want to know the results of - blind tests, not to
mention accepting that different players may sound their best on individually different instruments.

Never play on a cupped mouthpiece/Never play on a straight mouthpiece.There are many variations on these statements, some of
which also have to do with sizes etc. The way I see it, people have different teeth, lips and overall facial setup. In addition, there is
different taste and priorities out there regarding sound, range, clarity etc. Some sound great on cupped mouthpieces, others do just
fine on straight mouthpieces. Also, on the issue of changing: Unfortunately it is all too easy to mess up peoples minds through a
change of equipment such as the mouthpiece. There are players (and teachers) who tend to blame all playing problems on the
equipment. Thus there will be an urge for changing, again and again. Caution is my advice, even if a change seems absolutely
necessary.

Never tap your toe while playing/Never play without tapping your toe (foot). These are two confusing and directly conflicting rules.
For participating in classical music I do think it is an advantage to be able to play without any visual signs of how one feels the beats.
For other genres the situation and culture is different.

Never watch the conductor. Yes, we are many experienced orchestra players who will be sympathetic to this one. However, one could
have the conductor somewhere in the very corner of ones eyes, just in case something unexpected would be happening.

Never leave before you get paid. I wish I could manage to live by this one. But real life is not always what one would wish.

CODA

There are no rules without exceptions - also not this one!Therefore, be cautious the next time you have the urge to utter: Never do
whatever. Your statement may be a true reflection of your own, current opinion on the matter, but nevertheless, other individuals may
have found other, equally good solutions. If you say: In my own, humble, subjective, personal opinion and experience, this is how it
works for me, then you open up for others and especially students - to find their own ways. Maybe in the end they will agree with
you, after all, at least on some issues. One can only hope!
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