Dear Horn Listers, I am not what you call a "stellar" horn player, but I do make a decent second income from performing with the West Virginia Symphony and freelancing in the area. I have been practicing the BE method this summer and have found positive results already. I definitely have not mastered the exercises yet, but working on them has improved my high register and endurance. One of the things I find most valuable is that it is not a method that tears down and rebuilds a new embouchure, but one that gradually improves ones playing. Being a second horn player, I always dreaded having to play pops concerts where one plays music arranged by people who do not understand the custom of having horns 1 and 3 on high and 2 and 4 on low. The music of John Williams always brought concern to my mind. I have found that these exercises have enabled me to have better endurance and a more relaxed high register. I am not at the point where I am ready to attack the screaming high baroque horn liter ature yet, but I expect that my horn playing will continue to become more effortless.
I would encourage anyone to buy the book and give it a try. If you already have screaming high chops and amazing endurance, don't bother. You probably already have a balanced embouchure. I would think that giving the method to a stellar player who already has an amazing embouchure would be of little value. The cost of the book is small compared to the benefits one can achieve. CORdially, Luke Zyla, second horn West Virginia Symphony Orchestra www.wvsymphony.org On Aug 15, 2011, at 1:47 PM, valerie wells wrote: > Please pardon me, but last week, Chris Wilhjelm, made a valid suggestion > that I haven't yet responded to. Chris suggested that the validity of The > Balanced Embouchure method be assessed as follows: > >>> Perhaps the method could be sent to four or five of the widely > acknowledged professionals who frequently contribute....I would REALLY be > interested in reading their considered opinion on this....Then, perhaps, can > we let it rest.<< > > This standard has largely been met by Andrew Joy, Steve Park and several > others, except for the fact that most of those stellar players who have > examined BE and testified to its value do not "frequently contribute" to > this list. Jeff does a nice job prefacing the testimonials with his opinion > on how to best judge the value of a brass method here: > http://www.trumpetteacher.net/testimonials.html > > (You may also search for Steve Park's BE story and remarks about BE from > other artists on my blog linked below.) > -- > Valerie Wells > The Balanced Embouchure Method > http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/ > _______________________________________________ > post: horn@memphis.edu > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/lzyla%40suddenlink.net _______________________________________________ post: horn@memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
