Embouchure

Table of Contents

What is an "Embouchure"?

The word “embouchure” is typically used to refer simply to the position of the mouthpiece on the lips, the position of the jaw. and the posture of the muscles surrounding the mouth.

There are minor differences of opinion on this topic. Some say, “do whatever works”, and it is true that our teeth, facial bone structure and musculature do differ, which will impact aspects of our embouchure. But I believe that there is a way of placing and using your embouchure that optimizes your potential for sound production, flexibility, range and endurance. 

A proper embouchure creates a vibrating membrane — like the head of an drum — that is held in dynamic tension between the orbicularis oris muscles that wrap around the mouth and that when contracted hold the lips closed, and the many muscles that are positioned above and below the lips that when contracted pull the lips open. Like a string of a given length (i.e. the size of the aperture formed by the lips), the higher the tension, the faster the vibration and the higher the note. These — along with our fingers, tongue, and breathing — are the muscles we are training when we practice.

Forming the Embouchure

Step 1: Align your Teeth

Begin by pushing your lower jaw forward until the tips of your upper and lower teeth are lined up and touching. Your teeth are the platform of your embouchure, and should always remain flat and aligned.

Step 2: Hide the Red

Next, say “mm”, with your lips rolled in. You should not see the red of your lips (“bury the red”) with a slight smile (as if making dimples). Do NOT stretch the lips in a wide smile – merely firm the corners, and not too tight, or you will fatigue prematurely. These firm muscles you feel at the corners of your mouth will be the anchor of your embouchure, and will get stronger as you develop as a player. 

Note that some people have very thin lips — the act of saying “mmm” effectively buries the red. Others with thick lips may have to roll their lips in to get this right. But they might consider themselves lucky — they will have a great cushion for the mouthpiece!

Step 3: Place the Mouthpiece

Next, place the mouthpiece lightly on the lips, roughly centered. Pull the upper lip up and the lower lip down slightly (without opening your teeth) such that the inside of the rim is just outside the red of the lips, but the lips, when relaxed, as still closed when the teeth are touching. The inside rim of the mouthpiece must remain outside the red of your lips on both top and bottom. This is very important! The exact horizontal position and angle of the mouthpiece may have to be adjusted, based on your tooth structure, but keep the inside of the rim out of the red. You can check this in a mirror, particularly after you’ve been playing awhile… where is the ring?

Mouthpiece vertical position can vary somewhat between players, depending on the size of the lips, but observation of the best players indicates:

  • Trumpet and cornet: ⅓ to ½ upper lip. More upper lip may darken the sound but will negatively impact high range and endurance.
  • Horn: ⅔ upper lip. This is almost universal positioning among professional players.
  • Trombone: ⅓ to ⅔ upper lip. Placement for trombone is more personal. May have to do with playing style (jazz vs. classical, high vs. low register, etc.)
  • Tuba: Generally, as much upper lip as possible, typically limited by the distance under the nose!

Step 4: Create an Aperture

Now, drop your jaw a bit, separating your teeth while keeping them aligned, until there is a slight opening between your lips — 1/16-1/18 inch is about right. Do not stretch the lips sideways. You want your lips in front of your teeth, not between them, and not protruding into the mouthpiece. The shape of the aperture should be similar to the shape of the aperture in an oboe reed. The size of the aperture will change based on the pitch (smaller is higher) and volume (smaller is softer) of the note. The shape, however, must remain the same. Too flat, and the sound will be brittle, pinched, and sharp. Too wide, and it will be dull and flat.

Note that if you crescendo as you go higher and/or decrescendo as you go lower, you can keep the aperture the same size. Louder and lower will require a larger aperture, but loud and high still requires a substantial opening —  one of the biggest mistakes players make is to clamp down on high notes, pinching off the air.

If you are playing a crescendo on one note, you will need to open the aperture slightly to keep the note from sounding pinched or going sharp. Conversely, a diminuendo or decrescendo will require you to narrow the aperture. 

Step 5: Wet the Lips

Stick the tip of your tongue through the aperture to moisten the lips in preparation for playing. Dry lips can get stuck in the wrong position, are more prone to sores, are more vulnerable to chapping, and can act as a crutch for high notes that prevents you from properly developing the muscles of your embouchure.

Your First Lip Buzz

With your jaw forward and teeth aligned, and airflow directed as if blowing out a candle, continue to blow, gradually tighten the lips together until a buzzing noise begins. Practice this buzzing until it becomes comfortable and you are able to vary the pitch of the buzz. For higher pitches, tighten the lips against your teeth (maintain the aperture! don’t clamp down!) and move your tongue up and forward for higher notes. You can also slightly close your teeth (not all the way!) as you go up, but this should be a very subtle motion. Relax the lips, open the jaw, and move your tongue back and down for lower notes.

NOTE: When lip buzzing, the center of your lips should not actually vibrate against each other. When playing, they are vibrating in-and-out (forward and backward) around the aperture, inside the mouthpiece, creating a pulsating air stream inside the instrument. 

Nevertheless, correct lip and mouthpiece buzzing does force you to use your muscles in the correct way, and strengthens and warms up your embouchure. 

Your First Mouthpiece Buzz

As you continue to buzz, touch the mouthpiece to your lips in a central position (both vertically and horizontally), pointing more-or-less straight out from your face (or slightly up) until an amplified buzz is produced through the mouthpiece. You will notice that, by shortening/narrowing the buzzing surface, the pitch of the buzz will go up, just as touching a guitar string shortens the string and raises the pitch.

Alternate between a lip buzz and a mouthpiece buzz, touching and removing the mouthpiece, until you are reasonably sure that the embouchure does not change significantly. Be sure that the ring formed by the inside of the mouthpiece rim is outside the red of both upper and lower lips.

You should now have something close to the ideal trumpet embouchure. Slight adjustments will inevitably occur over time, as your embouchure adapts to your own individual dental and muscular configuration.

In general, a tighter, more rolled-in embouchure will facilitate the high range and brighten the sound, while a more relaxed embouchure will soften the tone and aid in producing the lower register.

These exercises will be difficult, at first. Don’t be discouraged. Take it a little at a time. It may take a few days to get used to them, but within a week or two, you should be quite good at them.

Common Embouchure Mistakes

  • Do NOT puff out your cheeks.
  • Do NOT stretch your lips by pulling the corners of your mouth into a wide smile. This thins your lips and makes them more prone to being crushed by the pressure of the mouthpiece. Just tighten the corners a bit, and use the muscles around, above and below the lips to vary the tension of the vibrating lips.
  • Do NOT let your lower jaw move back. This will constrict your throat and cause you to point the instrument downward. It will also make an uneven platform for the lips and mouthpiece, and cause the mouthpiece rim to bite into your lip. Keep the lower jaw forward and your teeth aligned. You can check this periodically by touching your teeth together (when not playing) with the mouthpiece in position.

More Information on Embouchure

There are two excellent sources of information on embouchure:

  1. “The Art of Brass Playing” by Philip Farkas (former principle horn player in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a legendary teacher), in which no less than 44 pages are devoted to the embouchure.
  2. YouTube videos by Charlie Porter, who will also send you, on request, a PDF explaining the procedure. The stepwise procedure listed above is derived from his embouchure method.

A Bit about Mouthpieces

This is a big and very important topic that is addressed in the much more detailed page (see Mouthpieces). Suffice to say for now that different mouthpieces suit different players due to a variety of factors, including lip thickness and tooth structure, size and shape of oral cavity, strength of embouchure, the type of music being performed, and the performer’s preferred sound concept. Two different players can get very different results from the same mouthpiece, but the same player will typically get different results from different mouthpieces.  This is often desirable when switching from e.g. playing classical to jazz, or from Bb trumpet to Piccolo trumpet.

A change in your primary mouthpiece may occasionally be helpful as you get stronger and/or the type of music you are playing changes. Changes should be small and gradual, however, and the guidance of a qualified teacher is invaluable. In general, a larger mouthpiece is more appropriate for players with larger lips and teeth, and/or stronger embouchures. A larger mouthpiece will tend to facilitate a larger sound and greater lip flexibility, but will make the high range more difficult and decrease endurance.