Brass Playing

I've been reading The Art of Brass Playing, by Philip Farkas. He goes into great length in describing proper formation of the embouchure for brass players, including the structure of the muscles around the mouth, placement of the teeth and jaw, and placement of the mouthpiece on the lips. He talks about the use of the air stream, and the use and avoidance of pressure in playing, and on and on. I wish I had read this, or at least been coached on this stuff 50 years ago when the trombone and I were new friends. It didn't happen, and I grew into playing with little coaching on the fundamentals. I formed a few bad habits, many of which are still with me. I work around them and, on occasion, try to make corrections, but carefully, so that I don't totally disrupt my playing.

Farkas is an interesting person. He met his wife to be in sixth grade, when they were both young students of music. He never dated anyone else. When he went out to seek work as a professional musician, he auditioned with the Chicago Symphony, at the time the premier American symphony orchestra for brasses. To his surprise, and probably that of everyone else, he was offered the job of principal horn. He held that seat for 53 years, until he retired. That is an amazing career.