| I'd have to agree with Dave on this.
However (and I think Dave will agree with me on this too), in the end, it's all about sound. I'm actually a former student of Dave's, and I started taking lessons from him right around the time I got braces put on. It REALLY effected my playing, and man, was I ever freaked out. He eventually settled my scrawny-a** down, and we began to work on me replaying the trumpet.
Throughout those lessons, I learned the fine balance of feel vs. sound. Dave never had me in the front of the mirror, trying to tweak this or tweak that. He just put an Arbans or a Stamp or a Gordon book in front of us and we began to play. He would play each particular passage first, then I would repeat it. This enabled me to hear a great trumpet sound--something I could immediately emulate (or at least try to). I learned that if I was breathing right, and trying to get a good sound, everything on my face kinda did what it needed to. But Dave got me worried about SOUND, which, in my humble opinion is the most important thing about music... A good worry. Over time I unconciously knew what I needed to do to play high(er), execute lip slurs, etc.
SOUND SOUND SOUND!!!
Oh, and by the way, if you would like to take lessons from Dave, his number is 1-800--HOT-LUVN :P
--Kevin |