| Dear B15M,
The most common cause of this is tightness of the throat area and neck which in turn make the lips tight and unresponsive.
It is very important that you not minimize the imporatance of keeping the throat area open and relaxed by keeping your head back and chin down. If you do this properly there is no discomfort at all. Rather, you feel very open and you can almost feel your nostrils expanding as the breathing mechanism kicks in. Please watch how the greatest opera singers look when they sing. Their chins are down and it looks as though someone is behind them pulling on their hair from the "bald spot" area.
Think of an arrow drawn through the head from the chin to the bald spot. Then imagine what it would be like to pull on the arrow and have the head gently come with it to the point where the neck muscles relax.
If you were once told to do this, great. It's very easy to forget to do it and blame embouchures and things not relate directly to the problem. Embouchures are laden with symptoms but rarely the problem.
Have you been adjusting your bottom valve caps properly? This can be very helpful when done properly.
Let me know how it goes.
ML |