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Originally Posted by Vulgano Brother  I really like Ghitalla's advice about having the teacher place the mouthpiece on the student’s lips the first time for the correct position and let the student’s muscle memory work to their advantage. |
I just completed four eye-opening years of work with a Ghitalla disciple, and I have seen this approach really really work. He would teach the position to the instrumental ped students, folks who had never played a trumpet, and within five, ten, fifteen minutes or a few days, many were playing high Cs without pain or much difficulty.
If I were to try teaching that myself, I picture images of Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice... but the point is, it's about balance and NOT about strength or "endurance," as if we're enduring this slab of metal slamming into our face.