The Embouchure

 The Embouchure

Arthur Finkle

The embouchure is the manner in which the lips and tongue are applied to such a mouthpiece. The word derives from the French embouchure (to put into the mouth). You must have the proper embouchure in order to sound the Shofar. Many Shofar sounders are not brass instrumentalists and do not know the techniques developed over the past three hundred years. If Shofar repairing requires the Shofar Sounder to change his embouchure, then we find another factor to consider whether the Shofar changes its tone. If, in fact, the repaired Shofar required a change in embouchure, the likelihood is that the Shofar's sound changes.

To form an embouchure two groups of muscles are at work. The first are those muscles that bring our lips to an extreme pucker, such as would be used to whistle--the muscles around our lips. The second group are those which bring our lips to a smile--the cheek muscles. Either group can form a brass embouchure of sorts.

Muscles can only contract or relax. When you pucker your lips, the cheek muscles relax and the lips contract. When you smile, your cheek muscles contract while the lips relax.

To form a correct brass embouchure the actions of smiling and puckering must be combined and balanced in sort of a "tug-of-war." Too much puckering can lead to a very soggy tone, while too much smiling will lead to a very bright tone with little endurance.

If the embouchure changes it may affect one or a combination of: 1) the angle of mouthpiece placement; 2) wet (moist) or dry lips; 3) amount of lip opening through which the air passes (the lip aperture); 4) the angle of the chin; and 5) the amount of mouthpiece pressure in playing the high or low notes. (Farkas, Philip, 1962; Arban, 1908; and Whitner, 1997).

Brass Instrument Techniques

Brass Instrument playing techniques fill a need in the area about which there is very sparse material in English. This article introduces some brass instrumentalist techniques to fit the aerophone, called a Shofar. Thin of orchestrating these techniques in to your repertoire so that you can give it all you have to fulfill the mitzvah of hearing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah (Shulchan Aruch 585:3)

Warm-Up

WE MUST WARM-UP!  This should not be left to chance or treated lightly by a serious musician on any instrument. If I do not warm-up properly, my performance certainly suffers. Most brass players have several routines. For Shofar sounding, I suggest warming up on the fundamental note. Then, focus on your attack. Then play the Tekiah, Shevarim, Shevarim-Teruah, and Tekiah. Your warm up should be at home because the shul does not offer privacy. In shul, you should hold the Shofar between your arms so that the shorn will become the same temperature as your body. Then you should practice buzzing (for brass players, playing the mouthpiece alone). In the case of Shofar playing, you can buzz by shaping your thumb and forefinger in the shape of a mouthpiece and blow into it, to stimulate your embouchure. (The Art of French Horn Playing by Philip Farkas, The Complete Method by Milan Yancich, and in Embouchure Building by Joseph Singer. There are many good resources out there.)