Going through an embouchure change can feel like a huge setback, and you may even doubt whether the change was the right decision. After all, if it feels and sounds worse than your old setup, how do you know you’re on the right path?

In these situations, its critical that you start with something that feels and sounds great to play, then slowly expand that into newer territory. Doing this slowly and mindfully makes the change more permanent, so there's much incentive to take your time.

For slurs that skip partials, for instance, you might try adding a chromatic scale between the written intervals to see if your embouchure holds up that way. If it does, try a major scale (or anything like it) to bridge the written intervals. If this works too, gradually increase the interval sizes until you can maintain optimal form as you play the written interval.

This can take time, and you will likely need to do something like this every day for a while (at least a week, maybe weeks) until you can reliably do this without the using this "in-between notes" technique.

Related Posts:

Sheet Music