TromboneChat

I'm working on:

Keep the air flowing through out the passage, and use the tongue to interrupt the air to produce the notes.

Should I blow like blowing through a straw OR
should I blow like I'm misting a mirror / sighing out ???

Yes
You can think about it either way.
I prefer to think of it as continuous sound. As in "Keep the sound flowing throughout the passage"

But use whichever works for you.

I use blowing through straw feeling with high notes and fogging mirror feeling with low notes.

Visualization can be very useful in this regard. Go on YouTube and find a cello recital. Observe the player's bow action. If it isn't moving, there is NO sound. That bow is YOUR airstream. Happy music-making !

I’d say a combination of the two. The aperture of the embouchure is pretty small, often smaller than the hole of a straw. A lot of what we play in the middle to upper register might feel similar to blowing through a straw.

Personally, I don’t like the idea of fogging a mirror, but that’s my experience. The jaw drops down too far. However, the feeling of fogging a mirror is helpful, especially the relaxation in the throat and oropharyngeal area (back of the mouth before the esophagus starts, and above the voicebox).

Fogging a mirror while blowing through a straw... maybe...

2bobone wrote: ↑Sun Nov 18, 2018 9:51 am Visualization can be very useful in this regard. Go on YouTube and find a cello recital. Observe the player's bow action. If it isn't moving, there is NO sound. That bow is YOUR airstream. Happy music-making !

Yes!

I've stopped blowing entirely. I think about keeping the air moving and maintaining contact with the vibration, just as the bow is moving and maintaining contact with the string.

The care and feeding of the buzz...