My daily routine is
worthless. I don't really know what to do. I get stuff from my teacher (slurring, tonguing exercises ect..) but I feel that I don't have enough dicipline at all to do anything with it, the teacher I had my first 5 years never adressed any of my embouchure issues, infact he never talked about anything that had anything to do with actually playing the instrument (except playing boring orchestral tunes) so I have to relearn my entire way of playing the darn thing.
Here's what I usually do: 2 times a week (!) at home
- Do some slurring exercises 5-10 minutes
- Do some tounging exercises 2-5 minutes
- Perhaps some long notes, but never too high (I usually stop at G4), as I can't go higher comfortably (I've hit a D5 once.. highest ever I think) because my embouchure sucks. My upperlip starts pressing on the mouthpiece and my throat gets tense. This is possibly my biggest issue, aside from the lack of air & support.
- and then finally I put on the Aebersold Bb Blues track and just improvise for a few mintues...
This self-revelation has been really tough for me, and my self-esteem is going up and down. I don't really know what to do to fix it..