Okay I was watching one of his master class videos on youtube and I listened to his interview thing on his web site and he was talking about how a Smiling embouchure is useless and not really good to use...He also said that using a frowning embouchure and not having the corners of your mouth pointed up is better to use...I Tried practicing with a frowned embouchure but my mouth feels lose and I really don't hear a difference in my tone, unless I'm doing it wrong...Do any of you guys play with a frowned embouchure?

Kevin

I've been doing some embouchure exercises recently, try this.
Form your usual embouchure position, take a very deep breath and blow into your flute, play something easy like a G.

As you blow, relax your embouchure slowly, relax all the muscles in your mouth, let your lips droop, let the tenseness of your mouth fall so that you feel like you're frowning, relax completely. The tone should bend and go flat and maybe even just go to wind noise, but just keep relaxing. Now, when you think you've relaxed all you can, start to bring some form back to your embouchure SLOWLY until your G note is "in tune" - when you think you're there with it, stop blowing, take a breath holding the same position with your embouchure and blow a good, clean, strong, in tune note.

My embouchure was never that tense to begin with, but these exercises have certainly helped me focus my tone better - and it's great for ear training, you really have to listen to your tuning.

Angie x

I play with an embouchure that is natural and relaxed for me. This happens to be the frown type embouchure. I couldn't play "comfortably" with the smile type embouchure, and was pleased to hear Galway's comment about this.

I agree as well, I play with neither a smile or a frown, I also play with a very relaxed embouchure, my cheeks even puff slightly when I play..and I agree with Sir James about the useless smiley embouchure, one has no control with the lips pulled back tightly...

oh okay thanks for the advice!

I guess I don't understand what's meant by a relaxed embouchure. I don't get the most focused sound unless my embouchure muscles are tense and always adjusting. Maybe everyone just has different styles of playing and tonal desires.

Well for me when I play with a tense embourchure its harder to double tongue, Because my lips tend to push my tongue back and your tongue needs some freedom when tonguing fast passages.I think the only time to use a tense embourchure is when playing the piccolo when your getting some high notes.

I forgot to add that you dont want a embourchure toooooooooo relaxed cause that wont do you any good either your lips will just flop all over the place.

let me try to explain it this way, try talking while keeping the corners of your lips in a slightly tense smile, you will find that you can't, when you speak, any language, your muscles flex enough to produce the vowels, the same should be when you play...

then try this...play a passage and upon ending the passage say "flute", if you are relaxed enough, the muscles won't have to drop in order for you to say this word, if you are too tense, the muscles will have to un-flex before talking...