I sent my flute back to the maker for reconditioning while I took a trip to Spain and Portugal with my students. Now I have it back–it’s been a month in all–and I feel like I’ve begun all over again. My mouth muscles actually ache when I play. And I’m not finding the sweet spot as often as I remember.
Am I trying too hard? Seems like I haven’t been so aware of the muscles used in my embouchure before. And no, I’m not playing for hours, only about twenty minutes at a go.
Jennie
Give it a bit of time. You’ll get your chops back.
–James
This makes me really glad I now have a polymer flute I can take on trips. My embouchure’s weak enough as it is . . .
the beautiful thing about a hiatus is that you unlearn all your old mistakes. since you have trouble doing anything now, all the wrong things wont come automatically.
dont worry that this happened, because everyone goes through it. as you get better, it will happen less. eventually, you will have the know-how to get your embouchure back in a day or two, with proper excercise / practice. for me, the longest it takes to get my embouchure back is about 3 days. getting your tone back is a skill. if you dont practice, you wont get good at it. i think, however, that it is a skill best left unlearned; its much better to never lose your embouchure than to lose it so often that you learn how to get it back!
Hi Jennie, hope everything went ok here.
I don’t have an embrochure so there is nothing to loose…ha ha
I should try an play more and see if somthing develops!
Actually, I find that I have more trouble with breathing than I do getting an embrochure. Someone on the board once said that they run to keep themselves in shape so that they can play the flute!!
Nah don’t worry about it, I’m fairly certain that no one has an “embrochure”, so you’re not missing anything.
Loren
Strange, been off playing a week and picked up my fife and practiced scales.
Hit the sweetest sounding high “B” only to find that I could not remember
the subtleties of the tune that I like that uses it.
Okay. Pleased to report that things went much better last night. I found that hum in the fingers again, slowing down some of my old favorites for long tones. I remembered something that a friend taught me: flapping my lips like a horse, or a tuba player, then repositioning to play again. I think it helps alleviate the tensions and makes it easier to find the natural embouchure.
And yes, I think I was trying way too hard. It doesn’t help that I’m comparing myself with whoever I’m listening to, lately Frankie Kennedy and Kevin Crawford. I’ll let you know when I catch up with them. 
Hi Sylvester, I had a great trip to your part of the world! No music time, but lots of pretty wonderful sights and stories. Thanks for recommending some music to me.
Jennie
