Music Corner

Practicing with a Mirror

Does your band student have a mirror at home that could be used for practise?

This is a very valuable tool to use for beginners. Things your child can easily see and correct may include:

• Posture: sitting up straight, chin up, no chicken wings.
• Instrument position: flute keys parallel to the floor, trombone slide bars on top of each other, trumpet and trombone bells up.
• Embouchure (fancy name for mouth position): NO PUFFER CHEEKS!!!
• Hand positions: pianists must have wrists up, one finger above each key, clarinet students must have just the end of their thumb under the thumb rest and not balancing other keys on their hand (neck strap helps with this). Trombonists must hold their slide with two loose fingers.  Drummers should not have ‘pointy’ fingers on their sticks or mallets.