I was asking Murray93, whose daughter broke her arm (it’s a really common boarding injury, and 'tis the season), but your daughter’s story of the playing change as promoted by the teacher resonated with me.
It is such a common story for a new teacher to think that what works for them, will work for everyone. My oldest suffered a lot from a new teacher, early on, insisting on an embouchure change, that he said would prevent future problems. The next teacher said that it had been totally unnecessary, that the embouchure my son had originally developed, naturally, was perfectly fine, was the best one for his lips and teeth, and just happened to be the embouchure used by some of the most famous musicians who had lips like my son’s. With the first kid, we just didn’t have the wisdom to get a second opinion, and took the new teacher’s word as gospel.
Oh, dear! That makes so much more sense! Sorry for the misunderstanding. Yes, hope @murray93 ‘s D is making a full recovery!
So interesting to hear the embouchure story. Makes complete sense, but very frustrating to be asked to fix something that wasn’t broken. Hard to know when it’s all new. Especially when the direction is coming from a trusted/respected teacher. Something to be on the lookout for, for sure!
As with most families, we learned a lot on that first kid. He then told us how to avoid the same mistakes with the younger ones!
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No, it was not snowboarding, although she actually did break her arm/wrist doing that once as well! This time the break was near the elbow and she was not casted since the break was stable. The cast can create mobility issues later, so I’m very thankful for this. She is now playing clarinet again with a neck strap to help support the instrument but unable to play piano for theory class just yet. The school has been extremely accommodating in helping her continue her studies. Wow, what a first year!!
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