In my opinion. your trumpet embouchure is one of the most important aspects of your playing.  Set it the “wrong” way, and you will be set to struggle for life!

There are many different “types” of embouchures. Many even have names, such as, the “Farkas”, “Stevens”, “Gordon”, and “Maggio” etc. To roll in or roll out, that is the question. To pucker or not to pucker, that is the other question! Should you have an open or a closed aperture? Should you play wet or dry? My answer is………yes! Try them all. Mix them up. Play wet, then try dry. Play wet and pucker, then try dry and pucker. Roll your chops in. Now try different degrees of rolled in. That is of course unless you are not looking for something different. If that is the case you’re probably not reading this anyway!

For me, the true measure of weather or not you embouchure is correct or not is how it sounds. Does your tone have a good centered core with an open beautiful sound? Or, does it sound stuffy and pinched? Are you able to play low to high and high to low without having to reset along the way. Is your tone the same “color” in all the registers? The problem is, maybe your tone problems are a result of inefficient air use. Maybe your embouchure is fine and you just need an air “upgrade”. It’s always a good idea to get the opinion of a good well respected teacher. Self evaluation can be difficult, but not impossible.

I do know that it is extremely difficult to learn by looking at someone play and use that as your default. For example, you see someone play effortlessly, with great power and sound, and you decide that you should set and play the way YOU think they are playing. Unfortunately, we will never know what it feels like to play like Wynton, Dizzy, Maurice Andre, Maynard, etc. But, we think they look such and such a way, and believe we can sound like them just by trying to imitate there lip position. Players tend to try and quantify they way THEY play and then convey that to the student. Bottom line is, we all have to take the information and then figure it out on our own.

Where and how you should place YOUR lips on the mouthpiece is an extremely personal endeavor. After all, we all have different teeth, lip, tongue, oral cavity, jaw, and face configurations. No two players are alike. That is why playing the trumpet is such an individually unique experience for each and every player. What may work for one player may not necessarily work for another.

That being said, there do seem to be some universal “truths” when it comes to playing. A few are; the use of good consistent air support, don’t close your throat, and don’t press too hard. The problem is, if your foundation (your embouchure) is inefficient, doing all these others previously mentioned “truths” will only take you so far.