TUBA TIPS FOR PLAYERS & STUDENTS - From NorlanBewley.com
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"One Step For Perfect Posture"

Always keep the chest up and out for proper breathing. This is the key to correct posture. When you do this, all of the other elements of correct playing posture fall into place:

Feet flat on the floor and straight
Sitting on the edge of your chair
Back straight
Shoulders back, down, and relaxed
Face to the horizon

To get a feel for this, find a wall that is flat from floor to ceiling. Stand with your back to the wall so that your heels, buttocks, shoulder blades, and the back of your head all touch the wall. Your face must look straight ahead, not up or down.

You will notice that your chest feels much higher up and out than you have felt before. Your shoulders are back, down and relaxed. Your chin feels lower than you would expect with your face looking straight ahead. This is standing up straight correctly!

Now sit in your chair and keep this posture from the waist up. You will find that everything on the list above also happens to keep this posture. It may feel strange at first, but you will play and look much better. When you begin to do this as a habit, you will find that you can sit this way longer with more comfort than any other posture, although you probably won't believe it at first.

Make keeping the chest up and out the one step for your perfect playing posture!

Copyright Norlan Bewley 1999

For a visual illustration, scroll to see the photos at the bottom of these two pages:

• http://www.monette.net/newsite/mouthpieces_trombone.htm

• http://www.monette.net/newsite/mouthpieces_tuba.htm

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