Treble Clef Range and Adding in Tonguing Begins!!!

I've been so happy since the recording of my last video! That recording went amazing and captured a lot of the exciting improvements! But even more exciting, is the fact that there's been more progress made since then. I will record a video soon! Lately I've been able to go higher, and noticed my chin finally started to flex more in my treble clef range. It's working hard just like it did in my middle range before. My lower lip that was sticking out, is much more flexible now, and I feel I have a little more control over it. I can practice for about 2 hours before my endurance is shot.

The downside about improvement as I am able to finally venture higher into my range is I have to take an even longer break after practicing. I have to take 4-6 days off just to make sure my face feels refreshed and ready to go again. I'm being very careful.

In the past, I was very concerned about how long I ventured into my treble clef range because it often, if not all the time, caused tension to build back up quite fast. I spoke about how if I played in my treble clef range for a bit, and then tried to jump back down into my low range or mid-to-low range, it would be difficult for my embouchure to relax again and for the tension to go down. Playing in my treble clef range (i.e. from space F up to space C) was very taxing on my facial muscles before. It also effected me in the way that I could play a repetitive passage in my treble clef range for a couple seconds before the tension took over and my embouchure collapsed. It was a huge combination of the tension restricting me, and lack of endurance....so two separate things, yet, both effected me when I ventured higher. 

The tension from the dystonia is harder to tell how it effects me in my higher range, since you can't see any involuntary contractions, or twitches, but you can tell it limits my mobility as my face seems to have a hard time just relaxing in my higher register, and my chin, just like how it use to react to my middle register, couldn't make up it's mind on whether it wanted to flatten out or bunch...it fluctuates as I hold a note out. 

However! Recently these issues have been lessening since last month. Today during practice, I noticed my endurance was a million times better than usual. As well, even though I felt tense in my face and thought maybe I was going through another relapse, it didn't take long to iron out the tension. Then after the tension was relieved, I noticed how much more the control of that lower lip sticking out was improved and felt less limp, and the movements in my face as I tongued was a ton less than before, and the movements in my face when I jumped around were less of that "stuck in the mud" type of feeling, even on my open harmonics it's less noticeable movement and difficulty in my playing. My muscles don't seem to be freaking out as much as they usually do, nor does it take a long time to relax them after playing in a higher register. The air leaks in my treble clef range didn't kick in until about 2 hours into practice, and also didn't show up on my "space C", but on  my "line D"...so my range has expanded one more note! WOOHOO!!! :D I can usually play up to a high F, but my lack of endurance restricts me to only be able to reach the note 2 times if lucky. But, I can usually go through a practice with a range from "space C" all the way down to "pedal B" right below pedal F. 

A lot of people might think...you can practice for 2 hours? Then you must have good endurance. Not necessarily. With dystonia, practicing for 2 hours includes a lot of breaks and waiting...a lot of stretches! More stretches than practicing, and also taking the time to message my face inside and out, or even eating ice or putting some in the side of my cheek while I take a break, and playing in my pedal range to relax.

Majority of practice time is spent on relieving the tension, and the last quarter (sometimes it's half and half) of my practice, near the end, I test my larger interval motions, or melodic passages, or test to see how my tonguing, etc. is, and I'm always doing warm-down or lower pedal playing exercises between treble clef playing just to make sure I counteract the high playing with lower vibrations/playing ...I feel the pedal range vibrations around my embouchure help relax the tension. I feel this has been a huge part of my recovery too! Thank god for my pedal range. It is my life safer, along with buzzing, and stretches. 

Now that I feel it is safe to, and my muscles are adjusting to my treble clef range. With much carefulness, I am now beginning to focus on adding tonguing back into my playing, and holding notes out in my treble clef range....and of course...this requires the emphasis of good breath control to support it all; which thank god, I'm also able to do now. 

I can't wait to record my next video!!!! However, it may be in a week or 1.5 weeks, since I need time to rest. So far things are going great!!!! I will be reconnecting my blogger account with my google+ profile since I quit facebook. I need to focus more on myself, and getting things done. Be back soon! 

- Katie! :) 

August Shared Article Post

Link: Treating Musicians With Focal Dystonia

I really like this article (link above picture, can click on title), as it does a brief yet understandable outline of general treatments, and the references at the bottom are great. I'm a huge fan of Dr. Eckart Altenmuller's research and work. I'm always searching for his published articles. He's been researching musician's dystonia way before anyone knew practically anything about its existence.

I especially find the last paragraph over pedagogical and technical retraining, ergonomical modifications, and neuromuscular rehabilitation, to be inspiring, as it reinforces my positive thoughts on what I've been doing in my rehabilitation. I focus heavily on modifications and retraining as you have seen in my videos and writing. Though, I still have not given a single thought to even letting a needle come near my embouchure...meaning botox injections....No. Way.

Some Days...

Yep. Pretty much covers how I feel some days. haha! :-) 

August 5th Vlog: Melodic Playing - Post Relapse/After Relapse Has Passed

There's 4 more videos loading, but thought I'd publish the one that finished uploading.

This is actually the 5th video near the end of my practice session....and believe me, my endurance was running on empty by this time, but I was still testing out my larger interval motions and melodic passages to see what areas were most difficult. I wanted to post this one first since it's the only video I've recorded were all I do is play and don't speak. I was too focused on feeling things out.

*Note of caution: I don't usually ever play melodic stuff or etudes. It can be very tricky since I don't want to form old habits or make the tension in my face worse. I'm trying to rebuild a new pathway/way of playing with less tension. It is only now that I am able to test more melodic playing to see where the tension is when I try to play specific things. I do this every once in a while to see where things are from a broader view.. Anywhoo, this is not how or what I usually work on with my dystonic symptoms, but watching me play melodic pieces or passages can give a wider view of where the tension still effects me, that non-dystonic musician's might understand or see better, rather than me trying to explain it.

Video Part 5 August 5th - posted first:

Other 4 videos are the same where I'm doing more melodic playing, but talk here and there. You can probably tell by watching, I'm not having troubles with involuntary contractions/sporadic spasms....
.
...Though you see a lot of facial movement going on due to tonguing, these movements do not feel dystonic...that's the best way I can describe it. Also even though there may seem to be a lot of facial movement it is less than what existed in the past too.
These facial movements do not hurt, nor do they feel out of my control but weirdly natural and relaxed. I feel like the facial movements are my muscles finally working together towards a similar task perhaps, but without the opposing (dystonic) muscle fighting back...so it feels natural. I also think partially why there's so much movement is due to lack of endurance...another very distinct separate feeling from dystonic-type feelings/movement.

The main issue that's most noticeable right now is regaining control/flexibility in that lower left lip. I've been trying to work out the tension there, but it feels limp or non-responsive more than tense, but slowly regaining mobility as you can tell it rolls in and out more often naturally on it's own, but still pretty tough to work with...stubborn! But at least it's not as frustrating to work with as working with relapse symptoms. I think that's the hardest obstacle to overcome is the glitch-like spasms and contractions that make it impossible to even hold a note or grab a note.

But since this was after a relapse/post-relapse where I have an extended period of less difficult time playing; you can tell how much better and at ease my playing is compared to the last video posted on July 31st where I was going through heavy relapse symptoms.

Video Part 1 August 5th:

Video Part 2 August 5th

Video Part 3 August 5th

Video Part 4 August 5th

July 31st Working with Relapse Symptoms - Vlog Practice

 Yay! Finally got a video up. Haven't been able to find a place to record since moving to Denver. Luckily University of Denver music building was open yesterday evening...first time I heard myself play out loud/outside a mute in a longgggg time. 

Yesterday's session was pretty rough due to the relapse symptoms. But good that I captured it on camera...approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes of playing. [Also, I'm going to upload a video of what my playing is like after the relapse has passed; Link will be highlighted -->here ...as soon as it's posted.] 

You can see the areas where I struggle the most with the symptoms, but also how I work at ironing them out/reducing them. Tried to not talk a whole lot...but you know with me, I love talking/writing.

Anywhoo, here's the videos!! Lots of slow methodical practice. I was happy with the work done!!!







Part 1 - prep-work...and pedal range (working way upwards)

Part 2 ...more pedal range work and middle register, etc.

Part 3 - ...a bit of excerpts near the end. Thought I'd have a couple seconds of fun! :)

Part 4 ...arpeggios/open-harmonics, and octaves.

Home

Welcome Back!?!?! (Some Observations)

The view from my balcony!

My visit to DU with a friend.

Between my place and Boulder

Part of my work is in Glendale.

Hey everyone! It's been forever  since I've updated my blog. I started work in Denver on May 5th. It's been a little over a month since I last was on blogger. A lot has been happening, and I'm definitely busy still getting all my ducks in a row here. So far things are going great!!!!!! I'm all moved into a beautiful townhouse near red rocks, have been meeting/playing guitar with some local musicians, have lost 15 pounds (Yay!!!!), got a couple of students, and will be coaching a brass section in the fall. I'm excited!!! Especially for next year too at CU! :)

As far as my dystonia, things are still going good! I haven't been able to practice as much as I've wanted to, but this has been beneficial as it's paced out my practice/playing schedule; a break is always good now and then as long as I feel physically it doesn't makes things worse...and at this point in time, a break doesn't hurt me. It's like my friend Rhodri says - Recovery is up and down, but in general it's constantly on an upward scale. As I've slowly recovered, I'm obviously more of a believer now than ever before that I'm able to overcome embouchure dystonia. I can rest assured that improvement is on it's way every step I take and that there is no need to rush or worry like I had definitely done in the beginning/past. Yes, it's been painstakingly slow, but I look back and see how far I've come...and I know it is not all for nothing. I'm halfway there or more! :)

Today I was practicing, and I have some observations to note. I'm still working on my paper by the way! I had to post this on here though since I can't record. I don't have a practice space where I can play openly and record. I'm practicing with my silent mute at home, and because I have very close neighbors. I'm hoping I can find a place to practice openly and record again soon! It's been way too long without a video.

Anywhoo! Observations...

Right now a lot of stretching and freebuzzing has been my focal point. Huge emphasis on stretching though.

This is hard to describe. In the very beginning there was so much tension in my embouchure that I felt like it was STUCK in a very fixed tense position or movement....it was either stuck in an extreme pucker, or a extreme collapse/frown. I couldn't find a middle ground. The tension and contractions were so intense that I literally had no control or flexibility or sensation in my upper lip or around my embouchure. Slowly over time I started to iron out the tension and contractions by deprogramming my embouchure. I did this by playing on a collapsed embouchure at first for a very long time, with no tonguing, and focusing on just slurring chunks/sections of chromatics in my pedal register. The low register because the vibrations were less intense and allowed the muscle around my aperture to relax, and allowed me to build things from bottom up. I literally had to derive the movements/settings of my embouchure as far away as possible than the embouchure that I had known for so long and played on for so long. Basically a ton of miniscule painstaking frustrating adjustments in the way I played over a long period of time....I mean things as tiny as being aware of how contact there is between the lower lip and rim of the mouthpiece and if there needs to be less pressure or a tish more to allow the upper part of it to vibrate. It's like learning how to walk again. If you're an Olympic runner, your muscle memory and coordination is so entwined and ingrained over the years that you'd don't have to think about things....but once you have a huge injury/setback, it's literally like learning how to go from crawling to walking with a crutch, to literally being aware of every movement you make along the way towards recovery - like noticing what foot you should put more weight on, or if you have to bend your knee a little more to move forward, or how your hips play a huge role in movement, etc. You become so much more highly aware and in tune with your body - in what it can and can't do, and what it's ready to do.

Eventually I got to that point where I moved from a less collapsed embouchure to a more flexible embouchure...where my corners were naturally wanting to transition more on their own than me slowly nudging them while trying to not trigger a bomb of contractions. As my corners started to naturally relearn how to move on their own, the flexibility of my lower lip and jaw/chin started to kick in too and was a struggle too; since it controls so much more than what I was aware of. Anywhoo, soon I was able to control my lower jaw and lower lip support better.

Now I'm at a point where my embouchure is drawing me more towards focusing on the flexibility around my aperture, rather than corners or lower lip or jaw etc. I don't know how to describe this....

....it's like I'm focusing on the gracefulness/flexibility that develops between movements. Like in my stretches - the movement between point A and point B is the most important thing to be aware of. A good example is like watching a ballerina. They are very muscular and there are specific moves that require a great deal of control, tension, but also they are required to go from a very intense move to a very graceful delicate move...they have to be able to portray body language that requires both tense muscle movement and also graceful movement.

It's that release of the contraction that I'm talking about. If you squeeze your fist as tight as you can and then relax it, the tension goes down pretty fast as soon as you release your fist/grip. But with dystonia it's like that tension is stuck there...you try to release it and relax but it won't go down...it usually requires a ton of exercise and stretches etc to move it back into a more relaxed feeling/position.

This ability to move from tense to relaxed feeling in the embouchure is very difficult...no...extremely difficult with dystonia. It's the one thing I feel is the biggest obstacle to overcome with dystonia. I think that's why dystonia is so noticeable in the middle/low register; because the embouchure muscles are required to have the most about of control and flexibility in this register.
In my pedal register my lower and upper lip are more relaxed and vibrate like a flag and my corners allow me to adjust to changes. In the upper/treble clef range I feel like here it's easier to play even though it seems tighter playing, my embouchure is more able to adjust to the smaller aperture opening easier....and I know this is just an assumption...but I think it's because of the way we are built/designed to eat food and drink....when I go to drink out of a straw, or chew something, the muscles around my mouth/embouchure are similar to the setting I use to play in my upper register. I have a small upper bite, so when my teeth align when I blow into my horn, the upper lip is curved over the surface of my upper teeth...(I know I'm over-exaggerating) it reminds me of a beak on a bird. Or like how I see flute players embouchure when they blow out.

In the middle register/lower register it's difficult to play because it requires the duality of being able to adjust the tiniest feelings/things here and there. It's like I have to be able to relax and tense up in certain areas more often, and depending on what movement/pattern I'm playing. It's like the middle register/lower register requires so much more of the small details and adjustments of the embouchure to come into play. Sometimes I'll be holding out a low F# or low A and I notice the corners of my embouchure need to feel relaxed yet stable/tense, and my aperture needs to be able to relax but also squeeze in sometimes.

I don't know how to describe this...

...the middle register/low register is like a bringing together of opposing muscle groups, the synchronization of relaxation and tension..the synchronization of opposing muscle groups...and this is exactly where dystonia has the most difficult, because dystonia is a war between two opposing muscles. So to try to get them to work together in a register where they're both required to work together fluidly...not going to happen so easily! So frustrating!!!

Anywhoo, I'm now at a point where the fluidity and sensation in my upper lip is more focused on. The area around the aperture can relax and contract too...so this is an area where I'm now observing how it contributes to the fluid movement between point A and B. So lets say I'm playing a slurred passage from upper register down into my pedal register; before my upper lip would just sit there and let the rest of my embouchure do the work...and I'd end up with a double buzz....but now I notice the muscles around my aperture are doing there part to contract as I go into the upper register and relax/let go of that tension immediately as I descend into the lower register.

To normal players, the ability to contract and release a muscle while playing is not even thought about...but with dystonia, this is the focal point of my troubles...it's all about learning how to reprogram my embouchure, which requires relearning how to contract and release/tense up and relax my embouchure throughout playing, and to regain the ability to do it naturally over time...just like a person learning how to walk again...eventually it will be natural, but for a long time it requires a high awareness and observation of miniscule movements and redefining the way you move/play or adjust. It is frustrating to have to think about it...but there are moments where I don't have to...and it's those moments where I know I must be doing something right or on the right pathway to recovery! :)

Moving Forward!

Hey everyone! Well, it's May finally, and for once there isn't snow on the ground in North Dakota....but seems to be everywhere else. I am excited to announce I'll be moving! I'm actually moving this weekend to Denver Colorado and starting my new job. I'm really looking forward to returning to this beautiful gorgeous state, and so thankful for all the people who have offered to help me out in this abrupt change. The sad news is I may not be able to attend to my blog for quite a long time. I have a lot to do and accomplish as I transition to my new place of living. Thank you to everyone who has read my blog and kept up with my dystonia updates. Things are still going great, so maybe at some point I'll be able to post a video again. For now, goodbye, and see you in the future at some point!!!!! Love and hugs!

I GOT ACCEPTED!

I just received the news that I got accepted to the University of Colorado Boulder School of Music!!!!!!! It will be a lot of hard work, but I am definitely ready and looking forward to this new beginning!!!!!! :-) So much to be grateful for and the long journey it's taken to get to this point!

Mouthpiece Experiment

Okay. So the G17 cup isn't helping me cope with my dystonia. I tried it because I thought it would help with my lower lip that sticks out of my mouthpiece. I also was curious how my embouchure would handle the less resistance again. But nope...neither helped. So tried a bunch of other wide rims...nope. Maybe it's not an issue with sealing my pudgy lower lip left side in? Soooo I know it was a bit risky, but I tried to play more on my right side setting to see if that would help; usually this never helped in the past, it just caused difficulties with muscle movement. But, this time I think because my jaw has regained control and my left corner has more control and flexibility that IT WORKED!!!!!!

I know it sounds weird, but it was like my heightened awareness over observing my dysfunctional embouchure over a long period of time allowed me to notice subtle differences or shifts in my playing. I felt and saw my muscles on both left and right finding a happy balance in the setting I experimented with. I had 2 important observations:(1) My right side provides stability and control, while my left is more relied on for flexibility and pivoting. I think so often we think of the aspects of our embouchure grouped as Lower lip/upper lip coordination, corner and chin control coordination; where our upper lip provides flexibility and lower lip stability, and our corners provide stability while the chin helps with flexibility and movement between registers too.

But I also noticed that our pressure points vary in registers, and are most noticeable in areas where I pivot. So I realized I rely on the right side of my embouchure right now for stability and control, while my left side and lower lip work together to provide flexibility in the areas where I pivot...so in my middle register where I transition between lower and upper range. It's a weird analogy, but it seemed like my right side is like a flag pole firmly holding my setting in place, while the left side was like the flag being able to move back and forth between the ranges with fluidity.

I know the embouchure is a complex thing to understand, so these are just observations in my own playing. What muscle groups or aspects of my embouchure do what...how they function in my playing. It's interesting to see how it's developed over time. So I'm not sure if this is what it will be like in the long-run (this stability on the right side), or if it's just temporarily this way until my left corner and lower lip control improve....but I think maybe it will be this way in the long run because it felt so natural. It didn't feel awkward like I had to try hard at all to play. It's pretty easy to tell the difference between the feeling of dysfunctional movement vs. natural functional movement....it's not frustrating as hell. lol!!

WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I played all of my scales 2 octaves both fast and slow with no spasms or contractions!!!!!!!!!!!!! I even went back and tried to play them loud, then soft, and back and forth to see if it would cause loss of control (because usually it's this change in dynamic that triggers symptoms). There were a couple of trouble areas, but mainly just with the pivot due to lack of endurance from playing scales over and over again. I had so much fun!!!!!! So sticking to my Gold Farkas DC. 

Hope

One of my favorite songs. Whenever I'm feeling down about my dystonia or about my future, I just listen to this song and I'm already feeling better. It has carried me through quite a bit this last year. <3

(Video) April 5th Update On Playing: Transitions, Chin Movement, Larger Intervals, and Long Tones

(Video) Happy Easter! Some Overtones

Meant to post this sooner! I mentioned some important things in my video since I've noticed someone online who wrote about how he thought my rehabilitation just took practice. So he definitely doesn't understand that embouchure dystonia is a lot more complex than it seems. The exercises used as part of the physical rehabilitation may be simplistic (ex. buzzing, freebuzzing, stretches, chromatic slurs), but as I've mentioned before in many blog posts that the exercises have a different purpose than what they originally are meant for; it's the mental awareness, the way I physically approach my instrument, and changes in external factors which all make a difference and contribute to this very personal process of rehabilitation. It involves much more than this too. I think that is why dystonia is so hard to explain...it's a neurological movement disorder, so it takes a lot to regain abilities, so any playing basics are equivalent to trying to run a marathon on crutches with a broken leg.

This video I show some enharmonic exercises which I use as a mean to support the development of my lower jaw control. I definitely couldn't have done this 7 months ago, or a year ago. As there are endless tiny abilities and movements I had to overcome and regain in my playing. It isn't until recently I've been able to work on overtones, long tones, and move into my mid-to-upper range either. So definitely not something I'd work on in the beginning or middle'ish stages, as it would usually cause too much tension built up right away.

An interesting note is that I can slur fine and have good control over my arpeggios while using standard fingerings. For example if I played C-E-G-C with the fingerings: open-2-1-open, I can play it with ease, but as soon as I play it as an open harmonic...meaning C-E-G-C as open-open-open-open, it's very difficult to control. I think naturally because the partials are closer and less defined of a feeling to grasp onto. It's like trying to hit targets with an arrow while swinging on a rope, rather than using stepping-stones to align with your target as they get higher and higher. I also have to monitor my breath control more now, whereas before it also use to be something that didn't help my playing (i.e. full breaths/steady stream of air), but now does and is necessary. 

You can see in the beginning how much my embouchure control was limited, but near the very end of the video you can see how much it loosened up and I was able to do the same exercises with a little more control. It's this small amount of control and ability to relax my tension/dystonia symptoms that make a world difference in my playing! Baby steps = huge progress...even if it takes many many months to go from what seems like step 1 to step 1.5. Should be posting another video today or tomorrow!

Embouchure Dystonia: Blogging

Hey everyone!  I'll keep updating the blog as I go along with things here and there when I can. I'm very excited about contemplating over everything I've learned, it will be a good reflection on how far I've come. This will benefit me a lot and hopefully allow me to explain the many factors involved with dystonia and coping with it more clearly to others. Now to get back to work...see you soon!

- Katie Berglof

Musician's Dystonia: A Guide To Understanding And Coping With The Disorder. Edited by Juame Rosset I Llobet, and Silvia Fabregas I Molas.

Thought I'd throw in a little motivational quote here while I could! Keep your chin up! (even if it wobbles!) 

I found another great PDF file over Musician's Dystonia.

Check out the table of contents on page 3 and 4. It covers quite a bit, and surprisingly goes over diagnosis process and what to bring to your neurologist/what you can expect, etc. Which I find really important information to pass on to others! I think this is a great manual for anyone to read!!!! Also check out page 119, I find the table showing the percentage of effective treatments outlined in a study. It's really interesting! It took a bit to read through it, and I'm still not done reading it. I basically looked up the areas I was interested in by the table of contents, but hope I get to read more of it when I have time! What a great find!!!! Hope this helps others! Here is the link: http://www.embouchure.nl/bestanden/Musician's_Dystonia-complete.pdf


MUSICIAN'S DYSTONIA
A practical manual to understand and take care of the disorder that
affect the ability to play music.

Editors:
Jaume Rosset i Llobet and Sílvia Fàbregas i Molas
Institut de Fisiologia i Medicina de l’Art-Terrasa. Barcelona, Spain.
www.institutart.com
info@institutart.com

Collaborators:
Josep Fargas Fernández.
Professor of Labour and Social Security Law, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Barcelona, Spain.

Álvaro Pascual-Leone.
Center for Non-invasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Hospital de Rehabilitació Institut Guttmann. Barcelona, Spain.

Josep Valls i Solé.
Neurology Department, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona,
Spain


I'll also post it on my sidebar too! :)

Embouchure Stretches / Lip Stretches And Massaging Lip Tissue

I guess I could have recorded this on camera as it would have been easier. But I'm so use to doing this when I wake up and still lying down, so took photos instead. Just a warning, there are some not-so-pleasant close shots of my embouchure ahead. Let me tell you, these are super flattering pictures of me! (sarcasm). It's just photos of the stretches I do, but not the most pleasant to look at, and quite comical to me. What can I say? Sometimes working with embouchure dystonia takes weird distorted movements in the face in order to get all the spasms out.

Why stretch? Just like with larger muscles, stretching increases flexibility, it is elongating a muscle - squeezing the muscle and then completely relaxing it. It is the relaxing which is the most important (sometimes our muscles don't want to, for example like in our calf...instead of relaxing it might turn into a muscle cramp instead). It helps prevent overuse injury, and allows you to get blood circulation going. However, too much stretching can be dangerous if you start to feel pain or numbness or no blood circulation; you don't want to overdo it...so if it hurts, take it easy. It's like trying to do the splits....that type of flexibility doesn't come easily and takes time to build...not always going to happen the first day! Stretching in a sense is also a workout in itself, so this why it is important to not overdo it. I think it is the most important thing for me to do though before playing horn. Low-warmups are not always enough to get all the tension out of my face.

The most important part of stretching is what the muscles do between point A and point B. The first exercise I do works on this concept. Let's say you want to flex the muscles in your arm (as if you were showing off); your arm is at rest, and then when you flex it it jumps right into position...you don't have to think about it, or the motion of the muscle movement getting there from point A (at rest) to point B (flexed).

With Embouchure Dystonia it IS very important to be aware of the motion between the movements; from point A and B; it is usually the between motions where you will see spasms and quivers occur, so this is the area you wan to be aware and take notice what happens. So here we have the first exercise I do to test to see how my symptoms are for the day. Usually I do this when I wake up. Some dystonic people find that your symptoms are not as strong right when you wake up, and this is usually because sleeping helps as it increases dophamine levels. For some dystonic people it doesn't effect them...for me not so much...but I like to stretch in the morning anyways just to get circulation going.

The most important thing about stretching is (1) The motion between point A and B, and (2) Holding the stretch once you arrive to point B. Just like when you stretch you're legs, you hold the stretch in position for a couple of seconds or a minute and then release. 

STRETCH NO. 0 AIR OR WATER STRETCHES (whoops, forgot to add this one first...so labeled it 0).

I do this one on camera all the time. I either roll air or water around the inside of my mouth, making sure to get under my upper lip, chin area, cheeks, etc. This helps stretch from the inside-out, and it can also help with other injuries, for example if you have a muscle tear. This is actually one Dr. McGrail's exercises for musician's with lip muscle tears! 

So this first exercise below I call the "GOLDFISH LIP STRETCH." I start at point A which is at rest (meaning relaxed and still/no executing movement yet), and then slowly (I mean unbelievably slow) starting to move my muscles into formation...moving towards my destination of point B (the goldfish lips):

STRETCH NO. 1 GOLDFISH LIPS

I start to slowly form an opening...

I slowly start to stretch my lower and upper lip outwards, and it is usually this first motion which has the most spasms or shakes since it requires me to keep my muscles relaxed yet while flexing them.

As I keep slowly stretching my lips into formation, I want to make sure I don't jump directly into the final formation. Usually with dystonia your muscles can handle point A and point B, but it's the getting there/between state which is difficult to maintain and execute. So I try to not flex too fast in an outward motion with my lips!

And the final formation...the comical goldfish lips! After they are formed, I hold them like this for a couple seconds and then release/relax my face back into a resting position/stillness. I do this many times until I can go from point A to B with less spasms. I'm at a point where the spasms go away fast and melt away as I stretch. May look crazy, but what's weird is I can feel my muscles wanting to stretch in a certain direction...it's much like when you wake up and stretch your arms above your head...or how you see a cat stretch...you just FEEL like you have to do it! Another interesting observation is I can feel the sore-spots; the areas or muscle groups in my embouchure that have been working the most in my embouchure at the time (ex. my chin muscles are doing a lot of work lately more so than my corners, so they feel sore as I stretch).

STRETCH NO. 2 EXTREME FROWNING STRETCH

Pretty much explains itself. However, I feel like when I frown my corners go so extreme that they feel like they are along the sides of my chin and I can definitely feel the stretch! Good stretch! ahhh...:)

STRETCH NO. 3 THE SOUR LEMON STRETCH

This one makes me laugh! When I do this one it's important that there are two areas of "scrunching"; I want to feel as if the upper most region of my upper lip (near my nose) is scrunching up into my nose.  and secondly I want my nose to scrunch as if the apples of my cheeks are being pulled inwards towards the sides of my nose. This not only stretches my upper lip muscles (in a non-linear way), but it stretches the muscles that run from my nose down to the corners of my lips and also the muscles that buccinator muscles in an upward stretch/vertical. 

STRETCH NO. 4 THE CORNER STRETCH OR SMILE STRETCH

This is just a mini-embouchure crunch. I form an embouchure, with my lips closed, and focusing on my corners, I want to stretch them as far out as they can go in a horizontal direction <----->. Then I bring the corners back in. I do this flexing my corners back and forth/in and outward. Similarly...

STRETCH NO. 5 THE PUCKER STRETCH

Similarly...I do the pucker stretch which is also part of an embouchure crunch. I form an embouchure , with my lips closed, then while focusing on my corners being firm, I move my corners inwards, resulting in a pucker. Then I move them back out...I move them out and in/back and forth, then go back to relaxing.

STRETCH NO. 6 THE CIRCULAR STRETCH

I didn't get a photo of this one, since this one takes quite a bit of movement. It's basically a combination between the Goldfish lips stretch and the smile stretch (but with mouth open)...moving in a circular pattern. I always do this one on camera too. I'm just moving the muscles in my face all over the place in order to stretch the whole group of muscles in my face all at once. 

I know I may seem crazy posting all these weird looking photos, but honestly! I'd do anything to regain my playing abilities on horn, even if it means I have to make weird faces in order to stretch and reduce the spasms/symptoms before I play. These stretches really help me a lot, especially right now since I'm working a lot in my mid-to-upper range that builds up a lot of tension.

Also a little bit about massaging. Massaging the inside of my upper/lower lips moving horizontally outwards rather than in a vertical motion, and also massaging the inside of my jaw line helps with sore muscles. I don't massage both the outside and inside with my thumb and index in a circular pattern like most people suggest, I just use my index to caress the tissue on the inside.

What I find most beneficial to me is using the thumb to push against the inside of the cheeck (starting at the center of the cheek, and stretching the tissue outwards and holding it for a cuple seconds. As soon as this releases, I move on down to the bottom of my jaw line (still near the center of my lower jaw, and eventually make my way to the back of my jaw.

Most of the tension I find in the back of the jaw, and believe me it is painful to release!!! So that is why I start near the center of my cheek and work my way back to the bottom of the jaw. Alright! Enough awkward rambling about my lips. :-/ I'm out! Will be back again soon!!!

Cloud 9

Best practice ever!!!! I was actually very scared these last 2 weeks or so, as I was going through an intense relapse (the longest relapse I've experienced so far) and had to be careful; the relapse was different/weird this time around because my upper lip would have a random singular spasm while I was at rest (meaning not while I was playing, but while I was just watching TV or driving...which never happens), and the singular spasm was really forceful...almost painful. I felt like my embouchure was really freezing up like a muscle cramp and it was stuck like this. I couldn't relax it even with ice pack/heat packing or with stretching, etc. Then it swelled up randomly in week 2 even though I hadn't practiced (could have been something I ate). I thought "What the heck? Maybe I overdid it." I feel it's because I've been working my way into my treble clef/upper range and it takes a lot out of me...sometimes hard to tell how much is too much. So I rested for a couple weeks just letting my muscles settle, and could tell whether or not it was safe to play just by trying to form an embouchure. Even last week my boyfriend asked me, "Why are your lips quivering when I try to kiss you?" ...that was embarrassing to explain!!!! uhhhg.

But a couple days ago I felt like my face settled, was at rest and relaxed, so I went ahead today and practiced. I did a lot of stretches, and immediately saw the spasms melt away in the mirror as I stretched and re-checked them. My embouchure gave into relaxing and I started to play.

I did my overtone series exercise and I couldn't believe the improvement! It was unbelievable!!!! Remarkable!!!!!! I felt more definition of the space between the partials, and it wasn't frustrating/difficult to control the movement/fluidity as I went down into the lower partials on the F horn side. It felt natural and wonderful!!! I've never felt that natural ease of control ever before when working on overtones...usually something that's extremely difficult for me to control, and takes a lot of endurance. Hoping this improvement will stick and I can capture it on camera. It's just like another dystonic musician said, "You can't have a relapse unless there is significant improvement!"

I'm on cloud 9!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D

A happy picture!

I love teaching!

I can't emphasize how much I love teaching! I work with some really talented kids, and have the greatest supervisor. I am extremely grateful for each and every day I wake up and get to teach. I have never been so happy in my life as when I am when I'm teaching. It is my purpose in life, and a calling I never knew I had.

I also love spending time with my nieces and nephews...a picture of my youngest niece, and my youngest nephew (baby B!)....