How Much is Enough?

This week, my practicing has been focused on my embouchure and making the top lip more "squishy" and less tight on the mouthpiece. I feel like I have been fairly successful with this throughout the week. In the days following my lesson, I was having some difficulty breaking the habit of the way I was playing. I became frustrated when I would squeak or playing just didn't feel comfortable. I realize though it's all about the attitude. I had a day off of playing on Saturday and I went back to my practicing with a new attitude of how I wanted to play. The embouchure came along much better when I thought more positively about the progress I was making. I still have to reset my embouchure a lot to make sure I am playing correctly, but I am able to recognize the progress I am making. My music comes out a lot easier and it's actually easier to be more musical when I know my embouchure is correct. When I play correctly, I praise myself mentally for a job well done. When something doesn't come out just right, I pause and think about what I could have done differently, reset, and go on. I remember this is a learning process and the more times I play correctly, the faster it will become my habit. I hope my preservation shows throughout the next few weeks of my practicing.

So how much is enough? I have really tried to incorporate my embouchure development into all of my playing. If there is a tricky note passage, I will take the time to just concentrate on technique, but I feel that embouchure plays a big role in learning these tricky passages, so I still try to concentrate on both embouchure and technique.