I want to greet the forum for making me aware of this. I guess I have done some of this without being aware of it, because I cant remember any teacher I had ever mentioned it. If I remember correctly it was in a discussion concerning different emboushuretypes that this came up, that some "push up" to ascend and "pull down" to descend (on the lips) and some do the opposite. I know my embouschuretype got diagnosed by Doug also at that time. I haven't thought much of this "push up/pull down" since until recently when I had some cracked notes. I questioned myself why I sometimes missed a large leap and another day had no problem with the same leap. I started to think more about whether it would be a difference if I actively did that "push-up" or "pull-down" on the lips to help the leap. Now I'm happy I did. It does help. For me it is "push-up" to ascend and "pull-down" to descend that works.
Just wanted to share that if you dig you can find knowledge here that may help and that includes both beginners and professionals.
/Tom
