Meaning & use
embouchure music
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountablemusictechnical
Music written or played on a wind instrument, where the player's mouth position and lip control shape the sound.
Grammar: Used as a mass noun: talk about embouchure music in general, not 'an embouchure music'.
Patterns
- embouchure music for something
- play embouchure music
The trumpet teacher spent the first lesson explaining how embouchure music depends on lip tension.
Her thesis compares embouchure music for the horn and the trombone.
Beginners often find embouchure music tiring until their mouth muscles get stronger.
nouncountablemusictechnical
The way a player shapes the lips and mouth on a wind instrument in order to produce notes.
Grammar: Here it means one particular mouth setting, so it can take 'a' or a plural: a good embouchure, different embouchures.
Patterns
- a good embouchure
- develop an embouchure
- an embouchure for something
A relaxed embouchure gives a warmer tone on the flute.
He changed his embouchure and suddenly the high notes came out cleanly.
Word forms
| plural | embouchures |
|---|
Common combinations
- develop an embouchure
- It takes months to develop a reliable embouchure on the oboe.
- a tight embouchure
- A tight embouchure can make the pitch go sharp.
- embouchure muscles
- Daily practice strengthens the embouchure muscles around the lips.
- brass embouchure
- Brass embouchure problems are common among players who practice too long.
- embouchure hole
- On a flute, the air is directed across the embouchure hole.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mouth position
- A plain, everyday way to say the same thing, but it is not a technical music term.
- lip setting
- Close in meaning, though it stresses the lips rather than the whole mouth and jaw.
Word family
- embouchure noun
- The mouth position itself, or the mouthpiece area of a wind instrument.
Commonly confused: embouchure music or embouchure? embouchure music or embrocation?
embouchure music vs embouchure
The single word embouchure is the standard term; 'embouchure music' is a looser phrase for music that depends on it.
embouchure music vs embrocation
Sounds similar but means a liquid rubbed on the skin to relieve pain, not a musical idea.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'embouchure' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Embouchure refers to the mouth and lip position used on wind instruments, so it fits a trumpeter. Pianos, guitars and drums are not played with the lips, so the other options are wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “embouchure music”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.