Preliminary Exercise. Your First Notes of the Day should be slow and deliberate as you listen for a beautiful tone and warm-up the muscles you will be using to play. The following exercise is effective in helping you establish a rich tone through an open embouchure and a free moving air stream.

Play C as indicated below. Without changing your fingers, drop the pitch to B by loosening your bottom lip, dropping your jaw, and opening your throat. Gradually bring the pitch back up to C by moving your air faster, until you hear a resonant, focused sound. Do not bring the pitch back up by biting on the reed.

Keeping the open embouchure you just established, warm-up on the following exercise.