Hello,

Just back from my holidays.
I have just been reading the week old discussion on pedal tones, and I think I have something to add.

There are mainly two ways of playing pedals :
1. As an embouchure relaxation exercise.
2. As an embouchure strengthening exercise.

Number one is not so difficult to do. Just blow a low pedal at a soft volume with relaxed lips.

But number 2 is much more difficult. Frequently, statments like, "if not done correctly, it is better not to be done", are heard.
But how to play them correctly? I recently found this out from Tim Phillips post :

http://abel.hive.no/oj/musikk/trompet/tpin/air_pocket.html

There is a section in this post that describe how Tim learned pedals from Jim Manley.

The most important clue (for me) is to hold the lips close together. If the lips open up, there will not be any strengthening effect.

Playing pedals with closed lips have a dual action. It softens the centre while strengthening the corners, "correct" pedals actually strengthens and relaxes the embouchure at the same time.

Rune