原文：
The three primary playing factors are: first, the embouchure formation （the lips, the mouthcorners, the cheeks and the entire facial area involved while playing）; second, the tongue and its manipulation （the tongue-arch, the tongue-level, and the length of the tongue）： and third, the breathing （the diaphragm and abdominal regions, the ribs, the shoulder blades, the lungs, and the throat）。
Which one of the three primary playing factors is considered the most important? All three primary playing factors （the embouchure formation, the tongue manipulation, and the breathing） vary in relative importance at different stages throughout the student's career. Therefore, no one factor may be considered the most important except in relation to the student's degree of development.
Most of our present-day performers agree that they consider correct breathing the most important physical playing factor. This statement is quite true but only after the player has arrived at his final stages of playing perfection. Some of these fine artists have had the good fortune of playing correctly for such a long period of time that they are inclined to forget some of the difficulties that they too had encountered before they reached their present high playing level. Much like riding a bicycle, you may have been riding for so many years that you have completely forgotten the difficulties encountered and the number of times that you fell off before your sense of equilibrium took hold.
If a very fine oboist selects an excellent instrument but uses a defective reed, the results will suffer regardless of whether his breathing is correct or incorrect. The same holds true in brass playing! It is logical to assume that the embouchure formation （the lips, the mouthcorners, the cheeks, and the entire facial area involved while playing） and the tongue manipulation （the tongue-arch, the tongue-level, and the length of the tongue backstroke） must not only be functioning properly as separate and independent factors, but must definitely be synchronized with the breathing factor （the diaphragm, the abdominal regions, the ribs, the shoulder blades, the lungs, and the throat） before any relaxed playing perfection can possibly take place.
译文：
演奏中的三个重要因素第一个就是“嘴唇与号嘴的构成”（下文简称：唇—嘴构成）（这包括嘴唇、嘴角、下颚和在演奏中涉及到的脸部区域）；第二是舌头和舌头的相关属性（下文简称：舌头操作）（包括舌头的形状、舌头水平位置和舌头的长度等等）；第三个是呼吸（包括横隔膜、腰腹部区域、肋骨、肩胛骨、肺部和喉部）。
这三个因素中哪个因素是最主要的呢？所有这三个因素（唇—嘴构成、舌头操作、呼吸）在整个学生生涯阶段中其重要性分别体现在不同的阶段中。因此这三个因素从学生的角度讲都认为是非常重要的（注：只不过是从不同时期体现出它们的重要性）。
我们现在的大多数演奏者都认为正确的呼吸是生理因素中最重要的一个因素之一。这样的陈述是很正确的，但只是当一个演奏者达到其一定的演奏水平以后会这样认为。有一些他们之前遇到过的很重要的问题在当他们通过长期的努力，幸运的克服困难以后，他们已经忘记了当初训练中的一些困难。这就好比像骑自行车一样，你可能已经骑了好几年的的车，以至于你已经完全忘记了以前你曾经遇到的困难、在掌握平衡以前从车上摔下来多少次。
如果让一个优秀的双簧管演奏家选用一只出色的乐器，但让他用有毛病的簧片演奏，演奏的结果不言而喻，而这种结果其实与他呼吸的正确与否却毫无关系。对于铜管演奏来说，也存在同样的问题。我们合理的假设，只有当“唇—嘴构成”和“舌头操作”不仅要完全分开、相互独立的操作进行，而且这两者必须与呼吸因素同步进行，这样才可能产生放松的演奏。
