Klarinet Archive - Posting 000211.txt from 1994/07

From: Josias Associates <josassoc@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Teaching Double Embo...
Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 16:14:05 -0400

I read Jim Lytthans's and Lee Callet's comments about teaching
double embouchure with considerable interest. Although I don't know Lee,
I have known Jim for some years, and I wonder if his students realize
how fortunate they are being taught by one of the finest players in the
business.

I have some personal experience with double embouchure, which I
cite here. I started playing clarinet at age 16 and, after minimal
instruction, continued playing to age 30, for the most part self-taught,
without a formal foundation. When I restarted my clarinet education, my
teacher started on the arduous task of correcting 14 years of highly
ingrained bad habits.

Heading this dubious list was an ill-defined, low-speed staccato,
and the kind of low-quality sound produced by digging deep grooves in the
mouthpiece with one's incisors. The sound-quality problem was tackled
first by regressing to a very-close-tip-opening mouthpiece, using soft
reeds, and then slowly progressing to wider-tip-opening mouthpieces and
heavier reeds over a period of about six months.

The staccato problem resulted from tonguing toward the back of
the tongue (that's not slap-tonguing, is it?). That was corrected by
starting very slow exercises using the tip of the tongue and
progressing methodically to higher speeds over a period of months.

Several years later, I regressed to a heavier bite on the
mouthpiece, and the teacher, reluctant to put me out of playing commission
with the earlier technique of using remedial mouthpieces, suggested that
I try double lip. Like his earlier remedies, learning to play with a
double embouchure was slow going. But, it paid worthwhile dividends.
Relaxing the bite helped the sound, and I could hear clearly what was
partially obscured before by conduction through the teeth. (Maybe if I
were a beginner, the result wouldn't have been as favorable.) And yes,
Lee, it corrected my former "ivory" embouchure.

I played double lip for two years before returning to the single
embouchure. Three factors caused me to change. The first was that I
needed lap support for the bell to prevent physical instability. (I was
missing the central support point mentioned by Jim Lytthans.) This
meant that I couldn't play standing up. After investigating about other
people's experiences, I found that other double-lip players couldn't
perform standing up either and had to do solos sitting down. I believe
Harold Wright was one notable example.

The second factor that caused me to change was that, through the use
of moderately heavy rubber or neoprene mouthpiece patches, I was able to
eliminate a large part of the conduction through my teeth, which had
previously prevented me from hearing my sound free of conduction noise.
The third factor, which also helped reduce mouthpiece bite pressure, was
the taking of more mouthpiece.

I tend to agree that teaching of double lip to clarinetists
should be reserved for remedial cases. Yes, the sounds of some players
do improve when changing to double lip, but, strange as it may sound, that
experience by itself is often enough to raise the quality of their single
embouchure sound.

Connie Josias
La Canada, CA