Klarinet Archive - Posting 000033.txt from 1994/11

From: edgar pearlstein <e_p@-----.EDU>
Subj: Embouchure for bass clarinet
Date: Wed, 2 Nov 1994 20:33:08 -0500

I want to point out that from the point of view of the jaw, the
embouchures for bass and soprano clarinets are very different. I have a
friend who is a dentist, who once had as patient a fine clarinet player who
complained about a painful jaw. She had recently taken up alto sax for the
first time in her life (age about 30). The dentist's recommendation was
that she lay off the sax for a month, but it would be OK to continue playing
clarinet. Sure enough, her jaw got better and she was able to play both
instruments after that.
It was sometime after this that I began to play bass clarinet. When I felt
my jaw begin to tighten up, I remembered the above incident, and practiced the
bass very sparingly for awhile.