Klarinet Archive - Posting 000327.txt from 1995/02

From: Kerry Roebuck <roeb7610@-----.CA>
Subj: Breathing/embouchure for beginners
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 13:30:58 -0500

Mr./Ms. Illywhacker,

I think a tight throat and sound are common with kids or adults starting
out on the clarinet. It's easy to squeeze (like pronouncing the letter
E) when playing into the clarinet. But since the sound produced is
directly related to the embouchure and throat, they must both develop
together to make learning fun and fast. Bad sound is no fun, and
re-learning a mouth or throat formation takes quite a while.

For the players that close up their throats when playing, I think the
best approach is: 1) without the clarinet pronounce the letter O, then
the letter E and feeling how the tongue and lips are positioned for each,
then pronounce the letter O again and move the tongue only (not the lips)
to pronounce the letter E. Do this back and forth O-E-O-E. This makes
one very aware of the inside of the mouth's possible formations. The O
mouth with the E tongue is like the German umlauted U.

2) Now play notes on the clarinet moving the tongue back and forth from
the O and E positions. The E in effect is the closed throat, the O is
the opened throat. I believe the O is what most clarinettists strive to
achieve.

I find this approach very useful with my students. I hope this helps.