Klarinet Archive - Posting 000718.txt from 1997/07

From: Everett Austin <austine@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Embouchure
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 02:56:28 -0400

My teacher in 7th grade was a nice man and an excellent clarinet but not
sax player and his only advice about embouchure was "point your chin",
which conveyed little to me. I got much more from my subsequent
teacher. One of the main faults of embouchure is the bunching of the
chin muscles, which squeezes the reed and often compensates for a lack
of air support. I think the appearance of the chin is not so critical
as the allowance of the free vibration of the reed, which means not
squeezing it which a bunched chin (many jazz players notwithstanding)
nor by biting with excessive jaw pressure. Just enough pressure to
allow vibration of the reed without loss of control.

Everett Austin

On Mon, 21 Jul 1997,
Sarah B. Horney wrote:

> I am also a high school student, and when my teacher used to say "point
> your chin more," I had no idea what she was talking about. That is the
> one negative experience I have had in my life as an aspiring clarinetist.
> She assumed from then on I was stupid (and she told me almost every
> day), so when I quit, it made me practice on my own. One of the things
> that my new teacher (whom I adore) did that fixed my problem was that she
> took a picture of herself from many angles, and told me to look in the
> mirror and see if I saw any difference. It was evident when I took the
> picture home the first day and looked in the mirror. The problem was
> solved. Sometimes, the best way to show someone something is to merely
> hint at it. The picture was something that let me learn a lot more than
> spoon-feeding it to me. This doesn't help everyone, but perhaps it will
> do a little. I hope that I helped.
>
> Have fun!
>
> Sarah
> benevolent1@-----.com
>
> On Mon, 21 Jul 1997 17:34:34 -0500 Robert and Deborah Shaw
> <theshaws@-----.net> writes:
> >One of my students is having trouble keeping her chin flat when she
> >plays. I have tried everything from more lip, less lip, etc. She is
> >an
> >excellent player, but is being held back by this problem.
> > Suggestions?
> >
> >Deborah
> >
>