Klarinet Archive - Posting 000006.txt from 1997/12

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: New topic...when to transcribe?
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 12:14:41 -0500

Just some thoughts......other successful people will have different, maybe
even opposing viewpoints:

On Mon, 1 Dec 1997, Roger Shilcock wrote:

> Personally, I don't see why anyone should *want* to have a similar
> embouchure on the bass - one is dealing with two pretty different
> instruments.

I believe that they are extremely different also....but not in terms of
embouchure or use of air (really....I meant that second one!). The
biggest problem, in my opinion, is the change of tongue position - so that
what you see is translated by voicing in a different location than what
you see/voice on Bb, A, Eb, etc...

> I started out that way on the bass, but found I couldn't
> control it.

Except for amount of mouthpiece, there really does not appear to be a
change in approach to embouchure. There will always be little things that
are different, but the basic embouchrue (my opinion again) is basically
the same.

> Also, if you try to sit with the top part of the instrument
> sloping away, you will be sitting right on the edge of your seat, which
> may well not be a good thing for several reasons, not least the increased
> likelihood of falling off.

Some may have this problem.....I never did. Oliver Green demonstrated
with a 35 year old Selmer, and he is shorter than me .......didn't fall of
his seat!

> Another reason is that it can make breathing difficult.

Breathing can be related to how one sits in the seat....to a small degree,
but not usually a problem if one is sitting on the edge of their seat.
Embouchure should not affect the ability to breath correctly.

Roger Garrett
IWU