Klarinet Archive - Posting 001051.txt from 1998/05

From: Dee Hays <deerich@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Help-embouchure!?!?
Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 19:24:37 -0400

Alain D Codera wrote:

> Dear all,
> I'm a college student and desperately need help on my embouchure. My
> teacher says that my bottom lip/jaw are moving whenever I tongue.And
> my embouchure keeps changing from the low register to the high. I
> know IT SHOULDN'T.It is affecting the altissimo register badly and
> it's discouraging me. Has anyone has tips or exercise to overcome
> these problems.

Here is a possible exercise to help with excessive jaw movement:

1. Use the open G throat tone, so that you can support your horn with
the right hand as usual and have the left hand free.
2. Place the left hand on and under your jaw.
3. Tongue the open G as you do now and pay attention to the amount of jaw
movement.
4. Now tongue trying to move ONLY the tip of the tongue and notice the
difference in movement.
5. From here on out, spend some time at the beginning of each practice
session tonguing the open G repeatedly with your left hand monitoring the
amount of jaw motion.

Once you solve the jaw motion problem (and jaw motion really messes up
the altissimo register), then you can better evaluate your overall
embouchure and determine what to work on next. Until the jaw motion
problem is under control, it will "dominate and mask" other aspects of
your embouchure.

Good luck,

Dee Hays
Canton, SD

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