Klarinet Archive - Posting 000938.txt from 1999/10

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] should the embouchure move?
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 10:29:44 -0400

On Fri, 29 Oct 1999, Mark Gustavson wrote:

> I knew of a teacher who would stand behind the student and hold the
> clarinet for him/her while the student had the clarinet in their mouth.
> The student would close their eyes in order not to see the note the
> teaching was fingering. The teacher would say blow and almost always
> the student would either honk or squeak supposedly proving that every
> note required subtle changes of oral cavity, lip pressure and
> embouchure. I'm not sure how scientific this is but it did show that
> there are subtle changes in the mouth and embouchure with notes that are
> even very close to one another.

Actually, that method is used here (quite entertainingly, I might add) to
prove that the embouchure DOESN'T move. Rather than standing behind us,
Dr. Borchert has us reverse the mouthpiece. We are then instructed to
grasp the stick at the barrel and the bell, and place it in our mouth,
forming the correct embouchure and giving a good strong air stream to
start the sound. Dr. Borchert then proceeds to sit in front of you, place
his hands on the keys, and while I started with that open G, he would
demonstrate that all four plus octaves could be played with a good sound
using that one embouchure.

The first time he used this demonstration on me, it only lasted about five
seconds because it was so ludicrous to me what was happening, and I
started laughing. The two times later on that semester that he did this
demonstration again made me laugh again, but sort of annoyed me because he
made it apparent that blaming my Vito clarinet and my stock mouthpiece
wasn't gonna work any more.

Dontcha hate it when your excuses are proved wrong? (Or your professors
refuse to accept them? "It went fine in the practice room!" *dodge
infamous projectile hurled by professor* )

J. Shouryu Nohe
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
"If I wanted a 'job,' I'd have gone music ED, thank you very much!"

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