Klarinet Archive - Posting 000101.txt from 2000/08
From: Neil Leupold <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Facial exercises (a real suggestion)
Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 08:01:27 -0400
--- William Wright <Bilwright@-----.net> wrote:
> I suppose that part of the difficulty is that you need to *hear*
> the result of setting your muscles a particular way in order to know
> that you're exercising the appropriate muscles to the appropriate
> degree.
I believe it is possible to get a silent workout that is quite valuable
to one's playing, if you're not too embarrassed about looking like a baby.
One of my former teachers once suggested that I place my thumb in my mouth
as if it were a mouthpiece, inserting it to a similar depth, and forming my
embouchure around it without blowing (although I did ultimately incorporate
taking a full diaphragm-driven breath as part of the exercise). Holding
your embouchure in a static position like this provides exactly the kind
of isometric workout that Gary was asking about, and the player can feel
a marked difference in those muscles after doing it just a few times over
the course of a week.
Don't worry that your thumb isn't exactly the same size as a mouthpiece.
You're working the *lip* muscles when doing this exercise, and ultimately
you want to get away from using the jaw as a ratchet device, allowing the
lips and surrounding musculature to regulate the reed's vibration. Your
lips and muscles will never become strong enough to inhibit reed vibration
like the jaw typically does. I discovered over years of 8-hour practice
days, however, that the exercise is more effective and authentic if you
take in a deep breath from the diaphragm and hold the diagphram downward
and outward while sustaining the embouchure exercise. The aim is to pro-
gram muscle memory, such that the act of proper breathing automatically
triggers the embouchure to set itself firmly and correctly on the mouth-
piece prior to release of the air stream. This is a critical point, be-
cause many players produce inconsistent attacks for lack of embouchure
stability at the outset, as well as due to insufficient and inconsistent
air support.
The embouchure must be firmly intact, and the air stream unwaveringly
supported by the diaphragm, before any tone production is attempted.
This doesn't happen overnight, and the above exercise aids in the pro-
cess of developing these techniques naturally and gradually.
Neil
P.S. A better way to do the exercise, still silently, would be to bring
your mouthpiece with you to work -- with ligature and reed affixed -- and
use your actual setup while doing the silent isometric exercise. I suppose
if people asked "What the heck are you doing?" you could respond that you're
a severe asthmatic and this is a new form of inhaler!
Do You Yahoo!?
Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites.
http://invites.yahoo.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org
