Klarinet Archive - Posting 001180.txt from 2000/10

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] strengthening embouchure
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 06:05:26 -0400

In message <24435-39F4D5A4-1047@-----.org writes:
> One thing that I'm discovering (with my teacher's help) (I'm a
> 60-yr-old beginner) is that the connection between right thumb and upper
> teeth has an effect on embouchure fatigue. If you don't have a firm
> connection between your right thumb and your upper teeth, the tendency
> is to use your embouchure to 'hold onto' the mouthpiece and to support
> some of the instrument's weight. This is tiring, of course, as well as
> damaging to your tone and intonation
> Embouchure should be used to shape the air flow and to control the
> reed only, not to 'grab ahold' of the mouthpiece.
> Recently I have begun to understand this in a visceral way -- that
> the embouchure can be firm and steady without carrying any of the
> instrument's weight. For me, it's not easy to move ahead from merely
> *understanding* this at an intellectual level to actually *doing* it.
> I draw a parallel to breathing with the diaphragm (instead of the
> chest). For some of us, breathing with the diaphragm does not come
> instinctually; and if we don't focus our conscious mind on it
> continuously, we stop doing it properly and our tone/intonation suffer
> as a result.
> One of the problems is that the strength of the thumb-teeth
> connection is not always obvious even to a skilled instructor. But
> still, a good instructor is more likely to spot this problem than you
> are to spot it b yourself.
> You may want to test yourself (while sitting on a sofa or bed where
> you won't damage your instrument if you drop it). If you remove your
> thumb without changing your embouchure, does your embouchure still 'hang
> on' to your mouthpiece?
>
> And one last thing: My instructor promises me that she runs out
> of embouchure strength and chin strength sometimes too. <grin>
>
>
>
> Cheers,
> Bill
>
>
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Dear Bill W. et al.,
This is a problem which has come back to annoy me, now my teeth
aren't what they used to be. How much weight suddenly seems transferred
to the embouchure muscles varies - apparently - with what support is given by the chair
I'm using. Some advice would certainly be welcome.
Roger S.

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