Klarinet Archive - Posting 000762.txt from 2001/10

From: Rhea Jacobs <rhea-j@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] FW: Speaking of "Returning Clarinetists"....
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 12:25:26 -0400

Mitchell Halpern wrote:

> So far, my experiences pretty much mimic those mentioned by the other
> recent "returnees", except for one very troubling item: a completely
> unstable
> embouchure. After only a few moments of playing, my lower lip and jaw
> start an "involuntary tremble" which, obviously, makes consistent tone
> quality, intonation, and articulation essentially impossible in the clarinet
> and
> higher registers. I have experimented with reed strength and with some
> old mouthpieces I have had "lying around" and nothing (yet) seems to have
> any significant effect on the tremor. I hope this is just muscle fatigue
> from a weak embouchure which will disappear as the respective muscles gain
> strength.
>
> Does anyone else have any suggestions/insights?
>

Well, as another returnee (after nearly 40 years away), I've found that what
seems to be working for me, dull as it is, is long tones and more long tones.

Someone on the list suggested long tones for building endurance, and since this
was during my August lesson hiatus, I started trying ten minutes of long tones
(usually up the chromatic scale from chalumeau through clarino -- I'm still
having problems producing altissimo tones) instead of the more technical warmup
I'd been doing (my fingers recovered a lot faster than I had expected they
would!). It seems to be helping both my endurance and the stability of my
embouchure, though both vary depending on what reed I'm using.

I asked my teacher when lessons resumed, and she said that she hesitated to
assign long tones because it's so boring (most of her students are kids, some of
them really excellent, judging from last spring's studio recital), but I told
her that it seemed to be working, and she agreed that whatever works is the
right thing to do! (It's truly amusing to have a teacher young enough to be
one's own kid!)

I hope this is a little help from someone in a similar boat,
Rhea Jacobs
rhea-j@-----.net

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