Klarinet Archive - Posting 000729.txt from 2001/11

From: "Benjamin Maas" <benmaas@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] I need help with a student...
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 20:58:50 -0500

I have this student that has been giving me endless frustration. I do not
know how to approach this problem...

The problem is this: Whenever he plays his instrument, his jaw moves and he
bites too hard on the mouthpiece. It happens when he plays legato as well
as when he is tonguing. The thing that is hard about this is that he
doesn't realize that he is doing this.

To get around the biting thing, the only luck I've had is having him try
playing double-lip. It works for awhile, but it also kills his embouchure
for the rest of the lesson. Either that or if I let him go back to
single-lip, he starts to bite again.

The jaw movement really gets me, though. Sometimes it almost seems like his
jaw is connected to his fingers. If he moves his finger, the jaw moves
too--usually in perfect time. Because of this, his sound is really
suffering.

Does anybody out there have ideas that I can give him on how to solve this
problem?

Thanks in advance.

--Ben

Benjamin Maas
Freelance Clarinetist and Recording Engineer
Los Angeles, CA
benmaas@-----.com
http://www.fifthcircle.com

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