Klarinet Archive - Posting 000731.txt from 2001/11

From: Audrey Travis <vsofan@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] RE: Embouchure problems with a student
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 22:32:46 -0500

Benjamin
Perhaps you could convince him to constantly think about his lips
forming the
syllable "o". This is the basis for a good embouchure anyway. It
sounds like
he feels that anything other than a "wood clamp" embouchure doesn't
allow
himself enough control (I certainly used to!). While he changes his
mouth
shape, he can be pushing the mp a bit harder against his top lip to
remove
pressure on the bottom. By the way, the fact that his jaw moves invites
the
question - did he ever play brass instruments? The constant "o" shape
will
prevent him from moving his jaw, I think. First, however, he has to
want to
improve and can see the benefits - can you demonstrate for him what he
sounds
like when he does this and then show him how an improved embouchure
would
benefit him? I am currently changing my embouchure to an "o" shape and
I did
find it very difficult for a few weeks to maintain that without feeling
as if
my bottom lip had no place to go and nothing to do (obviously it had had
too
much to do before!) and that I couldn't control the sound. The feeling
of "o"
was so unusual that whenever I took the mp out of my mouth and then
wanted to
play again, I had to re-form the shape, then slip the mp into my mouth.
Also,
have him think about his embouchure as a bed of roses. The person who
mentioned this to me last week didn't really explain it, but I imagine
it means
that the bottom lip should feel as if it's resting on a bed of roses.
The fact
that his jaw and fingers move together can be helped by putting him in
front of
a mirror to see what's happening. Also, if you turn his instrument
around and
play a song while he blows steadily, he'll see/hear that jaw-finger
movement is
unnecessary. Forgive me if you've tried all of this already. I relate
all
this as a student, but as one who sees/hears the benefits of more
beautiful
sound and greatly increased endurance with an "o" shaped embouchure. I
hope
this helps a bit. Maybe the pros on the list could comment further.

All the best

Audrey

Benjamin Maas wrote:

> 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.
>
> 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?
>
>

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