 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Sleepy2o0
Date: 2009-10-21 06:37
Hi
I have been playing clarinet for about 10-11 years now, taking lessons on and off. For the past couple years or so, I have been having squeaking problems during the middle of the semester. I usually stop playing during the summer break, and then I start up again before school starts. I usually sound fine for a couple months, then some time in the middle of the semester, it FEELS like the reeds are getting harder to play, the clarinet is getting harder to control, and I begin to have squeaking problems. Usually the squeaks are around G5 and whenever I have to press down the pinky Eb key. I also have a problem with playing the overblown A when I'm actually trying to play E6. Same for the F6.
Some possible contributing factors:
- I took lessons a couple years ago, and I was in the midst of fixing my upper lip part of my embouchure when I quit. My teacher told me that I need to sort of curl in my upper lip. I just kind of had it flat on my mouthpiece. I don't think I ever got it right,.. Now it's in between what it used to be and what it's supposed to be.
- I feel like I put too much pressure on my upper teeth. (But I feel like when I don't, I squeak even more)
- If I find the right reed (which seems to be 1/15), I can play with much less squeaking.
- I feel like I'm always blaming the reed... but I know that it is mostly something wrong with my technique ...
This post might sound a little confusing... But this whole situation is confusing to me as well. I never really had a squeaking problem in HS, but now all of a sudden, I am just squeaking like crazy and I am finding it difficult to play with the same confidence.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to why I may suddenly be having this problem and what I can to do fix it? I would appreciate it very much.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2009-10-21 11:03
First, (standard cautions ahead) make sure the instrument is in good working order - especially that no pad is leaking, especially in the upper section. Also, look carefully at the facing on your mouthpiece. *Any* small chip or blemish in the rails, especially the tip rail, can cause squeaks. It might be worthwhile to ask another clarinet player to try your setup just to see if he/she gets the same squeaks you do. If someone else has the same problem you're having while playing your equipment, the likelihood is the problem is with the equipment. For instance, if you're using the wrong strength reed, it wouldn't be surprising that only 1 reed in 15 seems right.
Once you've eliminated mechanical causes as much as possible, the most likely next place to look is your embouchure, given the history you've described. Whenever you try to make a major change in the way you shape your embouchure, you run a risk of introducing a lot of destructive tension. That's not to say you never change things, but if squeaks or loss of control develop, you've probably gone wrong somewhere in the process and haven't completely mastered the change. Having been through something like this a long time ago as a student, I can attest to how frustrating it can be.
Without seeing and hearing you play, it's a little bit of a shot in the dark to try to diagnose almost anything. You're almost certainly pinching the reed, probably because in trying to learn to curl your lip back you've clinched up somewhere in the muscles around your mouth or in your jaw and are applying pressure unevenly against the reed rather than evenly around it. The major purpose of curling the upper lip in against your teeth is to try to duplicate the advantages of a double-lip embouchure - raised palate (more open oral cavity), distribution of control all around the mouthpiece using the muscles in both lips rather than just underneath it - without the wear and tear that real double lip can cause to the inside of your top lip. One thing you can try is to experiment, at least temporarily, with a full double lip embouchure. If that cures the squeaking, then use the double lip embouchure as a model and try to rebuild your single lip embouchure to imitate it.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-10-21 13:54
kdk gave you good advise. I think you should also try a few different mouthpieces too because the one you're using might be the problem. It could be a good mouthpiece but not the best one for you so try some others. I'd also suggest that you contact a professional player-teacher and arrange a couple of lessons, that will probably help solve your problem quicker than anything else. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: r-i-c-h-a-r-d
Date: 2009-11-21 05:12
Assuming your clarinet and reed are in good shape you might want to go to this site www.squeakterminator.com and try the embouchure device listed there. It was invented for beginners but can actually be used by advanced players to reinforce proper embouchure.
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Author: dmarxs
Date: 2009-11-21 12:04
That's an intersting link. Thanks for that. I just sent off for one, hope it helps me with my squeak I was also having.
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2009-11-23 02:05
There are so many reasons for squeaks, as mentioned in this BB. But one that comes up from time to time makes me marvel at the complexity of the brain every time it happens.
I discovered that if I'm thinking one note but by mistake the fingers are set for another note, then one of two things happen... either the note that I'm thinking of comes out, or an awful squawk comes out. Something subconscious is happening. After so many years of doing scales and playing music it's almost like the clarinet can read my thoughts.
This won't help a beginning player, but is an interesting observation nonetheless.
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Author: catkeel
Date: 2009-11-23 22:48
It can be the reed too. I`ve practiced with older reeds and have had terrible squeek problems. I`ve then switched to a known good reed and the squeeking stopped.
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