 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: TheKate
Date: 2003-09-02 20:39
All my life I have struggles with the unfortunateness of being a clarinet player with not only an over bite, but a recessed, slightly smaller, chin. All of this equalls almost no lower lip support. I have tried countless manuvers to correct this problem, but always seem to hit that barrier where my sound can never improve beyond. I attempt to achieve the "flat chin" necessary for a correct emboucher, but it just doesn't cut it. If anyone has any suggestions, no matter how unorthadox or just plain weird, please post them for me. Thanks.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2003-09-03 00:12
I appreciate your candor and your determination. I don't know if this will help, and adjusting an embouchure over the internet is kind of like achieving world peace . . . however, you can give this a try.
Many players' concept of an embouchure is defined by vertical forces. It's easy to understand why . . . that's the way the mouth works. In your case, you are having problems getting these forces to work right because of alignment issues.
Just to see if it would help, think of your mouth as a rubber band. A rubber band doesn't just apply vertical pressure . . . it applies a uniform pressure around the object (the mouthpiece) it encircles. This means that you won't be "smiling" when the embouchure is formed because the sides of your mouth will be pushing in against the sides of the mouthpiece. I'm hoping that this will help you to overcome what you are struggling against.
To see if you are getting this right, ask a friend to grasp the barrel/mouthpiece area of your clarinet while you are playing and attempt to gently wiggle the clarinet from side to side. Firm up your support until you can pretty well withstand this harrassment from your friend. I can pretty well assure you this: playing this way will do away with the sore bottom lip syndrome that many players struggle with. You may suffer muscle fatigue, but your lip won't hurt.
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Author: AJDar
Date: 2003-09-03 14:18
Have you ever considered surgical correction? Try visiting a couple different orthodontists for evaluation. It is likely that the overbite you mention could have medical implications that would make surgical correction "necessary" rather than an elective cosmetic procedure.
I had the opposite problem, with a very prominent lower jaw. Never had braces as a child due to expense. As an adult, my dentist commented on the likelihood of developing TMJ and arthritis because of the poor bite. After visiting 3 different practitioners and hearing the same story, I decided to go for the surgery at age 31. The whole process took about 1 1/2 years - 1 year in braces, surgery, then 6 more months of braces. 13 years later, I don't regret it. My teeth are straight, my jaw lines up the way it should, and my clarinet playing has improved!
Darlene
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Author: donald
Date: 2003-09-03 20:12
very quick thoughts on your post
approach this issue in terms of what your playing needs. Do you percieve your embochure causing problems when you play? Define those problems, then seek advice on how to solve them (rather than advice on how to make your embochure "look" right). Your embochure doesn't have to look "text book" so long as it is doing what it needs to do to create tone and support articulation.
good luck
donald
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-09-03 20:39
Once they start cutting, they don't really want to stop...
Surgery hurts, and if you don't have other dental problems, it is an extreme measure. Cahuzac had a delicate, receeding chin and played just fine.
Gervase de Payer doesn't exactly look like a fullback, either.
Practice, practice, practice.
Will you sound like your hero or roll model when you're at the peak of your powers? Probably not.
Another thing to consider is that many facial bones grow far beyond the teenage years, so you're unlikely finished with adjustments.
No go play your Baermann!
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Author: John Scorgie
Date: 2003-09-04 00:01
Several famous clarinet players have had significant overbites. Some of them hold the clarinet at the usual angle of 35 degrees + or - 10 degrees from the body, leaving the lower jaw in its natural position on the mouthpiece and necessarily resting the upper teeth quite a ways further from the tip of the mouthpiece than is commonly advised.
Other players deal with a pronounced overbite by holding the clarinet at a much smaller angle, nearly straight up and down and close to the body. This position, which would be extreme for most of us, places the upper teeth closer to the tip of the mouthpiece for our "overbite" colleagues.
We do a disservice to these players if we insist that the upper and lower jaws should be placed in certain fixed positions on the mouthpiece. The clarinet player with a marked overbite should disregard the usual advice in this regard, and just let your jaw structure find its own most comfortable position on the mouthpiece.
Let us know how you are progressing.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-09-04 20:58
Even some of us less -than- famous players had an overbite. Never seemed to bother my playing as far as I know. Only bad news was that "the man" said I couldn't play the trumpet with that overbite.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-09-04 22:43
I'ev got the underbite situation going on. I just adjusted my horn angle and the way I play to compensate for it. I hold my horn a little more out than the "proper" position and I put my top teeth at the tip of the mouthpiece. My bottom lip still lines up with the reed properly.
My advice is to #1 see a doctor and see if the overbite is a serious thing. It may cause you medical problems in the future and you may HAVE to get it surgically fixed to stop these problems before they start. If the orthodontist clears you medically (meaning there won't be any medical problems and that you don't need to get it fixed for any reason), then I would go to #2 and start to try different things mentioned above to help your embouchre adjust. Also, see a good teacher. One that either has an overbite themself (from these posts you can see many people have many bites, it shouldn't be too hard to find), or one that's taught many students because chances are that one of those students themselves had an overbight. And get help that way.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: donald
Date: 2003-09-05 04:48
"it may cause medical problems in the future"
my doctor friends laughed at that- are you really so brainwashed that you'll happily pay for the cosmetic surgeon to buy another 4 wheel drive for his/her teenagers and heat the swimming pool in winter?
donald...
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-09-05 10:48
donald wrote:
> "it may cause medical problems in the future"
> my doctor friends laughed at that-
You mean your doctor friends can diagnose at a distance with no pictures?
Cool ...
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