 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SomethingCopland
Date: 2004-09-07 23:53
I have a few questions about biting that I would like to be resolved if at all possible:
If one's lip swells up, is that only due to the result of biting, or is it possible to develop(make swollen and bigger) one's lips due to practicing?
What are ways to reduce biting other than using double lip embouchure intermittently with single lip?
What excercises promote embouchure focus and embouchure strength so that one doesn't bite(I know that reeds have a great deal to deal with biting, i.e. that they need to be balanced, etc.)?
Thank you!
Any responses are invited
Stanley, Sydney, Russ, Michelle, David, Deborah, Chuck, Jon, Ricardo, Marc, Sabine, Elsa, Laura, John, Larry, Robert, Paul---They all know Copland.
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-09-08 00:21
have you tried wax over your lower teeth?
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-09-08 11:20
All players who play high notes exert pressure on the reed with their lower lip. This can come from the muscles around the lips, or from the jaw muscles exerting pressure on the lip tissue.
For most players it is surely a combination of both. As soon as we pull our lower lip over our lower teeth, we are exerting pressure on the lip with the teeth. If a player had no teeth, and did not involve pressure from their gums, there probably would not be a lot that they could play nicely. They may get away with it playing one of the larger saxophones, but not clarinet.
No matter what the source of the pressure on the reed, it is transferred from the source - teeth &/or muscles supporting the lip - to the reed via the tissue of the lip itself. In some players, especially beginners, and especially children, this tissue is very soft, and in this role of transferring pressure, the lip may well get the biggest hiding it has ever had in its life; it is not used to this!
If as a result, the lip gets sore, or swells, teachers tend to label the issue as "biting" and unreasonably castigate the player.
If this tissue suffers REPEATED hidings, then just as skin does when it has suffered repeated hidings, the tissue firms up and no longer gets sore or swells. It becomes much more efficient at transferring the pressure to the reed. For some reason, the player/teacher no longer calls it biting. Because the lip no longer suffers, the player/teacher may even now claim that the teeth no longer play any role. To me, this is nonsense. ALL players bite... The harder the reed, the more bite is probably necessary to contribute to an appropriate pressure on the reed.
Instead of focusing on labelling something "biting" and being really derogatory about it, wouldn't it be better to focus on appropriate mouthpiece parameters and reed strength to match the player's playing experience, and also the all-important appropriate breath support (i.e. pressure within the lungs) to match the mouthpiece/reed/embouchure parameters.
We do a disservice to the young player when we make him all up-tight about that dreaded word "biting", something which of course we actually ALL do. Al that does for many a beginner is confuse them, and encourage them to open the jaw so far that there is no contributory pressure from the teeth at all. That certainly won't assist in firming up the lip tissue to a functional degree.
If I practise regularly, and have done so for a long time, then my lip is no problem. If I let my practice seriously lapse, then the SAME support from my teeth will hurt my lip, just as it may do for the beginner, until my lip firms up again. 'Biting' is not the problem. The problem is that my lip has lost its 'firm' condition. If I am in this situation and I must do a lot of practice for a concert, then the solution is to find ways to be kinder to the lip, i.e. softer reed temporarily, &/or (especially if I must play well in the high register) reducing the sharpness of the teeth by covering them with a wad of folded cigarette paper, or more satisfactory and permanent, a polymer alternative.
IMHO - but I am but an analytical, experienced amateur.
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