 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Buster Brown
Date: 2005-10-07 12:46
At times while playing I have a tendancy (particularly when tired) to "pinch" on the high notes. Result (especially on high c) is kind of a "grunt" before note comes out clear. If I place a little more of the mouthpiece in my mouth, the problem disappears.
Question? Is is acceptable to move mouthpiece position while playing? Or should I simply work harder at not "pinching" on those notes? Incidentally, with the right reed the "grunt" doesn't occur very often; only with what I call a too soft reed. Maybe I should practice more with a soft reed.
Any help/advice you can give me would be appreciated.
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Author: Mike Clarinet
Date: 2005-10-07 13:35
I have had the same problem. I believe the grunt is called and undertone (as oppose to an overtone, which is what you produce accidentally when you squeak, or deliberately when you play the clarinet register). The incorrect solution appears to be to move the mouthpiece. My teacher tells me to push more firmly with your diaphragm when you play these grunty notes. This is what, with coaching and practice, has worked for me.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-10-07 22:35
An exercise that I was taught helped me a lot with this. As you move "higher" on the clarinet, you can move your bottom lip ever so slightly with your bottom teeth and move it down the reed (taking in slightly more reed as you play higher notes). This certainly helps it to come out easier. Also important is a strong airflow.
Another exericise I learned which helped out a lot, has to do with the concept of "overtones" and overblowing a twelfth. Let's say you start on a C. T xxx|ooo. See if you can move your bottom lip to a position where you can overblow it to a G above (make it sound a register higher without hitting the register key - might be out of tune, but this exercise was told to me to help train the embouchure in placement for certain notes). Then play that G correctly TR xxx|ooo and once again, see if you can find the correct placement to overblow it to an E. Once again, it'll be out of tune, but you can try this exercise on various notes. What this exercise taught me was where my bottom lip should be (and once again, it is VERY slight movements with my bottom teeth that help it get there, and nothing drastic) in order to overblow those notes. So when I fingered them correctly, and kept my lip in the correct position, they pop right out without any undertones or grunts.
So for me it was not really moving the mouthpiece, but I've actually taken in a bit more mouthpiece than I used to (being careful not to take so much that I accidentally overblow everything) and I roll out my bottom lip as I get into the higher registers. I'm still not perfect at it, but it has helped A LOT and those undertones happen MUCH less frequently than they used to.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Connor
Date: 2005-10-08 05:25
Ever since my first clarinet lesson, i was told to never change emboucher when moving up or down the clarint. Every single teaher was right, your emuboucher should not change as you move about the instrument. If you require a bit more mouthpiece to play "high C", then, in general, you probably need to play with more mouthpiece in all ranges of the horn.
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Author: Buster Brown
Date: 2005-10-08 12:26
Thank you all. Simply means a little more practice with softer reeds. I enjoy practicing, but finding the time is the problem.
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