 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: larry
Date: 2000-08-02 18:02
Can anyone suggest possible causes of overblowing altissimo notes? In particular, I've been overblowing high E to A, especially on fast ascending runs. It doesn't happen all the time, but now I get very anxious when playing these notes. It's also quite loud and obnoxious. Is this a physical, mouthpiece, instrument, or reed problem?
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Author: Kevin Bowman
Date: 2000-08-03 03:27
Hmmm... Sometimes we just get mental blocks!
This actually happened to me about a year ago. Fortunately, I was studying with a pro at the time and he helped me overcome this problem. I was working on the Marty 1st Fantaisie and I kept overblowing the high E at the end of the arpegio in measure 51 (4 bars before rehearsal #6). It drove me nuts. I started sweating bullets every time a high E appeared in any piece of music and, sure enough, I'd blow it. Anyway, my tutor suggested that I concentrate on my upper lip more - more support, like a double lip embouchure (except keeping the teeth on the mpc). I tried it right away and, what do you know? problem solved. I started concentrating on the function of the upper lip in my embouchure and I found that my tone improved too (and I didn't even know it needed improving!). I also began spending a little more time in the altissimo with long tones (using the Stubbin's "Essentials of Technical Dexterity" book) and with a little work, can now switch between the high E and the overblown A at will, using voicing alone (no more pinching out the A).
Hope this helps, good luck.
Kevin Bowman
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Author: Robin
Date: 2000-08-03 12:38
Yes, I agree absolutely with Mr. Bowman.
Also think about your nose. It's partly a mental thing, but if you can imagine pointing your nose away from your face, it may help position your upper-lip/cheek muscles. These muscles should be active.
Rob
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Author: Nique Coryell
Date: 2000-08-07 06:07
I had this problem and my teacher told me it was from tongue movement and biteing.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-08-08 07:10
Additional info.
The difference between E3 and A3.
1)cavity inside mouth: it is bigger for E3 than for A3.
This is controlled by the tongue center portion.
2)lip position on the reed.
Acoustically there is a best position for a specific
harmonic series although we are changing it very slightly
by intuition.
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