 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: samsmash
Date: 2013-04-29 21:21
I have been playing the clarinet now for around 5 years and I am currently preparing for my grade 8.
Recently - I have had problems with my bottom lip and I now keep on cutting into it which stops me playing quite a lot and puts me in pain for quite a lot of the rest of the time.
This hasn't just occurred because of playing higher - I've played to top As for a while now and had no problems. Also my teacher told me to rest it and then it should heal and be ok again. This has happened 3 times now with the problem just coming back!
Any suggestions would be really helpful as this is driving me mad!
Thanks
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-04-29 22:13
Are you saying by the message topic that you have an overbite and that you and your teacher feel this is causing the lip laceration?
If your teacher doesn't feel that your problem is caused by excessive biting, then you might get some relief by covering your bottom front teeth with something you won't easily bite through. You can buy a box of denture pads (EZO is one brand available here in the U.S. - there must be similar products available in the U.K.) and use small pieces just large enough to comfortably cover your bottom front teeth. Some players use florist tape folded over enough times to provide the padding you need and others use cigarette paper, which they keep in their cases anyway to blot up water when it collects in tone holes. I'm sure there are other materials that will work. A more expensive way is to have your dentist make a plastic guard fitted to your teeth and thin enough not to get in the way.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-04-29 23:36
My lower teeth are like the blade of a serrated hunting knife, so I find that even with very mild pressure situations (even double lip) I require something over the lower lip. Personally, I use smaller cut out sections from the leather labels off the backs of my jeans (I buy my jeans based on the thickness of these leather tabs. Too thin won't work at all; too thick it just gets in the way.). Just try something. The above suggestion is most typical.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: curlyev
Date: 2013-04-30 05:45
Ezo does work. I've had to use it in the past. It feels odd at first, but it does the job while you are trying to heal.
Clarinet: Wooden Bundy 1950s
Mthpc: WW Co. B6 refaced by Kurtzweil
Lig: Various Rovners
Barrel/Bell: Backun
Reeds: Legere 3.75
OKC Symphonic Band (just started this summer)
*playing 22 years (with a 5 year hiatus) and counting*
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-04-30 16:18
curlyev wrote:
> Ezo does work. I've had to use it in the past. It feels odd
> at first, but it does the job while you are trying to heal.
>
It's only that the OP is posting from the UK. EZO has become hard to get even in my area (Philadelphia suburbs) and I recently had to buy online because the local stores don't seem to be stocking it.
I've never really investigated - is EZO the only denture pad of its kind or do other manufacturers market competing products?
Karl
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Author: samsmash
Date: 2013-04-30 19:15
Cheers everyone for your replies! Does anyone have any suggestions as to what technical problems might cause this to happen as my technique is not always perfect...(I used to have loads of problems with getting a 'flat chin' although this has improved!)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-04-30 19:32
samsmash wrote:
> Cheers everyone for your replies! Does anyone have any
> suggestions as to what technical problems might cause this to
> happen as my technique is not always perfect...(I used to have
> loads of problems with getting a 'flat chin' although this has
> improved!)
In general, biting too hard on the mouthpiece, which can be caused either by misapplied jaw pressure or by playing on stuffy or otherwise unresponsive reeds. But it can also be a result of lower front teeth that have uneven or jagged edges, which can dig into the lip even with minimal embouchure pressure.
You titled this thread "Overbite." Do you have one, or was that intended to mean "biting too hard?"
Karl
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