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Re: Strengthening embouchure

Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2016-12-01 15:21

As usual I favor Karl's thinking. You need a new or add a different teacher. It's time to look around.

Don't feel bad here. Golf pro's play for big money. If they win their paycheck is several million dollars. Lets throw out a figure of $12 million for just one event of 72 holes. The average winner hit the ball 260 times or so. Every time he hit the ball it worth about $45,000. You can bet that if he isn't swinging the club perfectly he will be looking for advice from another coach. This is OK to do.

We aren't playing golf, but we have to break a bad habit. Your embouchure is wrong. It's that simple.

I would play long tones for 10 minutes everyday starting at pp < ff >pp astarting with low E using a double lip and trying to put as much mouthpiece into your mouth as possible until you actually squeak. Then back off a hair. Buy a mirror and put it on your stand. Then go to E#, F , F#, G, G#, down back to low E.

When practicing and most importantly, look into a mirror and make an "O" formation with your lips.

Right now you may be favoring an E sound and not knowing it.

Get back to me in 2 weeks. Listen to each note as you start soft get to forte and soft. They must be even. If they aren't don't move on until they are. During your practicing the goal is NOT to get to the C but to make the low notes vibrant and ping. You want to fill the room. If you only master low E the first week you've done really well.

An old schoolmate from Interlochen Arts Academy named Lee Morgan likes to make an e o sound. He has a youtube lessen on it.

http://search.aol.com/aol/video?q=lee+Morgan+clarinetist+instructor&s_it=video-ans&sfVid=true&videoId=11362E8DF61F6EA86FD511362E8DF61F6EA86FD5&v_t=keyword_rollover

He studied with the great Fred Ormand and Robert Marcellus. He has that wonderful full sound that fills the hall.

You can actually take online lessons with him if you wish. (I think)

Take note with the amount of mouthpiece he uses. He is one heck of a nice man. Not sure if he will remember me if you talk with him. He was one of those superstars and still is. Unknown here in the US because he plays in Denmark or somewhere in that area of the world. We are going back into the early 1970's.

Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces

Yamaha Artist 2015

Post Edited (2016-12-01 15:29)

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