 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Erika
Date: 2001-06-30 00:59
Right now, I am working on finding a new teacher. I had a "trial" lesson with one of the two teachers I am considering. The teacher I had the trial lesson with informed me that my embouchure still needs major adjustments. The teacher that I had to stop taking lessons from had done a lot with my embouchure over time, and I though I had it down!!! The real problem that the trial teacher pointed out was that my chin was not pointed like it is supposed to be. I am now trying to point my chin more, but I sound horrible...I guess my sound will get better. Not to mention how hard it is to train the muscles that I have never used! I am pretty frustrated right now, and if anyone would have any suggestions...any at all on how to help go about changing my embouchure, pointing my chin more and any other helpful tips...I would very much appreciate it! Thanks!
~Erika
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Author: David
Date: 2001-06-30 01:09
What?? It sounds like one of your so-called lesson instructors doesn't really know what he's taking about. But which one?? I would listen to your lesson instructor's tone quality. Ask him what makes the pointed chin change the embrochure. Show him how horrible you sound with it. Decide whether or not you want that tone and particular embrochure. I still think somebody's not telling you something somewhere.
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Author: Nick Conner
Date: 2001-06-30 03:14
I had to do that last year, around this time, except I changed at band camp and had a week to learn how before the concert. It wasn't so bad. I went from playing on 4's with a "bunched" chin, and went down to 3's. With softer reeds, you MUST back off on the jaw pressure, or you get squeaks and horrible tone. They force you to use muscles. Even playing on three's, in the following three months of playing, I felt more muscle fatigue in my mouth than I thought possible. Yes, you might not sound as good as you want for a while, but it helps a ton once the muscles develop. I used to have a focused, but "dead" tone, without any substance. It was "dark," but not alive. Now, I have a lot more flexiblity with my tone quality, and can suite it to the piece. For an embouchure change this big, sometimes a step backwards in tone quality is the only choice. Or you could just be like Stanley Drucker and play professionally with a bunched chin.
Nick Conner
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Author: Sara
Date: 2001-06-30 03:40
I had to do that too about a year and half ago; I dropped from clipped 3.5s to sanded 3s, my mouth always hurt a lot until my muscles developed enough, now all of that was worth it and I get a great tone with the perfect reed.
Sara
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Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2001-07-02 02:52
It will probably take awhile to sound good, but it is definitely worth the effort. I underwent some embouchure changes at 30 (after playing principal in an orchestra full-time for three years) and am very happy that I did so, since I sound much better now. I am going to continue making changes so that I'll keep improving. Flattening the chin is one of the more difficult things to learn, but I've never had a student lose the ability to do so after learning it once. So, look on the bright side: once you've mastered this, you won't have to worry about it anymore.
Chris
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Author: Lorie
Date: 2001-07-02 22:54
you CAN do this. You just have to get a mirror and practice no more than 15 minutes at a time - playing open g - until you build those muscles. you will be amazed that the clarity in your sound. I went through three years of college before someone noticed that my chin really wasn't flat. It was h--!!! I could not get it until I had an teacher tell me to put only the VERY tip of the mouthpiece in my mouth when I played. The very least that you can still get a sound with - and your chin WILL go down. It is the only thing that worked for me. I had played with quite a bit of mouthpiece in my mouth and this change was hard. Once I got the chin down and the muscles trained, I went back to taking in a bit more mpc. Best of luck! I' ve been there!!!
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