 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ginny
Date: 1999-05-15 23:01
My 10 yo son just started the clarinet (just 2 weeks ago.) His cheeks look like Kirby the pillow from Nintendo. He's taking lessons, but still puffs. Any suggestions? I could just wait - He does not want mom's advice (and who does?)- but I suspect it's best to start with good technique, rather than relearning later on. A VanDoren M-13, Rico Royal 1.5, FYI.
He can play down to low F already and I've heard him play a few notes over the register. He's been playing music for seven years- that is most of his life, so...for him the main thing will be getting technique, since he counts and reads well.
Any other advice for the first few weeks of playing? Perhaps I'll have a duet partner for a while.
Thanks in advance.
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Author: Clare
Date: 1999-05-15 23:22
Cheeks should never puff out while playing. Air should go straight through the mouth and the instrument. Usually puffy cheeks result in many squeaks and a lousy sound. The embouchure is to blame. Have his teacher make sure he develops a good embouchure early on.
-Clare
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Author: col
Date: 1999-05-16 08:09
Hi,
It is a common problem in the first few weeks of the beginner clarinetist. If it persists for more than 3 weeks however it can be very difficult to brake the cycle. A particular tip i use with my students is to get them to breathe in , through the mouthpiece. This technique means that the mouth piece stays in their mouth the whole time and reduces the chance of puffing the cheeks out. Usually a puffing of the cheeks occurs when the student is not tonguing properly but rather employing a huffing techinque , storing air in the cheeks and starting and stoping the air rather than using the tongue.
Good luck hope this helped
but usually you just stop doing as it tires out the mouth very quickly. If he plays in a band to then the other students will help him to get over this problem as puffing out the checks will create embarressment and he will therefore modify his technique to fix the problem
,Col
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Author: Phillip O. Paglialonga
Date: 1999-05-17 22:41
Exactly.. puffy cheeks are a result of a poor tongue placement in the mouth.. basically the sides of the tongue aren't doing there job to focus the air to the reed allowing the air to escape into the cheeks...
By working on a better tongue placement not only will the cheek problem disappear but the tone will become much more centered and tonguing cleaner
phil
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Author: Amber
Date: 1999-05-19 20:18
I have a young student who has great enthusiasm for the clarinet. His mother tells me both of his cheeks puffed before he came to me for lessons, but now just one of them does. Strange. When we focus on his cheeks and I use analogies about where the air needs to focus, he can pull his cheek in, but as soon as he plays something else, his cheek puffs right back out. It's the strangest thing, and very frustrating for me because I know he can avoid it. I will focus more on his tongue placement. Thanks to Phillip for the suggestion.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 1999-05-22 03:31
Thanks, the tongue seemed to be the key. I've promised him he could have my good clarinet when he could out play me. I think it may not take him too long.
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Author: K.K
Date: 1999-05-23 21:42
I have been playing the Clarinet for two years and I still have problems (sometimes) trying not to puff. When your Son practices, tell him to act like he is Smiling once he gets the Mouthpiece in his mouth. After awhile, you do it with out thinking about it!
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