 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Joel Clifton
Date: 2001-12-06 04:08
Whenever I play for a half hour or more, my top and bottom lips get raw and sore from biting them. I don't know how to play any other way than the way I am playing. Does anyone have suggestions?
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Author: Jessica
Date: 2001-12-06 04:39
I used to have a horrible problem with biting... so when I caught myself biting I'd stop and play double lipped for five minutes... that took care of that problem *really* fast :-)
Happy clarinetting.
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Author: Karel Vahala
Date: 2001-12-06 04:58
If your top lip is getting bitten as well, I guess you must be using "double lip" embouchure already. Perhaps your set up is too hard, ? mp ?reed strength? Try seeing an instructor.
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-12-06 07:16
If the upper teeth faces in the same line with the lower lip/teeth direction, biting tends to occur. Just like this:
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But if each direction is off-set like this:
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Biting cannot occur by principle.
Set the upper teeth about 8 mm from the mouthpiece tip and the lower teeth/lip about 17 mm. If the force imposed on the mouthpiece by the upper teeth is denoted as F kg(or LBS), the lower lip/teeth force can be calculated as F x8/17=0.47 by the principle of leverage as far as the horn weight is supported by right hand thumb hook. By feeling the upper teeth inner surface is supporting the mouthpiece, it becomes easy to adjust force of the lower lip/teeth on the reed freely.
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Author: Kristen Denny
Date: 2001-12-06 18:49
Scroll down to the post "help with warmups" written by Molly. I wrote a response there that discussed
biting issues. I hope it helps you.
Kristen Deny
GTA: Clarinet, UNL
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Author: Joel Clifton
Date: 2001-12-06 22:50
Oh, another thing, I always play double-lipped, because using my teeth just doesn't feel right. Is that "wrong"?
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Author: Karel Vahala
Date: 2001-12-07 02:23
Joel, how long have you been playing the clarinet? Developing an embouchure takes time, because the lip muscles involved take time to strengthen ( and little time to regress when you don't practice regularly ). Be patient. I had similar problem at the start, and took 3-6 months to overcome it. For me, I much prefer the double-lip; I don't think I could now play with "single-lip" without a lot of retraining.
Karel.
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Author: David Pegel
Date: 2001-12-07 03:09
I don't see any problem with double-lip. Oboes have to use it ALL the time. It's slightly more difficult, but it's certainly not considered "wrong"
Also, for really long practices (And I mean really long, otherwise you won't stop biting as well) until biting can be effectively controlled, someone recommended wax or plumber's tape over the teeth to ease the pain of them. Suppsedly it helps keep from cutting.
You wouldn't happen to have braces, woud you?
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Author: Joel Clifton
Date: 2001-12-07 03:50
I've been playing for almost seven years. For about a year I didn't practice because I had braces, and they made it almost impossible to play. I got my braces taken off about a year and a half ago.
I don't have a problem with my embouchure - I can play for about an hour with no breaks bigger than 20 seconds. I just bite my lips so much that they get teeth marks in them.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2001-12-07 06:18
You may wish to ask your dentist to round the sharp edges on your teeth a little so that they don't bite lips so easily.
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Author: Karel Vahala
Date: 2001-12-07 09:23
Joel, when I had lip problems, I went to see the local physiotherapist to get a piece of the heat-moldable plastic they use for splints, and made myself a sort of thin dental guard to go over the top teeth. You can thin down the material before molding to your teeth with a rolling pin. It will last for ages, well past the time of needing it.
Karel.
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Author: C@p
Date: 2001-12-07 17:40
As a work around you can try a tooth guard as Karel noted. There was a recent post about tooth guards and I suggested the Bay Lip Ease. Someone else recommended EZO from Wal Mart. I tried that and I will use Lip Ease only if I cant find the EZO.
The downside of a lip guard is that if the problem is biting too hard, the guard will allow to bite harder with little or no pain thereby possibly encouraging improper technique.
As I write this I am thinking of practicing again without the tooth guard as I have a tendency to bite and play sharp. Maybe the pain will cause me to loosen up.
Anyway, if you want a tooth guard, EZO or Lip Ease might be a solution.
C@p
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Author: LynnB
Date: 2001-12-09 16:16
I've tried all kinds of positions with my lips and still had trouble with soreness. I found waxy film to put over my bottom lips for cushioning and it works great. I can play longer than I ever could. It's called Parafilm 'M' from American National Can (Chicago, IL) I don't have a phone number but you might find it on the internet. For $15 you get a HUGE supply. Enough to last me a lifetime anyway.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2001-12-09 21:10
The few times I've seen Stoltzman on tv he seems to have something stuffed in his upper lip area. I tried the EZO and it seemed to help the sore lip problem but kept wanting to move around so I gave up on it. I think the recom. to see your dentist might be a good idea...maybe you have one or more sharp edges. I sometimes wonder if one ever can "toughen up" one's lips enough to prevent this problem. Actually, my problem is not on the lips per se but just inside the edge. Warm salt water rinse is probably a good idea.
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