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Re: Embouchure - for adult learners!

Author: jhoyla
Date: 2009-09-22 07:02

Here's a tip for you; release the reed and your embouchure often while playing.

And now the long version.

As a beginner, your embouchure is not a "natural" thing for you, and positioning the reed is probably something you have to think about. A natural way of coping with this is to keep the reed positioned and your lips in the "embouchure" position for most of the time while you are playing.

Unfortunately, your lips won't be receiving much of a blood supply while they are wrapped around your reed! They will tire rapidly and you'll get that familiar muscle failure feeling.

The solution is to keep your lips loose and mouth open at all times when you are not playing. Even a break of a crotchet rest (quarter-note) can be sufficient time to rest your lips at a moderate tempo. Practice playing single notes and releasing your lips after each note, until this becomes a natural movement for you (keep the reed on your lower lip as you release and open your mouth).

This is harder to do as a beginner, since you may have over-salivation problems and the slippery shiny bark of a European scrape can make it difficult to grip the reed. Get used to keeping your mouth as dry as possible inside by breathing in through your mouth, and swallowing often.

Hope this helps,

J.

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