The Clarinet BBoard

Re: Embouchure Weakness/Pain

Author: Buster  Date:   2011-05-21 20:40 Moe, First of all let me congratulate you on gaining knowledge about a secondary instrument with the knowledge you are going in to Music Ed. One of the smartest people I have met was someone in a Music Ed. program (Trumpet was his primary instrument) but taking lessons on all of the instruments during his schooling to at least have a working knowledge. In his words: "How the hell can I help a kid with the clarinet if I have no idea how the dumb thing works?" If more "band directors" (though I'm not one, I hate that term) had that mindset we may have a much better artistic climate in our schools. You're on the right path, but enough preaching.... kdk (Karl, nice to make your acquaintance! I'm Buster or Jason or ^%$^*%#@ whatever you prefer) hit on a key point- that while commendable, you may have jumped into the clarinet with a running start and tried to do too much too quickly. i.e. You stated that a #3 Vandoren was hard to blow at first but you adjusted to it. As he suggested it is quite easy to "hurdle obstacles", or make compensations in differing areas, but still not actually be playing "correctly" or without expending energy inefficiently. Moving down half a strength as long as your sound doesn't suffer could be an option. As Karl stated the number in an of itself is a bit inconsequential without knowing the specifications of your mouthpiece (beyond just stating student level.) Finding a comfortable level of resistance (and not confusing resistance with back-pressure- but more on that in a bit) is an important component, perhaps even more so for a beginner (no insults implied!) To get to the heart of the matter-what is occurring for you, a bit (perhaps) of information is needed. I fear my writing may take the path of Tristam Shandy (perhaps Wikipedia can help you with that one) but try to bear with me. If at any point you get sick of me, just scroll down to the starred section to skip the "background" information. -First off, playing in 15-20 minute intervals with short breaks in between is something I employ for myself. It both lets the muscles recover a bit, but importantly clears your head. Think about it, if you cut the commercials out of a half-hour sitcom what are you left with?-15 minutes of material or so. Our attention span, whether through evolution or our own "dumbing" down, is relatively short. Sitting through a 2 hour movie, no matter how good and enthralling, I bet you would be hard pressed to not find an occasion or 2 when your mind wanders to some unrelated topic (or maybe it's just me?) I may practice in 2-3 hour chunks, but still adhere to this 20-min or so segments "rule" unless I'm running something from beginning to end or consciously skipping a break or 2 for other reasons (another discussion.) -Using the air "efficiently" is quite important. It has been mentioned that it's not good to try and blow with the mouth, neck, throat etc... actually it is impossible to "blow" from those areas. If you feel like you are generating an air stream from those areas I'd wager you are simply tensing the muscles, a tiring endeavor indeed! Blowing from the lungs (also not technically possible) as you stated is perhaps not the best "metaphor" to employ either. try reading this- http://test.woodwind.org/Databases/lookup.php/Klarinet/1999/04/000760.txt Now I know your head may be spinning; as a percussionist you haven't had to think about the way the breathing mechanism works. In fact, it is a subject that is difficult to discuss even for accomplished instrumentalists as we have to rely on what we feel, things that are happening that cannot be felt, and an analysis of the options we have that can be used to accomplish our goal. Conveying our own ideas to someone else is difficult, as we have to find an objective vocabulary of descriptors to explain a somewhat subjective and unobservable process. Mr. Antony Pay (notice no H!), a very accomplished musician and one of the foremost writers of pedagogy (amongst other topics) we have today, has presented an article that describes in an objective way what encompasses the "breathing system" and how it can be used. (This is the most cogent presentation I have found describing "support". I discovered it many years into my development and it confirmed notions I had, explained why I felt some of the things I did while playing, explained why I DIDN'T feel certain things, presented a different view point than I held about certain aspects, and more importantly got me THINKING in a scientific way about things which I had not even considered.) I do not know Mr. Pay, nor have not corresponded with him, but he clearly has a command of the language which I do not possess, thus my recommendation of this article. It may seem "heady" at first and require several readings. Good! that's the idea. Read it now, in a week, then a week or month later- the more you advance the more you can glean from the writing. -Resistance and back-pressure, which CAN be felt as to be same thing, need to be understood to properly to address what is going on for you currently. To over-simplify for now, with regards to the mouthpiece/reed for sake of argument, resistance is the force you are "blowing against" to generate sound, or better the amount of force needed to vibrate the reed. Back-pressure is experienced when you try to blow a larger volume (quantity) of air than the set-up will allow to move through it. A certain portion of this air remains in the mouth, is pressurized and can create/be misinterpreted as a feeling of greater resistance than what actually exists. For examples, take a mouthpiece that is quite open (large tip opening) which can accept a large quantity of air and put a stiff reed on on it: you can move a large quantity of air but must "blow harder" to generate reed vibrations/sound- you feel much resistance. Conversely, take a mouthpiece with a small tip opening and place a soft reed on it. This could feel easier, less work, to play (less resistant) but cannot "accept" as much air. Thus, if you try to blow a large quantity of air though this set-up, the reed can close off (making the tip opening even smaller) and force a portion of air to remain in your cheeks, throat (etc...) at high pressure and create a greater feeling of resistance than the set-up actually has (i.e. back-pressure). These are perhaps over-generalizations, but are simply used to illustrate the difference between two different phenomena; a myriad of other things can cause this throughout your setup but let's not worry those for now. -I don't find that different registers blankly play with more resistance (with certain caveats to others that may be reading this.) Certain notes in any given register can have more resistance than a given note in a different register. Better stated, for example: open G, and B above the staff, feel RELATIVELY/COMPARATIVELY lower in resistance (though they are in differing registers) when compared to a third line B. The reason behind this (not just the mouthpiece/reed combination) is not important for you right now. What is important, and the the point of all my ramblings, is WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH YOU? *****Putting aside the worries about over-all endurance throughout the entire range, we need to address what is happening to you, re. the lower register, as you seem most concerned about it. When you mentioned the lower notes, open g on down, were more tiring it brought a few things to mind, but I needed some more information. Something that pricked my ears up, and raised a red flag for Karl as well, was the "had to blow extremely hard" at first, statement re. the reeds. I have to do some surmising here, but I would wager that you take a reed out, it feels hard at first but you play it and eventually break it in. Unfortunately, you're not breaking it in in the manner a professional does. Breaking in a reed is a poor term as it actually refers to letting the pores of the reed seal so it becomes stable: no breakage involved. What YOU are doing (if my notion is apt) is "breaking" in the reed literally. You are biting, or pressing, upward into it, actually bending it closer to the mouthpiece until it becomes the strength (or resistance level-see my ramblings aren't entirely pointless!) you feel comfortable with. This weakens the fibers, hinders the ability to vibrate the necessary differing frequencies and makes for a improperly functioning reed. (This biting, or squeezing action can be very tiring in and of itself. If remedying this solves your problems, then there's no need to read on.) Now, remembering that the reed must vibrate at a specific speed (frequency) to produce each pitch and that higher pitches require faster vibrations of the reed, we come to an important point: when a reed vibrates faster, a smaller portion is actually moving. i.e. the portion vibrating downward from the tip is less than for lower notes. This "node" (ignore that) or point of vibration is above your lip or where you have bent the reed. The lower register requires slower vibrations (lower frequency), and progressively longer portions of the reed are vibrated the further you descend in pitch. At some point this length of vibrating reed will reach your lip, or the point where the reed is bent. This makes playing notes from that place and lower more difficult as the reed cannot work as intended; it is weakened (or restricted by your lip pressure) where it is bent. You feel not "more resistance", but rather that the sound is choked off---back-pressure; the reed is not responding correctly and allowing air to pass through the tip opening as needed. (You may even "blow harder" in an attempt to make the note sound.) What occurs is the air pressure in your mouth increases, this exerts outward force on your cheeks, corners etc... you must resist this outward force with more tightening of the muscles and thus they tire more quickly. Fighting this all this "manufactured" back-pressure is quite tiring. What to do, what to do?: one simple exercise- (there are countless others) To start your practice session, put a new (i.e. un-bent) reed on, whatever strength it may be. Now I want you to change your mind-set for the moment: Instead of thinking about blowing air from your gut in a tube out through the bell in generating the sound, envision the air already inside the clarinet as a string. By blowing you are simply causing the string to vibrate, like a violinist does, producing the sound. (I am again stealing this image from Mr. Pay, to give credit where it is due.) Set a metronome at 60 (or whatever speed allows you to complete each phrase with sufficient air supply). Starting on low e, play a whole note at a mezzo-piano or so, press the register key and slur to the b a 12th above, sustaining for another whole note. (8 beats total) Listen for a smooth connection between the notes while allowing your embouchure and air to remain stable throughout. Next, repeat this a semi-tone higher, beginning on low f with a slur a 12th up to c; repeat starting on f#, g etc... until you reach first space f. Take a break!! As your endurance increases, play each note for 5 beats, 6 beats and so on. What does this accomplish? First, approaching the lowest note with a new "mindset" to generating sound (and fresh muscles!), we can establish a comfortable foundation in the low register with a stable embouchure, and avoid the anxiety it sounds like you have built up. Next, by separating each low note with a slur up a 12th, we are addressing the issue of building endurance, yet without hammering the chromatic scale until your face feels like a wet washcloth. (Perhaps better said, addressing the issue you first spoke of from two different and new directions. ...and perhaps accomplishing other things I have not mentioned ;-) Hopefully this will remove the anxiety, and fatigue you seem to be currently fighting when playing solely in the lower register. (If at any time during this exercise you experience your embouchure "blow-out", take five or ten, and pick back up where you left off. It may take more than 2 or 3 days to feel comfortable with this; no harm no foul. You are altering an approach you've been using for several months now.) do this for a few weeks and see what occurs for you. Also, write back with any questions you undoubtedly have as I surely have confused you. It is difficult (for me at least) to objectively speak about a subjective experiences. (and I am also consciously leaving out mathematical, acoustical descriptions of certain aspects, rather trying to speak more in lay-mans terms.) Others may feel free to add on, or contradict this, and offer other suggestions. I'm just trying to come up with a practical "solution" to a problem the poster has as I understand it. I'll go back later and edit this, but my eyes hurt right now and I have a tee time. -JH ok. bad round of golf.- I did some editing and I think it is a bit more precise, but will need to revise it further after I clear my head. In trying to avoid physics terms, I fear I made this far more incomprehensible. ...and I am not a acoustician, nor am trying to pose as one. (I know what I know and what I don't know.) There are a few simplifications I made that will draw the ire of those more knowledgeable in physics than I. and that are differing opinions on one point I made (as I understand it), but I'm ducking for cover right now......... Post Edited (2011-06-02 21:44)

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