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Squeaking Problem

Author: Sleepy2o0
Date: 2009-10-21 06:37

Hi

I have been playing clarinet for about 10-11 years now, taking lessons on and off. For the past couple years or so, I have been having squeaking problems during the middle of the semester. I usually stop playing during the summer break, and then I start up again before school starts. I usually sound fine for a couple months, then some time in the middle of the semester, it FEELS like the reeds are getting harder to play, the clarinet is getting harder to control, and I begin to have squeaking problems. Usually the squeaks are around G5 and whenever I have to press down the pinky Eb key. I also have a problem with playing the overblown A when I'm actually trying to play E6. Same for the F6.

Some possible contributing factors:
- I took lessons a couple years ago, and I was in the midst of fixing my upper lip part of my embouchure when I quit. My teacher told me that I need to sort of curl in my upper lip. I just kind of had it flat on my mouthpiece. I don't think I ever got it right,.. Now it's in between what it used to be and what it's supposed to be.
- I feel like I put too much pressure on my upper teeth. (But I feel like when I don't, I squeak even more)
- If I find the right reed (which seems to be 1/15), I can play with much less squeaking.
- I feel like I'm always blaming the reed... but I know that it is mostly something wrong with my technique ...

This post might sound a little confusing... But this whole situation is confusing to me as well. I never really had a squeaking problem in HS, but now all of a sudden, I am just squeaking like crazy and I am finding it difficult to play with the same confidence.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to why I may suddenly be having this problem and what I can to do fix it? I would appreciate it very much.

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