The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Re: child is playing so flat!

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2010-10-08 17:10

Echoing part of what Ed suggested, this problem in my experience comes mostly from the lower lip's being allowed to pull out away from the teeth, especially with a younger student whose lip muscles can't by themselves support the reed's vibration. The first important thing is to teach the student to hear that the sound is spread and the pitch is flat. The spread sound is often easier for kids to hear and understand - you can do an approximation for her on your clarinet and talk about keeping the sound "clear" or not "rubbery" or "stretchy." By the way, reproducing the problem yourself is a useful way to work out what you need to tell the student to change.

Once my students recognize the problem, I can often get them to improve or eliminate it just by asking them to hold the clarinet up (with the right thumb) more firmly (toward the mouth, not outward) and hold the lower lip more against the bottom teeth. Sometimes having a student take more lip into the mouth helps. But unless your student is listening for the problem, she will revert back to whatever she has been doing when you aren't giving her explicit instructions to correct it.

One common cause of this, again in my experience, is that many students continue to use the soft reeds that were packed with the instruments when they were new. A reed that's too soft can almost force the kind of embouchure softness that causes the flatness and spreadiness to avoid closing the reed off. Make sure the reeds your student is using are appropriate for the mouthpiece, even if they feel a little stiff to her at first. If she's able to play the new strength, she'll adjust to it within a few minutes.

Good luck,
Karl

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics