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Issues of Pedagogy, and on the lower lip...

Author: suavkue
Date: 2010-11-05 15:59

Sorry for this extremely long post in advance.

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So I've had a tone problem for years. I'm currently a student in a university going for a Clarinet Performance major, and I've wrestled with the fact that I just can't a good embouchure to make the clarinet resonate its best.

I've switched mouthpieces 7 times over my 8 years of playing (Vito mouthpiece, Vandoren B45, 5RV Lyre, M13, M13 Lyre, Gennusa "Mezzo," Clark Fobes Debut), reeds many times (Rico, Rico Royal, Gonzalez Regular, Gonzalez FOF, Vandoren Traditional, Vandoren V12), and teachers (3 teachers, all of whom I stayed for less than a year with because my playing issues just could not get solved), and I've had my share of frustration over these years. I've switched embouchures usually at around 3 times a year, at least, because none of them produced satisfactory results, and there was none that sounded great. Yet, I somehow managed to make first chair every single year; that is, until I got to the university.

In the past week, I was going through another embouchure-changing cycle for the same reasons as stated above, and none of them worked - they all sounded extremely bright. My professor stated yesterday that he "didn't know what to tell me" and advised me to refer to my previous teacher (who was an excellent teacher, but that's beside the point) to help me with my double lip embouchure. (He doesn't play on a double lip; that's why he referred me.)

After the lesson, I met with another freshman (Music Ed. degree) to help her hit notes on the eefer, since this was her first time playing it (we're talking about altissimo G and A). I had never played an eefer before either, and I hit them with a little more ease thatn she did - what I noticed was that her chin was not flat/concave/however you want to describe it. So I just told her to practice keeping her chin down.

I then, for some reason, told her of my situation and asked to see her embouchure. As luck would put it, there was a mirror in the practice room that I didn't notice before was there. So I asked to see her embouchure and compared it with mine. What was the difference? My bottom lip wasn't tucked in. I've been putting the mouthpiece directly on my lip. (The lip did cover the teeth, but not as much as it was on her embouchure.)

So I asked her to listen to me play, with my original embouchure and one with the lip tucked in - the original sounded "breathy," as she put it. I asked her how the new one sounded - and she said it sounded excellent and no longer "breathy." I was surprised. I felt like this was perhaps just another embouchure change that would fail again, yet, I felt there was something different about this one. (Or at least I hoped.)

I tried it out in Orchestra and warned the other clarinetists beforehand that I was, yet again, changing my embouchure. I tried it - the blend and intonation were amazingly improved. (I recall that I always stuck out in the clarinet section with a "bright" tone. Despite that there were improvements, the only problem was that I couldn't tongue notes very well without my lip wanting to move back to its original position.) The principal clarinetist asked what I did - I told him that I just learned a few minutes ago that I was supposed to tuck my bottom lip in my mouth - and he basically said, "That would do it."

So I have two concerts, both on Saturday and Sunday, and I have a lot of practicing I have to do to have that embouchure straightened out.

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That's the end of my rant. I now have a few questions:

1) I've had a few teachers throughout my clarinet playing career - in short, they all had credentials. How could this bottom lip problem have never been noticed? (I literally asked them all during every single lesson, "How can I solve this embouchure problem?" and they gave me suggestions and went through them with me, none of which actually fully solved the problem.)

2) How many elementary school teachers actually pay attention to how their students actually play their instruments? I remember that I used to have a "speaking" embouchure, i.e. just talk as you normally would and put your mouth into it - so my chin wasn't as it was supposed to be (until I learned that from my first private teacher).

3) What does, as the principal clarinetist I mentioned put it, "tucking your [bottom] lip" in do to your sound, versus my original embouchure (putting your bottom lip directly above your teeth)?

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(Lesson learned: Take private lessons as soon as possible, and ask questions to whomever you can.)

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My current equipment:
Ridenour Lyrique 576BC, Rico Reserve 4, Ridenour Hand Finished Mouthpiece, Luyben Ligature

Post Edited (2010-11-05 16:12)

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