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Unsolved Mystery: Squeaking

Author: orchestr
Date: 2015-02-13 04:38

I am looking for suggestions for a student of mine who is having trouble squeaking. Links to sound files are here:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8960692/New%20Recording%207.m4a
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8960692/Record.m4a

Things is is not:
Her equipment: I cannot get a squeak when I play on her reed/mpc/clarinet combo. She still gets the squeak on my setup. She has squeaked on numerous different reeds.
Fingers not covering holes: At least from what I see mere inches away, they are all completely covered.
Too much mouthpiece: Experimented everywhere from 1/2 inch down to teeth practically between the mouthpiece and reed. Still squeaks.
Biting: She does have a biting problem, but I've had her relax her jaw to the point where the notes are noticeably flat, and there is still a squeak.

As you can tell, it's worst when she articulates in the upper register, but even holding a throat "A" for too long will eventually squeak. I originally suspected that she was opening her throat too much (dropping her larynx) and playing with her tongue at the bottom of her mouth. Having her physically press her tongue up from under her chin with her thumb helped a little, but did not get rid of the squeaks entirely. Perhaps it's a voicing thing, but I'm not sure what direction to go to improve that.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am going crazy, and I fear that she may quit the clarinet because it is so frustrating for her!

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