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Re: Embouchure Fatigue

Author: Micke Isotalo ★2017
Date: 2020-01-28 22:42

Dan, to keep things as simple as possible for a beginner blowing for the first time in a clarinet I tell them only three things: 1) Fold your lower lip over your lower teeth, 2) put your upper teeth on top of the mouthpiece, 3) then close your mouth and just blow.

If a tone comes out this way, then only later and after this approach has become somewhat established, I move on to how to develop a more complete embouchure.

At this later stage the whistle analogy can be used, as well as other similar ones I've seen on this board - such as form your mouth as when sucking through a thick straw, as a drawstring or rubber band around the mouthpiece, as when kissing, etc.

The point of these analogies is to help create an embouchure pressure more or less equal all around the mouthpiece, in contrast to a "biting" or "jaw pressure" embouchure where the pressure is mainly vertical. Because of the harmful effects of biting (to the tone, to the lower lip, etc) that should be avoided and all embouchure pressure should ideally come only from the lip muscles (maybe with the exception of the third register where some "biting" may be accepted, at least as I allow myself and as I wrote in my previous post above).

However, and here comes my main point: These analogies should still not be taken too literally since then they would indeed produce a "wrinkly mess" of your lips, as Paul pointed out above. But, if a beginner already has established a simple folding of the lower lip over the lower teeth and then just ads a "whistle" or whatever analogy is used to that, then the desired kind of embouchure may come out quite easily and naturally (or not, and in that case the maintained flatness of the lower lip may need attention).

Some teachers also describes the forming of such an embouchure as saying "we-two". When saying "we" you flatten your lower lip, which you should then keep in that position, but when you continue by saying "two" you sort of pull together the rest of your mouth opening around your mouthpiece.

The same kind of "whistle-embouchure" can be used regardless of facing length. I use it on Viennese facings which are extremely long compared to French facings - but the longer the facing, the more mouthpiece you just need to take in.

So in summary, don't wrinkle up your lower lip but try otherwise to form your mouth as when you whistle (or any other similar analogy you prefer) - and don't bite.

These are of course only the basics, but hopefully to some help. There are also other approaches that may work as well.

Post Edited (2020-01-29 02:27)

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Embouchure Fatigue new

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2020-01-16 04:38