 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Lesley
Date: 2022-10-11 19:55
Hi, I'm hoping someone can help me. I have been told by the dentist that a nerve in one of my front teeth is inflamed, probably caused by clenching and grinding my jaw while sleeping.
I have been told that to give it a chance to recover, I have not to bite anything with my front teeth for at least a week and I shouldn't play the clarinet.
I am currently preparing for a concert with the band I play in which will take place in a few weeks. The music is not a problem, but the programme is 90 minutes long with only a few rests, so I was planning to practice a lot to build stamina.
Does anyone have tips for anything I can do to build stamina without actually playing - mouth exercises, breathing exercises etc? Or any advice on how to minimise the pressure on my front teeth when playing? Thanks in advance!
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2022-10-11 22:12
Have you tried playing clarinet since the diagnosis? I personally can't see where any ACTUAL biting occurs (like eating an apple or ripping into a steak). If it does bother you, maybe the concert will have to go on without you. If it is not much of an irritant but is still "tender," you could just do fingering exercises (in those instances I don't use a mouthpiece, just place the barrel against my chin).
Again, if there is a medical downside, don't push it, let your body heal and you'll be able to enjoy playing again.........down the road.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: Hunter_100
Date: 2022-10-11 22:28
I'm not a pro player by any means, but I have never found that taking 1 week off of playing causes much loss of stamina, especially if you will still have a few weeks to get back into the music after your recovery.
You could always try to learn double lip playing, which will take most of the load off your teeth. Even if you only try it for a week two, it will keep your lips in shape.
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Author: hans
Date: 2022-10-12 06:25
Lesley,
If the inflammation symptom was "...caused by clenching and grinding my jaw while sleeping", then it follows that you would need to stop that cause before you could expect any improvement, or a recurrence.
I recall my dentist giving me a prescription for anti-inflammation medication after a root canal that needed more than time to calm down. It worked quickly and made my arthritic lower back better too.
Regards,
Hans
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Author: Matt74
Date: 2022-10-12 10:02
I doubt you will build much stamina in a few weeks anyhow. A quicker solution would be to use a softer reed if you are worried about the concert.
- Matthew Simington
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2022-10-12 15:43
Hi Lesley,
I'm really sorry to hear about the tooth difficulty, but properly impressed by the concert you are working up to. It sounds amazing.
Would it be okay to ask if it is your top or bottom teeth that are the problem? I was trying to think about it, and it seems as though it probably makes a big difference which teeth it is that you need protect.
Jen
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Author: kdk
Date: 2022-10-13 00:09
Lesley wrote:
> I have been told that to give it a chance to recover, I have
> not to bite anything with my front teeth for at least a week
> and I shouldn't play the clarinet.
> I am currently preparing for a concert with the band I play in
> which will take place in a few weeks. The music is not a
> problem, but the programme is 90 minutes long with only a few
> rests, so I was planning to practice a lot to build stamina.
I don't have any tips on building your stamina, but I would suggest that you relax, stay off the clarinet for a week as your dentist recommended, and then just go back to playing (assuming the nerve has recovered or been removed via a root canal procedure). You may need a day or two of shorter practice sessions to get back to where you were, but that's really all it should take.
I just took a week's vacation to visit our daughter in Arizona. I didn't take a clarinet with me. We got back Saturday night. I did a little more than an hour of playing on Sunday. It took a few minutes to get everything working together. I played a "wind ensemble" rehearsal on Monday with no problems.
I don't think a week should cause any problem at all unless you convince yourself that it has.
As for your plan to "practice a lot to build stamina," I think you have to be a little careful. Over-practicing has caused more than one player among my acquaintances to develop repetitive stress injuries that incapacitated them far longer than a week and took more treatment than simple rest. A 90 minute concert is not 90 straight minutes of playing. There is time between pieces apart from whatever rests you do have in the music, and perhaps an intermission. Don't spook yourself about the length of the concert. Just practice normally and enjoy what you're doing.
Karl
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Author: MajorFifthMusic
Date: 2022-10-18 03:37
I was having such bad tooth pain from playing that I took about a year off. After that year I got two clear retainers made, and switched to double lip. I highly suggest both of these things!
While you're out, listen to your music, finger along. Look over scales and keep your hand active. Getting your horn out to play with just your hands is a great cheat. When you don't have your horn, sit/stand straight and do some breath exercises. Try to take in a lot of air in a quick breath, and blow out slooowly, just like you're playing. Another fun thing to add to that is tonguing, engage your facial muscles like you're playing, and say "ta-ta-ta" as quickly as you can. That's a nice thing to do while stuck in traffic, or even along to the music you're studying.
Keep your facial muscles engaged as much as you can. If you can chew gum - do!
Best of luck, and keep us updated!!
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2022-10-18 14:18
Hi MajorFifthMusic,
Would you be able to point is to a picture online of the kind of retainers that you have that worked so well? That sounds like a thing that would really help a lot of people.
Thanks,
Jen
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2022-10-19 18:16
Are you familiar with the double lip embouchure? I used (use?) this many times to check that I wasn't biting down and was instead focusing on embouchure pressure.
You can also look up saxophone embouchures. One common embouchure is to form an O with your lips, and use the muscles of your mouth and lips, and NOT your teeth.
You can absolutely have a clarinet mouthpiece and form an O and keep your muscles in shape without having your actual teeth EVER touch the top of the mouthpiece. And you can practice this way too if need be!
If the no biting rule is specific to not putting pressure on TEETH, I'd suggest a double lip embouchure style for maintaining your endurance and keeping your muscles in shape.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2022-10-23 02:13
I may be jumping in here too late, but another embouchure to try just lifting the upper teeth off the top of the mouthpiece. I believe Anthony Gigliotti played that way.
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Author: Niclas.e.gustafsson
Date: 2022-11-01 23:43
Hi.
Way too late to the game, but I always found funny faces in front of the mirror really helps with this. Huge and constantly changing. If you understand what i mean? Not static faces.
Stamina (muscle developement) comes from using your facial muscles extensively. That’s it. Often usef muscles don’t get fatigued as easily. You don’t need to build STRONG muscles. That is just nonsense.
Playing should also not require any kind of pressure on the teeth, but i can see your dentist wanting to cover all basis. He/she doesn’t know, or your have a very different playing style than mine. I use a looot of air, but very light pressure to keep the mcp in place. Need to stay relaxed to voice and color the tone. Using too much muscles give me a stiff, unflexible sound.
I don’t play much beyond teaching and bands anymore, but just this weekend i did 9 hours of rehersal and a 2 hour concert (World premiered a wonderful piece by Jan van der Roost! Medelpadia. Great music!!) without any more preparation than funny faces. No problem at all.
I can guarantee you will get tired from less than a minute of funny faces the first week. It’s really not as easy as Jim Carrey makes it look!!
Post Edited (2022-11-01 23:46)
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