Air Flow
Dear Jason:
I have a student who is having difficulty making a tone on the clarinet. I have worked on his mouth formation/embouchure and airflow, and will sit down 1-1 to do more of this. He is using a "family" clarinet, and it is being serviced today, in order to check that it is not the problem. What I am wondering is if someone more experienced, who has gained some knowledge and tips, could let me know what his problem might be. I assume it has to do with airflow, but perhaps there are other reasons, or things that I am not picking up on.
Another few questions:
What should clarinettists do about building up muscle so that the corners of the mouth don't tire and puff out?
Is it just more breath that will help students play the lower notes (i.e. low F)?
posted by J a s o n at 2:13 p.m.
1 Comments:
It's a little hard to tell from your email, but I think you're saying that your student is having trouble getting his first tones on the clarinet. You're not talking about tone quality, but any tone at all. Right?
If this is the case, what I would recommend is for you to approach to problem in the following way:
1. Check that the reed is not broken or chipped.
2. Remove the mouthpiece from the instrument and have him play just the mouthpiece (with reed attached of course).
3. Have him play loud and long. Don't worry about it being raucous. Just get lots of air moving through the mouthpiece.
4. If there are no problems there, attached the barrel joint to the mouthpiece (it's the next joint down) and repeat the same exercise.
5. If there are no problems there, attach the rest of the instrument and have him do the same exercise on the open G (no fingers). Remember, don't worry about sound quality - just go for lots of sound.
6. If there are no problems there, have him play the notes he knows going down from the G. Any problems that arise will be due to finger alignment or a broken instrument.
Any problems preceding step 6 are likely from problems with the embouchure. To check the embouchure, do the following:
* Is his lower lip rolled slightly over his lower teeth?
* Are his upper teeth resting on the mouthpiece (about 1/2" along the mouthpiece)?
* Do his lips form a seal around the mouthpiece.
* Is his chin pointed?
* Do his cheeks puff? They shouldn't.
Use the image of blowing out a candle from a distance. He needs to make a tight directed air stream, otherwise the air will go all over and not extinguish the flame. I hope this helps.
YOUR OTHER QUESTIONS:
* To build up muscles, start with softer reeds, take frequent breaks when you tire, then return to playing, play music you enjoy.
* Clarinet is a conical bore instrument (unlike the oboe and the saxophone) so you don't need the same breath control in the lower register. It is possible that you need more air in the bottom notes, but that's mostly because you're pushing it through a longer tube than higher notes. Most clarinettists learn to play out their lower register simple because it's so easy to play softly down there that it may not be heard otherwise. Difficulties often occur in the lower notes that result from mechanical problems with the instrument on fingers sliding off keys.
2:37 p.m.
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