Elements of Embouchure for Clarinet

Video Transcript

" Hi! My name is Leslie Burnick and I am speaking on behalf of expertvillage.com. Today I’m going to talk about producing a tone on the clarinet and forming an embouchure. The embouchure is basically the muscles and everything around your mouth. Again we have the clarinet already assembled and the reed is on and again without this reed you are not going to get any sound at all. So you want to make sure that your reed is in good condition. As a beginner you would want to start with about a number two and a half reed, as you progress, as you get more advanced, you are going to want to move up to number 3. Reeds only go to about a number 5. Most people do not even use that kind. Typically I play on a number three and a half so anywhere from the two and a half to a three and a half is what most people do tend to play. So when you form an embouchure the most important thing to do, keep your lower lip over your teeth, you do not have to swallow it, just over your teeth, you will then put the mouthpiece in your mouth, again you will have to just watch me as far as how much to put it because I’m not going to be there to tell you how much to put in your mouth. So you are going to put the mouthpiece in your mouth, then your top teeth are going to go on the mouthpiece. You want to make sure that you have it on there, do not let it float around, otherwise the clarinet is going to be bouncing around. So top teeth on the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece in your mouth, and then you are going to close up, close all your muscles, your lips around the mouthpiece and then you just blow. Now it is very important you want to keep your cheeks from puffing. Keep everything nice and firm and that will give you the best sound possible. Again…"