Does your embouchure need a check up?

[@KeithWagner8]

Love the video, and the background.

[@philipeverall6]

Thank you! The pixels in the mushroom are made of Jarrah, Tasmanian Oak, and Pine… it took me an embarrassingly long time to make 😂

[@victorpashkevich8801]

I found the best angle for the clarinet by raising and lowering while checking my tuner previously my techer taught me to find the perfect balance point on the clarinet rest

[@philipeverall6]

However we find it, the right angle for us is important!

[@craigryding2989]

Good video! (Also the video quality is great, background, lighting, etc). I have the same problem as you mentioned: upper lip starting to leak. I’ve partially solved it by more “drawstring” and less biting. Anyway, good video

[@philipeverall6]

Thanks so much! Yeah - the drawstring is the ticket for me. Lowenstern’s Q-T exercise has been the most helpful thing. Al the best!

[@musokid89]

fantastic video mate! any chance you have a PDF of the exercise you played at 13:01?

[@philipeverall6]

Thanks mate! Yes - I’m collating a bunch of them as we speak. I can send you this specific one later today :)

[@musokid89]

@@philipeverall6 thank you! you know where to find me!

[@zathrasnotzathras9435]

I’ll keep referring back to this as I work on my embouchure

[@philipeverall6]

Great! All the best with it :)

[@lillianhusbymelien5471]

Thank you so much for your video, but I have some questions: Is there a way to avoid the clarinet pressing very hard on the upper teeth? If I relax my upper lip, the lower lip goes too much down. If I press the upper lip down, the jaw opens, and it is hard to get it up again, if I form the rubber string around the mouthpiece, the lips go apart, and if I stretch the chin muscle down, the muscles next to them go up. Then the upper lip goes up, and the pressure on the upper teeth gets really strong. Without a teacher, I haven’t found a sotion to this.

[@philipeverall6]

Thanks for the question! Yep - this is a tricky one, especially if you don’t have a teacher! It’s a bit hard to say without seeing it in person, but my question for you is: can you whistle? For me, whistling is a very similar shape of the lips than the embouchure- so that might be worth trying. Where abouts are you? Judging by the spelling of your name and your grammar - are you Dutch? If so, there are many great teachers nearby!!

[@philipeverall6]

The other thing I should mention is that John Kurokawa, Callie Laughlin, and Earspasm all have great videos on embouchure, so make sure you check them out. John and Callie have a very different approach from mine, so that might help too!

[@Stooky_Person]

Ngl, that intro threw me right off, and made me laugh. As per usual *F*ill, the video is stooky. Looking forward to the next episode

[@brucestebner3074]

Have you ever used double lip?

[@philipeverall6]

I have - it’s not how I usually play, but I do it from time to time as an exercise to free up tension or focus on something else like breathing or air direction. I was going to speak about it briefly in this video but I edited it out - to speak about it properly I’d need a whole video I think! Do you use double lip?

[@brucestebner3074]

I’m a recent convert. I learned to play single lip in the 60’s. Have played intermittently over the decades and have returned in earnest as a 70 year old. I’ve used it for 3 months. I recently tried single lip again, and it seemed bizarre.

[@philipeverall6]

@@brucestebner3074 nice. It’s old-school, but whatever works! If it’s good enough for Corrado Giuffredi who am I to argue! I think I heard somewhere that Kalmen Opperman was double lip too…

[@darrellmoore1743]

Turn the mouthpiece around!

[@jeanvernesse8873]

What letter for double lips?

[@philipeverall6]

I actually edited out a short comment about double lip from this video because it was already very long, and it’s another discussion entirely… next time I talk about embouchure, I promise!

[@darrellmoore1743]

Turn the mouthpiece around!

[@philipeverall6]

@@darrellmoore1743interesting… what for? I know it was a technique used a few hundred years ago, but with the shape of mouthpieces these days I’m not sure what the benefit is. Enlighten me?

[@darrellmoore1743]

​@philipeverall6 vocal temperament. A process abandoned by the industry 200 years ago. It is much easier when the upper lip is intimate with the reed. The big problem is that you must return to the Rubank beginner band class for the rest of your life. The sooner you get your teeth off the mouthpiece, the better. Love your presentations. Thanx

[@philipeverall6]

@@darrellmoore1743thanks for the tip!