Page 9 - 2019 BMR April

Eleven Thoughts on Beginning Clarinet

Dr. Connor O’Meara

With so many great resources on embouchure formation 4. Mouthpiece and barrel sounds a concert F# in tune
and clarinet basics, this article is meant to re-enforce (or slightly sharp) at A=442. Tonal Energy/Tuner: Set to
traditional beginning clarinet pedagogy while offering A=442. Most all beginner and intermediate clarinets come
different tools for fixing common problems with middle with short barrels, usually 64 millimeters long. This means
school clarinetists.
that the instrument is designed to play sharper than a
professional instrument which comes with a 66 millimeter
1. Exact reed placement matters! barrel.
Always tip of the reed, tip of the
mouthpiece. This is more about 5. Students always reduce their air flow when starting
having a consistent reference point to play with a tuner, causing the pitch to rise. Keep the air
than anything else. As students moving!
advance, they can be introduced
to playing the reed a little under 6.Start tonguing early! After students have successfully
the mouthpiece, however this demonstrated assembly of mouthpiece, barrel, reed and
is not suitable for day one—it have produced sounds, get them tonguing.
often leads to students slowly
playing the reed lower and lower 7. Clarinet is different than most other instruments with
each day as their perception of regard to articulation. The most common syllables used to
“a hair under the tip” turns into start beginners with articulation are “Ta,” “Da,” “Ti,” and
a significant gap under the tip of “De.” Of these four, “Ta” and “Da” are the least desirable
the mouthpiece. and most often lead to the jaw moving while articulating
on the clarinet in addition to excessive tongue movement
2.Embouchure formation order: at the back of the mouth. “Ti” and “De” are functional,
1. T-Ooo embrouchure shape. but also have a tendency for students to associate these
2. Lower lip rolls over teeth syllables with jaw movement. The ideal syllable for
3. Open teeth slightly starting articulation on clarinet is “Ni,” similar to saying
4. Slide reed over lower lip “knee.” Practice saying “Ni” yourself and note where the
5. Gently angle barrel tongue touches inside of your mouth and what the back
toward face allowing top of of the tongue feels like as you do so. Ideally, the tongue
mouthpiece to rest against is touching the intersection between gum line and top
top teeth front teeth while the back of the tongue is staying up and
6. Lips and corners hug the arched with little movement. Coincidentally, the tongue is
mouthpiece (never smile!) contacting the gum line front teeth intersection precisely
7. Top lip gently pushes down where the tip of the clarinet mouthpiece will be resting in
on the mouthpiece a student’s mouth, with the back of the tongue staying high

and arched preventing repeated articulated pitches from
3. Keep that chin tall and flat! Students can always being scooped and increasing articulation speed.
reference the shape of their embouchure with a mirror and
also by using their right hand pressing on their lower chin. 8. When students are struggling with clean articulation,
They should feel a flat surface that is stretched and firm quite often too much of the tongue is moving. This is
against their lower jaw. clearly visible when observing a student’s neck. A notable

Bandmasters Review • April 2019 7 Texas Bandmasters Association