[PDBowden]

I’ve been playing Bb clarinet for a little less than a year and my primary instrument is the tenor sax. I often feel that I can go on for a while while playing the tenor sax but whenever I play the clarinet, my embouchure tires out faster and it often affects my tone on the tenor sax while playing them together. Are there any tips that you have?

 

[paulwl]

Quick tip...diaphragm tension is really beneficial on clarinet, especially keeping your sound from going flat in the clarion register (which will cause you to bite down too much!) Mentally, keep your midsection just a bit tense, as if ready for a punch in the gut.

 

[PDBowden]

Thanks

 

[PDBowden]

Quick tip...diaphragm tension is really beneficial on clarinet, especially keeping your sound from going flat in the clarion register (which will cause you to bite down too much!) Mentally, keep your midsection just a bit tense, as if ready for a punch in the gut.

Thanks

 

[mmichel]

It might also help if you tell us something about your setup. I find it surprising that playing clarinet would tire your embouchure on tenor.

Biting in the clarion is a common issue, but I don't think that it would explain your chops getting tired. However, using a setup that's too stiff could be a problem, and it's also something that crops up frequently when players move up in reed strength to control the clarion and altissimo instead of adjusting their voicing.

 

[Gulo gulo]

I've been playing Bb clarinet for a little less than a year and my primary instrument is the tenor sax. I often feel that I can go on for a while while playing the tenor sax but whenever I play the clarinet, my embouchure tires out faster and it often affects my tone on the tenor sax while playing them together. Are there any tips that you have?

I had similar issues the first six months or so, what helped is practicing on both instruments daily (and in different order, sometimes switching several times during practice). Long tones (low register on tenor, altissimo on clarinet) every day also helps.

 

[lomaserena]

Clarinet embouchure uses muscles in different ways, depending on the style of embouchure you're trying to develop. Without seeing you play the clarinet (and sax) it's hard to comment, but I think mmichel's comments might be close to the mark. Using a stiff reed and/or biting (using jaw pressure) to get the upper register to speak is a mistake. Work on long tones to strengthen your clarinet embouchure; when that's done, you shouldn't need to tighten your embouchure significantly in the upper register. Do it with voicing. You should eventually be able to play up to altissimo C with a relatively soft reed.

 

[Guest]

I've been playing Bb clarinet for a little less than a year and my primary instrument is the tenor sax. I often feel that I can go on for a while while playing the tenor sax but whenever I play the clarinet, my embouchure tires out faster and it often affects my tone on the tenor sax while playing them together. Are there any tips that you have?

I usually dislike the blanket solution of "practice more" but it applies here to the clarinet. You need to build up the embouchure for endurance. I typically play 4 hour gigs (when there is no pandemic) on clarinet and tenor and the only solution to endurance is to prepare by playing. It's like running, you can't build up endurance for running unless you run.

 

[saxoclese]

The clarinet which plays at or near the top of its mouthpiece pitch requires a firmer embouchure than the tenor sax. In over 30 years of playing and teaching I have never found a short cut to build embouchure strength and endurance. Long tones are the most effective. An exercise from "The Art of Saxophone Playing" by Larry Teal to strengthen the muscles in the corners of the mouth is to smile then whistle 50 times, rest and repeat. Doing so in public is not recommended.

Another tip I learned from Donald Sinta is to hold a soda straw between the lips for as long as you can while resting or watching tv. Good luck. I've been in that situation and "feel your pain".

 

[adamk]

The clarinet which plays at or near the top of its mouthpiece pitch requires a firmer embouchure than the tenor sax. In over 30 years of playing and teaching I have never found a short cut to build embouchure strength and endurance. Long tones are the most effective. An exercise from "The Art of Saxophone Playing" by Larry Teal to strengthen the muscles in the corners of the mouth is to smile then whistle 50 times, rest and repeat. Doing so in public is not recommended.

Another tip I learned from Donald Sinta is to hold a soda straw between the lips for as long as you can while resting or watching tv. Good luck. I've been in that situation and "feel your pain".

Why does it play at the top of it's mpc pitch, and do you mean that it is lipped up to where bending pitch down is possible but not up?

 

[saxoclese]

Why does it play at the top of it's mpc pitch, and do you mean that it is lipped up to where bending pitch down is possible but not up?

1) because it is a clarinet 2) yes

For a "classical" tone the embouchure is typically set so that any additions tightening will close the reed off. There is some debate among players whether it is better to play at the top of the pitch or near the top of the pitch. Swing and traditional jazz players will often play with a looser embouchure to increase the volume and to facilitate stylistic effects. In most cases they offset that by using a shorter barrel.

 

[ZootTheSim]

The good news is that once you develop a clarinet embouchure, it should make the sax easier too.

 

[dexdex]

The good news is that once you develop a clarinet embouchure, it should make the sax easier too.

For endurance, no doubt. But NOT as an embouchure reference. It took me years to get rid of the embouchure technique I was taught on clarinet in my teens, in a local "Conservatoire classique". I admit I never took saxophone lessons, the baritone finally helped me to let lose, to "unbite", to play low in the pitch. I quite successfully applied that back "up the range" to all saxes AND both clarinets (Bb and bass). To finally understand how Sidney Bechet (on clarinet) and other New-Orleans style clarinet players (Omer Simeon, Johnny Dodds) achieved their tone and articulation.

 

[Lambros]

This is true and I think regardless of style, clarinet needs a looser embouchure even if the embouchure covers a smaller area than one on saxophone does.

For endurance, no doubt. But NOT as an embouchure reference. It took me years to get rid of the embouchure technique I was taught on clarinet in my teens, in a local "Conservatoire classique". I admit I never took saxophone lessons, the baritone finally helped me to let lose, to "unbite", to play low in the pitch. I quite successfully applied that back "up the range" to all saxes AND both clarinets (Bb and bass). To finally understand how Sidney Bechet (on clarinet) and other New-Orleans style clarinet players (Omer Simeon, Johnny Dodds) achieved their tone and articulation.

 

[dexdex]

This is true and I think regardless of style, clarinet needs a looser embouchure even if the embouchure covers a smaller area than one on saxophone does.

This is clearly my conviction today. But not what I was taught back in the 70s as a kid.

 

[Lambros]

I come from the same era in learning but started on saxophone (alto) when I was 11, my older sister played flute and a first cousin played clarinet. On sax there was a better chance of success for students as far as what I observed, just as long as you did some basic things right with your embouchure; clarinet was less forgiving I feel because mouthpiece/reed combinations are more exacting along with the smaller embouchure. Years later, you get into the habit with a particular approach, your discipline gets a little laxed because you suspend the critical component of playing until you use it again to discover things.

This is clearly my conviction today. But not what I was taught back in the 70s as a kid.