Hello, it's been a while since I've made a topic on this

I had a clarinet exam today (not an abrsm one, my school one)... it went ok, but the only thing was my squeaky clarinet playing at times (ok it was three squeaks out of the 4 pieces but still, it worried me a bit )

I didn't have a clue what I was doing wrong in the exam, my posture was fine (Which is normally the root of my problem), and my embrochure SEEMED fine, but wasn't apparently. After the exam my clarinet teacher told me that I was 'biting' the mouthpiece because I panicked when I squeaked the first time, and I was in general quite nervous.

So I suppose, what I'm trying to ask is how do I stop biting the mouthpiece? And does anybody have any tips on lessening my nerves? (I used the bach rescue remedy, ate a banana, tried to breathe... )

Thank you (for any replies and also for reading my rambly post)

Off the top of my head:

Experiment with using a slightly softer reed, e.g. a no. 2.5 instead of 3.

Prior to an exam, make sure you have a number of reeds broken in and choose your favourite.

Are you sure you have the best mouthpiece for you? Closed tips like the Vandoren 5RV are very forgiving. More open mouthpieces like the B45 are more tempermental.

Try to imagine that all the people watching you are completely naked. This was from a 'Speaking in public' course.

Practise the pieces so much that they feel dead easy.

Just before the test, hand out old Maths GCSE papers, reminding the teachers politely about the minimum requirements for secondary school teachers and adding that you may be asking questions later! That should shut them up!

Steve

It sounds like you just had a bit of nerves which resulted in squeaks where they wouldn't normally occur. It's not really anything out of the ordinary and if it doesn't happen in your lessons or when you practise it's probably nothing to worry about. An exercise I get my students to do when when learning the upper register is to start on the lower note (that is played with the same fingering), eg. bottom G, and keeping the air going simply add the register key (to play middle D). The idea is that nothing should move apart from the thumb opening the register key. They shouldn't have to squeeze or bite or overblow to get the note to speak - as long as they've got the air support ready and moving. Obviously you can work right up from bottom E (middle B) to middle F (upper C) using this exercise.

If you don't have a mouthpiece patch you may find this useful as a comfort thing. I can't play without one now as the sensation of the mouthpiece vibrating against my top teeth is unbearable.

Also, meant in a completely friendly way, it's embouchure , not embrochure.

Good luck. Lucid

Thank you so much !!!! My mouthpiece is a Vandoren B40: it was a toss up between that and the B45, and I did find the B45 tempermental, so I chose the B40 ! Thanks for the advice about the reed as well: I've been using a 3 at the moment because I find it easier to get high notes on it, but I'm sure my brother will lend me some 2.5s



Thank you as well !!!! I feel quite reassured now, which is good because it knocked my confidence a bit (exams always do somehow... ) I do have a mouthpiece patch, which really helped me when I had braces , and I just kept it ever since!!! They are brilliant

I knew I'd spelt something wrong !!!!