Teaching Clarinet Embouchure in Five Easy Steps
While smaller in stature, basic embouchure tenets remain the same for E-flat Clarinet.
Originally published in NACWPI Journal, Volume 68, Issue 1, Fall 2020
Many years ago, a former teacher said in a lesson, “I’m your teacher one day a week. You are your own the remaining six days of the week.” This comment stuck with me and has often motivated my own practice time. Now, nearly twelve years into running my own successful studio, it is a remark I often make to my own pupils. The study of music necessitates many hours of student-led learning - we call this practice! Because of this, I think it is vital that students have a clear understanding of the mechanics behind a basic concept and are able to articulate the actions for execution in their own words. If a pupil understands and can express the “why’s and how’s,” I find that they are usually more motivated and able to correctly execute the action.
As a teacher and clinician, I’ve encountered many students that cannot clearly express in words how to form an embouchure. In fact, many of them seem confused on the basics. At most, the student has a vague idea of a couple of specific qualities an embouchure should possess, such as “firm corners” and a “flat chin.” While technically correct, I don’t think it is specific enough for a refined and strong embouchure. Over the years, I have boiled down constructing an embouchure to a set of concise, easily memorized steps. While by no means entirely comprehensive, I do think this provides enough direction to get started. I’ve included some tips to troubleshoot and further explain the “why’s and how’s” of each step.
A quick note - giving a beginner student a good start on any instrument requires an almost inexhaustible quantity of kind, thoughtful persistence. What feels second-nature to the teacher is, of course, completely new to the student. The teacher must continually affirm and remind the student of concepts. Fine musicians are life-long students of the instrument. We never stop working to refine and “perfect” our embouchure. Encourage your students to view the study of their chosen instrument as a “long game,” and to allow a measure of grace towards themselves as skills grow and expectations change.
Steps to make a Clarinet Embouchure:
Line your front teeth up so they are parallel.
Using the index finger, separate your front teeth finger-width apart.
Roll the lower lip over bottom teeth while stretching/flexing chin muscles so that they are firmly flexed and flat.
Slide the clarinet mouthpiece in along top teeth at a 45 degree angle until it stops and the bottom lip makes contact with the reed.
Seal by bringing the upper lip down and the corners of the mouth in towards the mouthpiece.
Troubleshooting the embouchure (each number corresponds to the step up above):
The front teeth are lined up so that the student takes the correct amount of top/bottom of mouthpiece AND to eliminate “biting.” The mouthpiece should be used as a fulcrum point, pushing UP into the top teeth and leaning horizontally into the lower jaw.
Ensure that the student’s index finger is pointing towards them. Do not allow them to insert the finger into the mouth past the first knuckle. Students can change jaw alignment when doing this, so WATCH CLOSELY!
The lower lip should roll over the bottom teeth to about where the lip starts to turn into skin. Watch to make sure that students don’t roll in so far that they are playing with the reed touching the skin of their chin. Students may have marks from playing on their lower lip, but they should NOT have a reed mark the chin skin (indicating rolling in TOO far or collapsing of the chin muscles). Additionally, students can easily open their mouth too far by dropping their jaw while rolling the lip over the bottom teeth.
Clarinetists are the “power-lifters” of the wind section. Our embouchure gets set and stays set (for the most part). The chin needs to be flexed and extremely firm to support the vibration of the reed. Sometimes it helps students to focus on pushing the jaw bone horizontally forward through the chin muscle. Students will also try to create a seemingly flat chin by pulling the corners back (this results in a flabby, flat chin). DO NOT let them do this. The corners have to come forward (think “OOO”) to support the chin muscles in their flex.
The angle in which the instrument enters the mouth can dramatically impact the amount of mouthpiece the player takes. Clarinetists should take less on the top of the mouthpiece and more on the bottom (reed side). If their teeth are properly aligned (step 1), this will happen naturally. Encourage the student to remain stationary and to keep their torso relaxed. Straining or reaching towards the clarinet (an inanimate and moveable object) can change the angle of entry of the mouthpiece.
The corners of the embouchure are just as important as the flex of the chin. The corners of the mouth should come forward, IN towards the mouthpiece. I like to tell students to imagine two attracting magnets trying to meet (in spite of the mouthpiece being in the way). Another good trick is to encourage students to make a “duck face.” This instantly brings the corners forward along the teeth towards the mouthpiece. You can tell students to say “OOO,” but I have found that most of my Midwestern students place the vowel so far back in their mouth that the corners of their lips actually move back towards their ears.
A final note - prior to beginning the study of an instrument, students have only used the muscles and muscle fibers of the face for eating and speaking - both activities that haven’t required much conscious effort since toddlerhood. Suddenly, upon starting clarinet, the student is asked to use these muscles in a thoughtful and highly athletic way. I find it particularly helpful to share a diagram of facial musculature with students of all ages, as most have no conception of the actual muscular structure (diagrams are readily found with a simple Google search). Without this knowledge, it is difficult to accurately engage in creating and holding an embouchure. Discussion of muscle groups, along with tactile use of the fingers to “feel” the firmness of the flex provides students with enough information to monitor their progress in the practice room. Informed students are empowered students. Empowered students are able to be thoughtful learners; and thoughtful learners often develop into creative and gracious musicians.