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Embouchure

ArtyLady

ArtyLady

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Hi all,

need a bit of advice (or maybe just reassurance!:confused:) - sorry for the long post!

I'm working on Trinity Grade 6 jazz (on Tenor). All fine apart from one piece - Bob Mintzer's Lyrical. It's been challenging me in the stamina department as I'm not used to playing whole pieces through from the dots (well not since my classical flute days). Most of my playing is improvising - jazz and blues and stuff) and I think I've always been able to compensate a tired embouchure by managing my improvising to take little rests and breaths when I need them so have never been particularly aware that I had a problem.

Now this piece has many many long notes and faster passages (2.5 pages long) and my embouchure is breaking down very quickly. It reached a peak the other day and I felt VERY depressed and decided I'd better re-evalute things. So I've had a good old rummage round t'internet and Pete's site, done lots of reading including Larry Teal's method.

I have concluded that my embouchure was not right and that I was relying heavily on biting upwards to get higher notes, so this week I have concentrated on rectifying it - all I've done is long tones whilst relaxing my jaw (dropping my lower teeth down) and working on the "O" shape for the lips and doing the "ooo - eeee" excercised to strengthen my lips and facial muscles. I'm very pleased with my sound this way - so much fuller and richer too :welldone

Now for the depressing bit.... I cannot get my higher register in tune (and it's wobbly!) If I really pull in the corners of my mouth this seems to straighten out my bottom lip putting the required pressure on the reed (all the whilst avoiding biting up and keeping the jaw relaxed) and using a stronger air stream......does this sound correct? :confused: (and will I eventually be able play for much longer without my embouchure breaking down completely as it was doing?)

Many thanks for any opinions advice etc,

Arty :)
 
When you start to relax your embouchure, it's normal for you to need to push the mouthpiece a bit further in to compensate. It could be just a question of you tuning up with a tight embouchure, but then adopting the relaxed embouchure later.

Alternativley try actually tuning a little sharp.
 
Pete Thomas said:
When you start to relax your embouchure, it's normal for you to need to push the mouthpiece a bit further in to compensate. It could be just a question of you tuning up with a tight embouchure, but then adopting the relaxed embouchure later.

Alternativley try actually tuning a little sharp.
Click to expand...

I get what you're saying Pete and I will try that :) but what worries me is that the upper register is coming out flatter than the lower register if I just keep the same relaxed embouchure, so is it right that I have make some adjustment to correct my intonation? (ie by pulling in the corners of my mouth to strengthen my bottom lip rather than biting up with my teeth which I know now to be wrong? :confused:)
 
Have you thought about changing your reeds to a slightly softer one? I'm not sure what your using now, but that might help. It may not be a long term solution, but I change my reed strength quite often, sometimes strong, sometimes soft. Depends on the mood and what style I'm playing. When I go busking, I play nice soft ballads so I use a vandoren 2. When I play with my band, I use a vandoren 2.5. It's always worth trying a few different reeds, but give each type a good test.
I hope that helps.
 
Taz said:
Have you thought about changing your reeds to a slightly softer one? I'm not sure what your using now, but that might help. It may not be a long term solution, but I change my reed strength quite often, sometimes strong, sometimes soft. Depends on the mood and what style I'm playing. When I go busking, I play nice soft ballads so I use a vandoren 2. When I play with my band, I use a vandoren 2.5. It's always worth trying a few different reeds, but give each type a good test.
I hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Hi Taz - yes funnily enough that's been an issue too so yesterday I went from Vandoren 2.5 down to a 2 - lovely sounding reed and easy to blow - so no trouble there.

I've just purchased and received Pete's book (many thanks Pete! :welldone) and did as Pete advised above - tuned it sharper than normal so the upper register is in tune on the new relaxed embouchure and amazingly the lower register took care of itself!, - went throught he first Long Tone excercises in the book and really worked on not biting and managed it! :welldone I'm going to keep working on those until it's automatic - might have to take time out from playing any pieces for a while as I don't want to slip back.

Also worrying me is weak lip muscles are quite shaky (making the sound a bit like a little old lady singing :))) ) seriously though I presume and hope that shakiness goes away! :shocked:
 
Today's update.....things improved even in just 24 hours!

I'm keeping my my lower teeth and jaw down and as relaxed as possible, imagining my lips to be an elastic band and trying only to put just enough tension there to try and stop my lip quivering but it tires very quickly and my tendency still is to start to bite......so thats the point I stop and rest.

My air stream control has gone a bit awry as I'm just taking deep breaths and going for it just concentrating purely on the embouchure (bit loud and foghorn-like :))) ) Next step long tones soft and loud will hopefully get some control back there.

I think I just need to keep working on the long tone exercises and some very slow scales work for now - that way I will have the muscle memory well and truly instilled. :) I do hope this doesn't take too long to sort out!
 
+1 to Pete and m7b5. Often the problem isn't that the top end is flat, it's that the bottom end is sharp. One of the best players I know pushes in all the way over the cork and has more control over his sound than anybody else I've ever seen. Doing overtone exercises (like in Rascher's Top Tones) is the way to develop control of the sound without embochure pressure. Another great book is Dave Liebman's Creating Personal Saxophone Sound.
 
Update....well i think I've more or less cracked it!

After lots of faffing and experimenting, essentially all I have done differently from before is to lower my jaw (as it always was on the lower notes anyway) and keep it there so I do not bite up - my lips are more or less in the same position as before with the same amount of tension and I am concentrating on an even tension round the "O" lips shape. My higher register is gradually improving as I work on keeping the same embouchure.

My lip is no longer sore :welldone but I do however have a long way to go with regard to strengthening the muscles to sustain long periods of playing (which has always been problematic :().........Pete's long tone exercises are the dogs wotsits for working on this while keeping that embouchure consistent! - thanks Pete!! :) :welldone
 
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This thread needs to move to a 'reference' section, willl help lots of people in the future.
 
The great thing about this thread for me is the way it proceeded yet shows how much you helped yourself....

ArtyLady said:
I think I've always been able to compensate a tired embouchure by managing my improvising to take little rests and breaths when I need them so have never been particularly aware that I had a problem.
Arty :)
Click to expand...

For sure this was compensating and you already knew it.

ArtyLady said:
Now this piece has many many long notes and faster passages (2.5 pages long) and my embouchure is breaking down very quickly. It reached a peak the other day and I felt VERY depressed and decided I'd better re-evalute things. So I've had a good old rummage round t'internet and Pete's site, done lots of reading including Larry Teal's method.
Arty :)
Click to expand...

Knew where to start

ArtyLady said:
I have concluded that my embouchure was not right and that I was relying heavily on biting upwards to get higher notes, so this week I have concentrated on rectifying it - all I've done is long tones whilst relaxing my jaw (dropping my lower teeth down) and working on the "O" shape for the lips and doing the "ooo - eeee" excercised to strengthen my lips and facial muscles. I'm very pleased with my sound this way - so much fuller and richer too
Arty :)
Click to expand...

Drew a good conclusion, got results and asked for further input

ArtyLady said:
Now for the depressing bit.... I cannot get my higher register in tune (and it's wobbly!) If I really pull in the corners of my mouth this seems to straighten out my bottom lip putting the required pressure on the reed (all the whilst avoiding biting up and keeping the jaw relaxed) and using a stronger air stream......does this sound correct? :confused: (and will I eventually be able play for much longer without my embouchure breaking down completely as it was doing?)
Arty :)
Click to expand...

Confirmed via the replies and your own effort that Rome wasn't built in a day.
Well done :welldone
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Saxlicker said:
The great thing about this thread for me is the way it proceeded yet shows how much you helped yourself....



For sure this was compensating and you already knew it.



Knew where to start



Drew a good conclusion, got results and asked for further input



Confirmed via the replies and your own effort that Rome wasn't built in a day.
Well done :welldone
Click to expand...

I must admit I am a bit like a terrier with bone when something needs sorting! ;}

The nice thing is that in the end I discovered it wasn't actually as seriously wrong as I thought (apart from the biting up bit) - just needed a lot of serious analysis, appropriate tweaking, and now ongoing monitoring! :)

Arty :)
 
Really good work everyone - just to throw in a bit of a curveball, I 'bite' with my lip, there's definitely upward muscle pressure to support the reed. To help support this I turn the corners of my mouth down (rather than smiling outwards clarinet-style) a bit like a flute player.

Imagine a bulldog, rather than a terrier...

Nick
 
A bulldog with a sax? That'd be like Winston Churchill with a pipe!
 
Oh, Yes...
(Yeah, Right, he told me he was doing a gig with Alan Barnes...)
 
kevgermany said:
This thread needs to move to a 'reference' section, willl help lots of people in the future.
Click to expand...
Ok, I'll make it a sticky.

BTW, those of you with facebook can click on the "Like" button at the top of the thread, this will help people find it also.
 
Having just read through this thread, it occurs to me that no one is talking about mouthpiece tip openning.

My favourite tenor mouthpiece was an RPC115B, with a 115 thousandth of an inch openning at the tip. With a number 3 reed I was quite comfortable, but would tire after 2 hours of continuous, hard playing.

A few months ago I bought a Dukoff D8. The reference tables list it also as having a 115 thou' tip openning, which is why I bought it. However, looking at it, with the reed in place, the tip openning is clearly very much less than that of the RPC.

I think I'm rambling...

Well, with a 3.5 reed, the Dukoff is SO easy to play. The very low notes are more reliable, altissimo is easier and my jaw doesn't ache. There seems to be almost no limit to how long I can play on it.

So, maybe a mouthpiece with a smaller tip openning might help you.

Martin

PS I love the Dukoff...wild sound...raw saxophone...
 
I have been off playing for a few weeks while I had a new bridge mad e for my top front teeth (as I mentioned in another thread).
The interesting thing is that with the new, better-fitting bridge, my whole embouchure seems better ....I am playing notes on my BW tenor which had been very squeaky previously.
Of course it may just have been the 'rest' from playing, but I am surprised at being able to get past G2 without a squeak (usually)!
I am also able to play the JJDV 8* (which I acquired relatively cheaply) ...I couldn't get much from it before!!
 
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