When I play the Clarinet, air keeps escaping from my mouth! Clarinet Help!?

Question

I am a school band and I have Band Camp in the following week. I've been practicing my music, but it has been very hard because every time I play the clarinet, air keeps escaping from between my lips! And it doesn't stop! when I try to stop it, my cheeks buldge up, puff up, or w/e u might call it.

What should I do? I need help desperatly! thank you!

Answer 1

Hey there.

Draw the corners of your mouth in and don't puff out your cheeks...  when you do that... it forces air directly out of your mouth...  So keep everything in and tight.

Answer 2

first make sure your not biting down too hard on the mouth piece because then the reed would stop all the air you're  blowing from going into the instrument.

also don't bite it! use your lips to cover your teeth.

good luck! i've played clarinet for 7 years and have really come to love it. I'm sure you will too once you get the hang of it.

Answer 3

Hey there.  The most important thing with the clarinet and air escaping is building up a strong and CORRECT embouchere.  The number one mistake with air leaks is making sure the corners of your mouth are puckering IN and stretched out like a thin smile.  Keep a strong hold on the mouthpiece with the top lip.  If you keep the corners in and a strong top lip, that should take care of that.  Now to build up these muscles to do this comfortably, you can do long tones.  There are many, and if you want, I can email you suggestions, but the most simple are just playing scales, nice,even, and SLOW.  If you need any more help, just ask! :)

Answer 4

uhmmm. how long have you been playing the clarinet?

do you mean marching band camp? because if you are still having problems playing your instrument, you must be pretty young, or just now learning the instrument.

i'm not sure i know who to help you. it's so simple, form your ombochure(sp?) and blow.

maybe try practicing more. pull your mips tighter, and your chin should be flat.

Answer 5

Assuming that your embochure is correct, there may be a couple reasons you are leaking air...

Your reed is too hard and creating too much resistance... this can be the case too if your reed isn't so hard, but you are playing notes that naturally give a lot of resistance (like middle line B natural, for example).  Basically, you are working too hard to get a good tone out... biting and squeezing or blowing your head off trying to get a sound out.  Switch to a lighter reed.  You may sacrifice a little in your tone quality, but you won't be killing yourself trying to get a sound out.

The other thing that it could be is that you have been practicing a lot... too much, in fact.  Your embouchure may be tired, especially if you haven't been playing as much over the summer or you have been trying to cram ALL of your practicing into the last few days.  Remember- music is not like your academic classes... all nighters will actually do more harm than good (unless you're getting paid to do a show! lol).

I suspect that the latter is your problem... so I would just practice for about 10 minutes, take a 10 minute break, practice another 10, etc... small amounts of practice that are consistant are MUCH more beneficial than long practice sessions a couple days a week.

You can also do some facial "workouts" for 15 minutes or so every night (smile really big, blow a kiss, smile, kiss... or puff your cheeks like a monkey, then make the "fish" face, monkey, fish, etc...).

Take heart in that we've all been there at some point.  We've all played shows that were 20 minutes too long or practiced an hour passed our breaking point.  And don't worry- a little bit of "air leaking" is totally acceptable- I know TONS of professional guys that play that way ALL the time... every private teacher I've ever had vents out the side of their mouths constantly, but I personally think it's tacky.  

If you really have issues with it, or are concerned that it may be because of an improper embouchure, check with your band director or *private teacher* ;)...

Good luck, and have fun at band camp! :)