Voicing: stable vs. flexible

ByBret Pimentel

I have discussed here previously the importance of proper voicing for woodwind instruments. In a nutshell, voicing is the configuration of the oral cavity, manipulated by moving the back of the tongue.

There seems to be some debate about voicing: is it something static, or something that changes from note to note? I find that the answer is, sort of, both.

photo, stonelucifer
photo, stonelucifer

For beginning woodwind players, tone, intonation, and response (virtually every aspect of tone production) can be improved by habituating a single, stable, “correct” voicing. When this is accomplished, an ideal woodwind instrument, which of course does not exist, would play perfectly in tune, with perfectly consistent tone from note to note, and with perfectly even and reliable response.

An instrument that is merely good will do these things well, but imperfectly. A more advanced musician can use small and temporary voicing adjustments to improve individual notes by altering their pitch, tone, or responsiveness. Doing this requires a “stable” voicing as a stepping-off point, fine control of the mechanics of voicing, and an ear trained to hear notes that are out of tune, uncharacteristic in tone, or problematic response-wise.

So, in general, when working with beginning students or others with significant tone production issues, the goal is to work toward a stable voicing that stays the same from note to note, but with more advanced students the goal is to learn to adjust the voicing ever so slightly to improve each note as needed.

Similar Posts

  • B-flat and A clarinets: redundant?

    ByBret Pimentel

    I wrote this a few years back for a graduate school course. The professor, not a wind player, raised the question of why I limited the discussion to clarinets in B-flat and A, and ignored, for example, the C clarinet. The reason for this, which may not be obvious to a non-clarinetist, is that the B-flat and A instruments use the same mouthpieces, reeds, and sometimes even barrels. Since other sizes of clarinet require their own mouthpieces and reeds, there is a clearer separation between these instruments.

    Photo, Ollie Crafoord

    Alert concertgoers will be aware that the orchestral clarinetist is often seen on stage with not one, but two clarinets, which appear to be nearly identical. These are clarinets in the keys of B-flat and A, and, in truth, they very nearly are the same—identical in keywork and playing approach. The difference is one of an inch or so in length, giving the A clarinet a range that is deeper by one semitone.

    It seems a redundancy to have two instruments so close in range. The ubiquity of the B-flat and A clarinets is a vestige of the clarinet’s early days, when its simpler keywork made it poorly suited to playing in more than a handful of keys; early clarinetists owned several instruments of different transpositions so that they could play in whatever key was required. But the modern instrument has a more involved mechanism that allows much more chromatic agility. The problem that remains is that the clarinet has accumulated two hundred and fifty years of repertoire, some of which calls for the instrument in B-flat, some of which calls for the instrument in A, and even some that calls for a little of each. Read More “B-flat and A clarinets: redundant?”

  • Stop teaching clarinet and saxophone embouchures like this

    ByBret Pimentel

    As a ten-year-old beginning saxophonist, I was taught to form an embouchure like this:

    • Put your top teeth on the mouthpiece
    • Let your lower lip sort of roll or squish over your lower teeth
    • Close your mouth

    That’s how I played for years. As I advanced and started to practice more, I would sometimes hurt the inside of my lower lip, drawing blood or forming blisters or scar tissue. I considered this a badge of honor: I practiced until I bled.

    But I don’t play that way anymore, nor do I teach students that way. I made an important change to my embouchure that lets me play for extended periods pain- and blood-free, while sounding better and having more control.

    The problem with the lower-lip-over-the-teeth approach is that it sets the lower lip up to serve as a sacrificial cushion, to protect the reed from the lower teeth. Sure, you can just tell your students to “stop biting,” but if you’re teaching them an embouchure that’s based on biting, then good luck.

    It’s more useful to think of the embouchure this way:

    • Put your top teeth on the mouthpiece
    • Let your jaw hang open a bit, so your lower teeth stay clear of the reed
    • Keep your jaw open, and allow your lips to close around the mouthpiece and reed.

    This approach makes sure the lips are used to form the embouchure, not the jaw. It improves tone, response, dynamic range, and more, and virtually eliminates lower lip pain.

    Left: jaw-formed clarinet embouchure. Right: lip-formed clarinet embouchure.

    If you are used to a jaw-formed embouchure concept, you might find that switching to the lip-formed embouchure leaves you feeling like you’ve lost some control of pitch and tone. If so, double-check your breath support; with the jaw out of the way you will need to depend on those support muscles more for stability.

    Don’t play through pain—use a better approach.

  • Endurance and breath support

    ByBret Pimentel

    Physical endurance can be an issue for woodwind players, most often manifesting as fatigue in the muscles of the embouchure. But I think in most cases tired facial muscles are a symptom of a more fundamental problem.

    The muscles used for forming woodwind embouchures are small and finely-tuned for precise movements, such as in speech and in facial expressions. This also makes them well-suited to the fine control needed for woodwind playing. But those muscles are not really adapted to feats of strength or endurance.

    photo, Denise Coronel
    photo, Denise Coronel

    Tired and sore embouchure muscles lead to additional problems, such as compensation by clamping down with the larger, stronger jaw muscles, which sacrifices control and causes woodwind players (especially reed players) to bite into their own lips. (As a less-experienced player, I thought of those raw, swollen, and eventually calloused spots in my lips as signs of dedication to practicing. I don’t have those spots any more. In many cases, the need for some kind of cushion or dental appliance over the teeth when playing is a sign of unnecessary biting.)

    Woodwind players should be doing most of their physical “work” with muscles that have strength and stamina. The “core” muscles of the torso have both: they are an integral part of posture, balance, and virtually all gross motor activities (walking, jumping, lifting, sitting, standing, and many more). The core muscles are also the muscles of breath support, which is arguably the most crucial, foundational aspect of woodwind playing.

    Powerful breath support takes a huge burden off the facial muscles. For example, it stabilizes pitch, reducing the need to “lip” notes up or down (which is a less-effective technique anyway); it strengthens and solidifies tone, reducing the tendency to “control” the tone (poorly) by biting or squeezing with the lips; and it eases response, reducing tension. Weak breath support leads to biting and pinching with the embouchure, and that tension spreads throughout the body.

    When you start to feel your embouchure muscles start to tire, allow your face to relax, and focus instead on powerful abdominal breath support.

  • More on the science/fiction of woodwind materials

    ByBret Pimentel
    Photo, ~Bob~West~

    There’s an interesting woodwind-related post by blogger “MarkCC” at Good Math, Bad Math, entitled “My Newest Flute, made of… Plastic?!”

    MarkCC recently acquired a new flute of the type used in Irish traditional music, the kind that are most often made of wood. But MarkCC’s is made of polymer, and it sounds like MarkCC has wrestled a little with the issue of whether a plastic flute can really measure up to a wooden one.

    But… Plastic?

    I’ve seen several acoustic studies that claim that the material the instrument is made of isn’t that important. In a wooden flute, the physics show that the head joint is the only part of the flute that really has a significant influence on its sound. But the head joint of a wooden flute is actually lined with metal. So the wood isn’t really having too much influence on the sound.

    As it turns out, MarkCC is something of a doubler, and also plays the clarinet.

    Most people (including me) play on mouthpieces made of hard rubber or plastic – so the primary sound-producing piece of the instrument is plastic. The barrel of a wooden clarinet is (obviously) wood, so according to the physics/acoustics, that’s the only piece of wood that actually has any measurable acoustic effect. And the physics of this isn’t sloppy stuff put together by an instrument company trying to sell their plastic clarinets: to the limits of my ability to understand it, it’s good, solid stuff.

    And yet, I’ve played a whole lot of clarinets, and by god, there’s nothing like a grenadilla wood clarinet. Even the best clarinet makers, even when I put my wooden barrel on a polymer body, it doesn’t sound the same. Of course, that’s subjective, and we humans are notorious for hearing what we want to hear in a subjective situation. And, by god, I’m a math geek. I’ve seen the math, and it’s correct.

    One of the most-linked articles on my blog makes the same point about our expectations about materials coloring our playing experience. It’s worth pointing out, too, that a different barrel made from the same material will also affect the instrument’s sound.

    I do think it’s a grey area to refer to a mouthpiece or barrel (or flute headjoint) as “sound-producing.” The instrument’s parts don’t produce any audible musical sound (unless you hit them with drumsticks)—it’s the column of air contained within them that vibrates in a musically useful way.

    But MarkCC goes on, I believe, to hit the nail on the head: Read More “More on the science/fiction of woodwind materials”

  • |

    New book! Woodwind Basics: Core concepts for playing and teaching flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone

    ByBret Pimentel

    If you are teaching a woodwind methods course, you might be interested in my book.

    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

    Woodwind Basics by Bret Pimentel

    I’m pleased to announce the release of my book, Woodwind Basics: Core concepts for playing and teaching flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone. I wrote it with woodwind methods/techniques classes in mind, but I think it also works well as a reference for private teachers at any level, or for woodwind players, especially woodwind doublers.

    I’ve been using various drafts of this book for the last few years with my own woodwind methods classes. (If you’re a reader of this blog, you’re familiar with my complaints about the existing textbooks.) I wanted to write something very focused, clear, and methodical, with the side benefits of being relatively short, easy to read, and inexpensive.

    I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and I hope you’ll get yourself a copy. I especially recommend the PDF/ebook version for low price and immediate delivery, but it’s also available in paperback from Amazon.

    I owe a special thanks to readers of this blog over the past 9 years. The 500+ posts I’ve written here, plus your comments and other responses, have done a lot to shape my ideas about woodwind playing and teaching. So, if you will send me an email, I’ll be happy to send you a coupon code worth a few bucks toward the PDF version. Let me know who you are and why you’re interested in the book. Offer good through June 2017.

  • Woodwind Doubler Census 2021 results, part 5 (final): self-identification

    ByBret Pimentel

    Thanks to all who participated in my 2021 woodwind doubling survey, and to those who helped spread the word. I’ve released the results in installments, so be sure to check out the rest.

    I got 284 responses, an improvement over 2011’s 187. The numbers for each of these questions don’t necessarily add up to exactly that number, since not everybody responded to every question.

    In the final section of the survey, I gave respondents the option to identify and tell me a little about themselves, including their names, locations, affiliations, websites, and other comments. I’m not sharing personally-identifiable information here, but I’ll respond in a general way to each question.

    What is your name?

    Almost 180 of you identified yourselves by name. It was lots of fun to scroll through see musicians I know and have worked with, who I have connected with online, and even some of my heroes and role models. And it was also very cool to see lots of names I didn’t know (yet). If you’re out there and would like to connect, I hope you will feel free to reach out.

    Where do you live?

    I’m sharing these sorted alphabetically and lightly edited.

    19047
    Ada, OK
    Ada, Oklahoma
    Archer City, Texas
    Arizona
    around Boston
    Around Raleigh, North Carolina
    Asheville, NC
    Ashland, KY
    Atlanta
    Auburn, ME
    Austin TX
    Austin, TX
    Australia
    Baltimore, MD area
    Bangkok, Thailand
    Berlin, CT
    Birmingham, England (studying)
    Bolivar, MO
    Boston
    Boston
    Boston-area
    California
    Cambridge, UK
    Canada
    Centra Michigan
    Charlotte, NC
    Chatham, Ontario, Canada
    Chicago
    Chicago Suburbs
    Chicago suburbs
    cincinnati
    Cleveland OH
    Coburg, OR (but still gig in San Jose, CA, my previous residence)
    Colorado
    ComerĂ­o, Puerto Rico.
    Connecticut
    Conroe, TX (40 miles north of downtown Houston)
    Coopersburg, PA
    Corvallis
    Covington, LA
    Currently in Tampere, Finland; usually SoCal/ SF Bay Area
    Dallas – Fort Worth Area
    Dallas, Texas
    Dallas, TX
    Dallas/Fort Worth region
    Darien, IL
    DC area
    Durant, Oklahoma / Las Vegas, Nevada
    East Bay of SF Bay Area
    East Lansing, MI
    Eastern Mass
    Eastern North Carolina
    Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    Eugene, Oregon
    Fargo ND
    Fargo, ND
    Finger Lakes region of New York
    Florida
    Fort Worth, Texas
    Fresno, Ca.
    Germany
    Germany
    Grand Rapids, Michigan
    Greater Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Greensboro, NC
    Greensboro, NC
    Greensboro, North Carolina
    Hamels, Braughing, Hertfordshire, England
    Hampton Roas, VA
    Harrisburg, PA
    Hong Kong
    Honolulu, Hawaii
    Houston
    Houston TX
    Houston, TX
    Ihio
    Indiana
    Indianapolis
    Indianapolis
    iowa
    Iowa USA
    Jersey City
    Kanagawa, Japan* (originally from Maine)
    Kansas
    Kansas
    Kansas City metro area
    Lancaster area PA
    Lancaster, CA
    Las Vegas
    Las Vegas
    Little Rock, Arkansas
    Liverpool, NY
    London
    London
    London and Cape Town
    Long Beach, CA USA
    Los Angeles
    Los Angeles
    Los Angeles/Orange County, CA
    Madeira Beach, FL
    Manhattan and Connecticut
    Melbourne, Australia
    Melbourne, Australia
    Melbourne, Australia
    Memphis
    Memphis
    Memphis, TN
    Memphis,TN USA
    Metro Atlanta
    Miami, FL
    Miami, Florida
    Michigan
    Middleton Massachusetts
    Midwest U.S.
    Milwaukee
    Milwaukee
    Milwaukee
    Milwaukee WI
    Minneapolis
    Minneapolis, MN
    Minnesota
    Mississippi
    Mississippi
    Montgomery, AL
    Murfreesboro
    Myrtle Beach, SC
    Nashville, TN
    Nashville, TN
    Nashville, TN
    Near Eugene Oregon
    Nebraska
    Nevada
    New England, USA
    New England, USA
    New Jersey
    New Jersey
    New Jersey, US
    New Orleans
    New York
    New York City
    New York City
    New York City
    New York City Metro area
    New York, Montreal, and Florida
    New York, NY
    North Kingstown, RI
    North Texas
    Northeast Ohio/Western PA
    Northeast Tennessee
    Northeast U.S.
    Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania
    Northern California
    Norway
    NY
    NY area
    NYC
    NYC
    NYC
    Ocean Reef, Perth, Western Australia
    Ohio
    Ohio
    Oklahoma City
    Oregon
    Oregon
    Orlando, Florida
    Oxford, UK
    Pennsylvania
    Perth
    Perth, Western Australia
    Pickering, ON Canada
    Piedmont Triad Area of North Carolina
    Pittsburgh
    Pittsburgh, Pa.
    Preston, UK
    Queensland, Australia
    Reno, NV
    San Antonio
    San Antonio TX
    San Antonio, TX
    San Francisco
    San Fransisco Bay Area
    San Jose
    San Jose, CA
    San Jose, CA
    San Jose, CA
    San Jose, CA
    San Jose, CA
    San W
    Saskatchewan, Canada
    Scenic Martin, TN
    Scotland
    Scotland
    Seattle, WA
    SF Bay Area
    SF Bay Area
    SF Bay Area
    SF Bay Area
    SF South Bay Area
    SF South Bay Area
    Singapore
    SLC Utah
    South Eastern Wisconsin, USA
    southern Virginia
    Springfield, MO
    St Andrews
    St Paul/Minneapolis
    St. Louis area
    St. Louis, MO
    State College PA
    Sussex, Wi
    Tampa Florida
    Teaneck, NJ
    Tennessee
    Toronto
    Toronto
    Toronto CA -> Greensboro,NC
    Toronto, Canada
    Troy, AL
    Trumansburg, NY
    UK
    Urbana, IL (& Springfield, IL)
    Va Bch, VA.
    Washington, DC
    Washington, DC
    Washington, DC metropolitan area
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Will be moving to Denton, Texas
    Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada

    What is your main gig, performing group, teaching institution, etc.?

    I have edited a number of these (the asterisks are mine) in cases where, based on my best judgment, I felt strangers might be able to identify you through web searches.

    *** Big Band
    *** College/*** Community College/*** College/private studio/*** Festival Orchestra/*** Philharmonic
    *** County Schools, Freelance musician
    *** Ensemble, Broadway shows, recordings, *** College of Performing Arts
    *** Episcopal School
    *** High School (band director)
    *** Jazz Band
    *** London West End
    *** Middle School (Teacher)
    *** Musician
    *** Quartet, Goodspeed Musicals, Playhouse on Park, etc.
    *** Symphony Orchestra (Assistant Principal Bassoon/ Contrabassoon and much of the Saxophone work), teach at the University of ***, lots of studio recording sessions.
    *** Symphony Orchestra, Bassoon
    *** University graduate teaching assistant
    *** Videogame Symphony
    *** Winds, Ballet *** Orchestra
    ***Winds, ***, ***
    2nd Alto Sax, US Navy Band *** Jazz Ensemble
    6-12 band director
    A school big band
    ABRSM
    Air Force, formerly with a regional band, but now assigned a non-music job
    Alabama State University
    Band Director – High School
    Band instrument repair
    Bar gigs w/ a combo
    Before the pandemic I was regularly doing musical theatre work 3/4s of the year and also was doing a fair bit of big band playing as well. The big band and various offshoots of it play pre 1940s swing music and some smaller “Dixie” stuff so there’s a lot for me to do on clarinet. I also teach privately at a school system and a music store and was leading an after school ensemble and doing sectional work with the other bands at the school system. Those ended up being fairly evenly split, and then I would pick up various odd work at studio sessions or local bar gigs
    Big band jazz
    Broadway
    Broadway and Lincoln Center
    Broadway pits
    Certified bad*** (jk, picking up jobs when I can/doing musicals)
    Church and Various community bands
    Church Music Director
    Church of ***, Music Director and keyboardist
    Coastal Carolina University
    Community band/ musicals
    Community bands
    Community Bands – 4 of them.
    community orchestra
    Community theater
    Community wind ensemble
    Cruise ship musician (saxes, flute, piccolo, clarinet)
    Currently all virtual – mostly with the Royal Canadian Naval Reserves at ***.
    Currently RSO/VVGO/various guest player roles at Chinese orchestras in Singapore
    Currently teaching orchestra.
    DMA student at the University of ***
    Elementary Music Teacher
    Everywhere đŸ˜‚
    Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre
    Free-lance musician
    Freelance
    Freelance
    Freelance musician around the west end and London
    Freelance teaching and performing
    Freelance woodwind specialist, director of local volunteer big band (Ensemble Swing Time), Singer
    Freelancer / university adjunct
    Going to the *** College of Music and Drama for Oboe Performance (with a touch of Woodwind doubling) this september
    High School
    High School Teacher
    Home based teacher
    I am a high school student at *** High School
    I attend Brandon University
    I play the flute family for the *** Symphony Orchestra
    I primarily teach private students.
    I work at *** full-time during the days, and sub regularly on Broadway on nights and weekends (under normal circumstances)
    I’m in high school so this doesn’t apply
    Instrument repair
    Instrument Repair at ***
    Jazz Big Band
    Just freelance
    Local high school and regional theater
    Local theatre groups
    Mainly in undergrad jazz band and concert band
    Mars Hill University
    Mid-*** Symphony, *** Jazz Band
    Middle school music teacher, play in local symphony and a collegiate wind orchestra
    Military Band
    Military musician and private teacher
    Missouri State University
    Music bachelors student
    Music education undergrad
    Music teacher/Teaching artist
    Musical instrument repair/orchestral oboe.
    Musical theater, church
    My band, The ***
    My online business as a content creator and educator
    National or international tours.
    No main gig during The pandemic.
    No main gig.
    None, teach at *** College, produce concerts at ***, run the *** Saxophone Quartet,
    North Carolina State University
    Nowadays it’s mostly University ensembles in Cambridge
    Performing
    Performing
    pit orchestra
    playing in musical orchestras/ bands
    Playing in musical theater pits
    Playing on Broadway
    Playing: Civic Theater and the *** Jazz Orchestra. Clarinet teacher for local school district.
    Private instructor, various big bands, west coast style combo and various pits when they come up
    private lessons at *** Music
    Private lessons teaching
    Private Studio
    Private Studio
    Private teacher & reed maker out of my home
    Private teaching studio
    Private woodwind teacher & freelance musician
    Prof. of Music, The University of ***
    Professional and community theatre pits. Too many to list.
    Professional orchestra librarian
    Professor at *** University
    Professor at NDSU
    Put work
    Recent college graduate, premed, member of *** (funk group), and jazz musician/woodwind instrumentalist
    Regional big band & GB
    Regional Broadway caliber theater productions and local hire for national tours.
    Regional theater, private lessons
    Retired
    Rockland County Concert Band
    Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (studying)
    Sam Houston state
    Saxophone with ***
    School band
    Schriener University
    Self-employed
    senior in college, about to student teach
    simpson college
    Six Flags
    Small School Band Director
    Software Engineer
    solo jazz performer
    Southwest *** Community College
    Stockton CA
    Student
    Student
    Student right now
    Substitute teacher specializing in music
    Teach at ***. Play gigs w/my jazz combo.
    Teacher (Elementary)
    Teaching and free lancing.
    Teaching and instrument repair
    Teaching at a school(still a uni student)
    Teaching Bassoon Lessons
    Teaching middle school band
    teaching private lessons
    Teaching the reed studio at *** University.
    Teaching: *** Music (lesson studio and music store) | Playing: *** (amusement park) Dixieland Band
    The *** Quartet (baritone chair), freelancer/soloist, Orchestra of ***
    Theater
    Theater Musician
    Theatre
    There are several
    Touring Musician (Broadway shows)
    UNC Charlotte
    Univ. of ***, *** Technical College
    University adjunct professor, Broadway touring shows (local hire) and local theater company.
    University as a student
    University New Music Ensemble
    University of *** *** Society (the musical theatre society)
    University of Nevada, Reno
    University of North Carolina School of the Arts
    University of Oregon
    University of Texas at San Antonio/private lessons (self employed)
    University Professor an conductor
    University student with some private teaching and freelancing
    US Army Musician
    US Navy Pacific Fleet Band
    Varies
    VVGO, RSO, UFB – virtual ensembles.
    WAAPA – Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
    Weddings
    Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
    Will be attending UNT
    Youngstown State University

    What is your website address?

    Lots of you shared websites. In cases where I could locate a relevant and reasonably-fresh RSS feed, I’ve added them to my feed reader, which also puts them on my public blogroll.

    Any other comments you would like to share?

    Some of you took this opportunity to share some general thoughts about woodwind doubling, to expand upon your biographical details or musical experiences, or to offer critique/commentary on the survey itself. Many of you were also kind enough to express appreciation for the survey, my blog, and other resources on my website. It was deeply gratifying and also super weird to hear from a few of you that you drew inspiration from my website as kids and are now working musicians, graduate students, etc. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to say hello or share a few thoughts.

    In conclusion, thanks once again to all for your participation, readership, and friendship. It was great to hear from so many of you, and I hope to do it again in 2031.

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