A Test to See if Your Reed is Helping or Hurting Your Performance 

Yes! This is such a common misunderstanding! Be sure to check out my reed strength video to know if you are actually playing on the right reed for your mouthpiece: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JBLBdrFMP8o.html

You play what makes you feel comfortable, or like the sound of. Seeing high reed strength as this badge of honor is jsut harmful to development, since they don't even think of other factors such as what mouthpiece you are playing on.

Thank you! I saw your vibrato video on Facebook. Your content is really great and to the point, keep it up!

Cool! Just realised I'm replying from my other channel... It's where I put my music 🙂

Awesome! Keeping a good rotation of reeds makes a big difference!

That is interesting, a 4 seems generally pretty hard for a 2nd year player, but it depends on your mouthpiece. It is very unusual to have more air endurance on a harder reed. Be sure to check out my video on reed strength: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JBLBdrFMP8o.html

A 2.5 should be pretty easy unless you are putting too much pressure and pinching off the vibrations, or there is something else wrong with the instrument like a leak or something like that.

You certainly could try that! Try moving the reed a little lower on the mouthpiece. If that makes it feel a bit better but still not great then a softer reed might be good. If it doesn’t seem to help much then there may be some embouchure work or maybe an issue with your clarinet to look into.

That's pretty normal where the ideal reed strength is somewhere between strengths. Since a 2 is very soft, and there aren't really any mouthpieces that would ideally pair well with a strength 2 reed (and since you are having problems with the high notes) I would go for the 2.5. I think if you stick with the 2.5 a while, and try a few of them to find the ones that feel the best they will feel better pretty soon. If you are used to playing on 2 then the 2.5 may feel too hard. Over time though your embouchure and air will understand better how to work with it and it will improve. Reed strength is always a balance between the reed, us, and the mouthpiece, so it takes a while to get fully comfortable on a new strength.

That’s great! Remember it is always a balance between you and the reed. The harder reed will take more air support and maybe a bit stronger embouchure to get the low notes to sound clear. Whereas the softer reed will take much less embouchure pressure to get the high notes out. Keep practicing and experimenting to see which strength is easiest for you to work with. Generally though I think getting better support on the harder reed will serve you better overall!

The problems of the 3.5 are very similar to what I described in this video as being too soft, and the 3.5+ is a bit similar to the symptoms of a too hard reed. The perfect reed for you is probably somewhere in the middle. Since in the middle doesn’t really exist we need to be flexible on how we approach the reed. If it is softer you can open up more if it is harder you can put a little more energy in the air and have a firmer embouchure. Based on what you described I would go for the 3.5+ and work to eliminate the airiness. Good luck!

Synthetic reeds can be really good!

Yes! Harder reeds work better on the high notes but can be fuzzy on the low notes and especially the throat tones. You want to find a reed that is in the sweet spot where the high notes come out easily and the low notes still sound clear.

And don’t forget that even size 4 reeds will vary in strength and responsiveness within the same box, so try lots of reeds to find ones that feel good.

You can use the same set up you would use for anything else. Anything in the ranges on this chart would be a good place to start: vandoren.fr/en/clarinet-mouthpieces-comparison/ Perhaps for marching band a bit more open mouthpiece might be good for more projection. The B40 lyre is a really good choice. And if you are playing in a particularly cold or dry environment, a synthetic reed might be nice. With the B40 lyre I would probably pair it with a Legere French Cut 3-3.5

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1.5 to 2.5 is a big change, so it makes sense that it felt uncomfortable! 2.5 definitely isn't too hard for any mouthpiece, so you could try to continue experimenting to find the embouchure strength and air support you need to make that work. You will find that once you get used to it the 2.5 will be much more consistent and reliable, especially on the higher notes! Also, based on how those reeds feel and respond to you, I bet you would benefit from putting a good bit more mouthpiece in your mouth and pushing your jaw forward so you have a nice flat chin and firm to the touch bottom lip.

@@QuickStartClarinet Thank you! I'll try that as soon as possible :) I also realized I was changing from Rico 1.5 to Vandoren 2.5. I checked a conversion chart and my 2.5 is equivalent to a 3 in Rico!

@@elizumaki1312 O yes, changing brands makes a huge difference too! In that case, it may be a good idea to try some Vandoren 2's and then work up to what is appropriate for your mouthpiece from there.