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Single-Lip Embouchure
The embouchure discussed in this article is the "single-lip" embouchure of the French school of clarinet playing, used by many clarinetists around the world. It is referred to in this way because only one lip is directly involved: the lower lip is fumed back over the bottom teeth so that about half of the pink, fleshy part of the lip forms a cushion for the reed to rest on.
The top teeth should rest lightly on the mouthpiece about half an inch or so from the tip. Both lips should encircle the mouthpiece like a rubber band, supple and pliable, keeping all the air inside and chanelling it through the mouthpiece and into the clarinet. No air should leak from the comers of the mouth or form pockets in the cheeks or below the bottom lip. The comers of the mouth should be stretched back and upward, as if smiling, and the chin should be pointed downward toward the chest, stretching the skin below the bottom lip. These are the essential features of the French clarinet embouchure.
There are other approaches to the single-lip clarinet embouchure, notably that of the German school of playing, where the smile element is absent. There is also a double-lip embouchure, briefly discussed further below.
At the very beginning, students should practice forming the correct embouchure by substituting the right index finger for the mouthpiece. Have them check themselves in a mirror, making sure they incorporate each of the elements outlined above, concentrating particularly on pointing the chin and pulling the comers of the mouth back and up. As a second step, have them blow into the mouthpiece (or mouthpiece-barrel combination), detached from the clarinet but with a moist reed on it, checking in the mirror as they do so. Using reeds no stronger than 1 ½ or 2 for the earliest attempts should help the process.
It is essential that students not let their embouchure collapse as the mouthpiece enters their mouth. This is a common problem with beginners. They should think in terms of setting the embouchure and inserting the mouthpiece into it, or bringing the mouthpiece/ clarinet to the embouchure rather than the embouchure to the mouthpiece/clarinet (by letting the embouchure lose its shape...