Effects of Clarinet Embouchure on Band Director Tone Quality Preferences: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Woodwind methods classes are where most teachers learn the basics of woodwind embouchure and tone production. Woodwind methods texts and beginning band methods disagree on clarinet embouchure. One cannot readily reduce any embouchure to one or two attributes; however, clarinet teachers and band directors often disagree about whether the corners of the mouth are pulled back into a smile or come in toward the mouthpiece, as if saying the letter “Q.” The purpose of this study was to determine if the abovementioned embouchure differences affect clarinet tone quality to a degree that band and orchestra directors would prefer either the “Smile” or the “Q” embouchure sound.Two graduate clarinet majors, one taught using the “Smile” embouchure and the other taught using the “Q” embouchure, recorded a series of sustained tones, scales, clarinet solo literature, and band repertoire to provide examples for timbre analysis and to provide tone quality survey items sent to randomly selected U.S. band directors. Although the response rate was low, results of the survey showed that band directors who responded preferred the tone quality generated by the player with the “Q” embouchure.