My inside of the bottom lip hurts occasionaly. I'm not sure if I bite too hard or just practice too much(usually 1-2h per day.) I tried pulling my jaw down by a lot intentionally, but the sound is incomparable to when I am biting or slightly biting the reed (I already bit less than I used to), exspecially on high notes like A and above. I asked my teacher about my lips and he said it is normal. But someone on the forum said biting makes the sound quality worse than not biting it. Can someone tell me who is right? And if I shouldn't bite how do I get a good tone?

Also anyone know how to make my throat "less tense"?

Also anyone know how to make my throat "less tense"?

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srry double posted, didnt realize u can edit at first

does ur lip hurt like, in the skin( kinda like a cold sore) cause if it does i dont havean answer but now i would no that im not the only one. iv been playing. clarinet for 3 years so i thought i was just doing somthing wrong that is like obvious so...

What do you mean by "tense troat?"

Your band director is totally right. It's normal. I'd have to see you play to tell but don't drop your jaw too much because that makes your tone flat. Which A are you talking about? We both know there are a lot of A's.

I usually only get sore lips when i go over my usual playing amount. This one girl in my band doesn't practice very much so when we have sectionals where we have to play for like four or more hours, she can't. You're probably doing it right but if you really think that your biting, then ask your teacher to watch you play. As i get tired, sometimes i bite down more so maybe that's what you do? Maybe you could take small breaks in between when you practice.

-Jello-

ive been having this problem for a while, trust me that happened to me for 2 years straight. first off how long have you been using the clarinet. when i joined band camp,dont know how,but it just wore off.you have to relax your self. dont grip it to hard. its all i can say.
Schools best Clarinet player(im 1st chair)

Thats normal. Specially because you practice so much, maybe taking 10 min breaks would help alot.

so when my muscles are strong enought that I don't have to bite anymore then I'll be fine?

Try curling your bottom lip over your teeth differently so there is a thicker layer of muscle between the teeth and the mouthpiece. This may help if your lip hurts in a bitten kind of way.

Well, you might not be biting at all but more of that your muscles get tired after a while. It's like a track person saying, "Oh my legs hurt, do you know why?" after they ran four miles strait. Do you get what i'm saying?

Do what Laeta says. Lots of folks roll their lip in too far leaving less meat between the reed and the bottom teeth.

Also, try EZ-O over your bottom teeth. You can buy it at the drug store near the denture supplies. It's awesome after it forms to your teeth. You have to cut it to size, but It lasts for more than a week, and the whole box will last you years. It's only $4 or so for a box.

it's perfectly normal. We all get lip sores all the time.