Hello everyone! I'm new on this forum. I really need help with my embouchure. When I started clarinet at my school, I started in the middle of the year, so I really learned from my friends, who were practically beginners too. I learned pretty well, but even from the beginning my embouchure was pretty bad, and my band director was always telling me not to puff my cheeks out. It didn't really bother my playing much though and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't fix it. So, three years later I still have this problem with my embouchure. I recently started taking private lessons and obviously one of the first things I need to work on is embouchure. I understand the thoery behind it, but even without the clarinet I can't do it in the mirror! I puff out my cheeks and bend my bottom lip too far over my teeth. I can play pretty high and stuff and have decent tone but I think a more correct embouchure (especially not puffing my cheeks) would make me a better player. No one else I know has this problem so I can't ask them. Any advice would be appreciated (If you guys can make it through the long book I wrote )

in our school orchestra, the equivalent of your band, we have three clarinetists, I just moved into clarinet one, and I'm well chuffed and I've never had a problem like yours but I have clarinet lessons by myself and also with the other two clarinetists, clarinet two has been playing for 4 years like me and when she started she had the same problem but she got past it, and our clarinet three still has that problem on high notes. I'm teaching my friend to play and she also has the same problem but she's improving, I think it's a case of listening to your teacher and taking any advice they give, any exercises they tell you to do, do them daily, and try practising blowing out without puffing your cheeks, if you can't do that then try through a straw, I don't know why but apparently it's easier and it helps, that what our clarinet two told me, I don't know if it works but i guess it's worth a try. I don't think whether your sercular breathing or not makes a difference because my boyfriend is a saxophonist and he's teaching me how to sercular breath and it isn't affecting my embouchure. Let me know if any of my ranting helps in any way. Take care.
$helly Belly x