Using Cigarette Papers To Prevent Sore Lips

[Bryan Kendall]

A friend of mine who is a PhD in Saxophone Performance told me that while he was studying he used to get sore lips ...often times very painful especially when he had a recital or important performance that required lots of researsal time. His professor recommended for him to use Cigarette Papers over his teeth and under his lip to prevent sore lips when he rehearsed and performed on his Bb soprano / C Soprano / Eb sopranino saxophones.

The paper is thin enough not to effect the embrochure´s sensitivity. It comes in various thickness and is made of various materials such as rice paper, cotton paper, wheat paper, bamboo paper, etc. and also comes in spearmint, wintermint, papermint, cherry ,etc. (I use regular cotton paper with no taste or scent.)

It works surprisingly well and is extremely cheap. It usually comes in packs of 100 sheets and can be gotton at most drug stores and tobacco shops.

[colibri]

Another option is to stop biting by switching to a lower strength reed. 8)

[ZenBen]

I used to have the problem of having a sore lower lip. Instead of paper, i used a kind of tape that i got from the drug store that had a bit of a cloth texture to it. That was when i played with what i call the classical embouchure - the one where you roll your bottom lip over your teeth. I now use an embouchure where my lower lip rolls out a bit. My embouchure support now comes from the muscles around my mouth instead of from my lower jaw. I no longer need to put that piece of tape over my teeth because my teeth aren't giving any upward pressure.

(I don't want to suggest that this is the reason for you needing to use the paper - nor for that matter your friend, who i'm sure has spent a lot of time working on the embouchure while getting a phd. but maybe it might work for you...)

[Jeff Foster]

Another option is to use the "cigarette" paper for what it was intended. Your lip might still be sore but you won't care.

[Dr G]

I used to have the problem of having a sore lower lip. That was when i played with what i call the classical embouchure - the one where you roll your bottom lip over your teeth. I now use an embouchure where my lower lip rolls out a bit. My embouchure support now comes from the muscles around my mouth instead of from my lower jaw. I no longer need to put that piece of tape over my teeth because my teeth aren't giving any upward pressure.

Ditto that. It mirrors my experience exactly. The change in embouchure has improved my endurance, tone, and flexibility.

[Benny]

I agree with colibri - learn to play without biting!!! I used to have problems with getting sore lips, then I changed teacher who changed my embouchure and I no longer had a problem with getting a sore bottom lip - even on soprano. Your tone should come from your throat and the embouchure supports this, not replaces it.

[Gordon (NZ)]

... learn to play without biting!.....
Yes, a fine ideal, but not always in touch with reality. Whatever the problem with sax, it is 10 times greater with the top register of a clarinet.

I average 5 non-professional shows per year, playing fl/clar/sop/alto/tenor/bari.
Each one is about 3 or four weeks rehearsal and then 15 performances over 2 weeks.

Between these shows I don't even play; life is too full of other diversity.

So for some shows, which are demanding of lip condition, the lip support is simply not complete without some assistance from pressure via teeth. The alternative, of regular intensive practice to maintain lip condition is simply not an option.

This is a reality of life.


The cigarette paper trick was a life saver when I was told about it. Now I use a clip-on, clear, acrylic cover for my front 4 bottom teeth - home made and a perfect fit.

If I do 2 shows in quick succession I rarely need this aid for the second show, because my lip has returned to a state where it can offer adequate support.

Don't knock these solutions for those who happen to temporarily need it.

[pknight]

Gordon,

If xou have the time :D , could you give a few details about your tooth guard? I have made one from a piece of an athletic mouth guard, and while it works, it is a bit thicker than I would prefer.

As far as needing this sort of device, people should keep in mind that not everyone has nice, straight, even bottom teeth. While I don't scare children and small animals, my front bottom teeth are not even, and this sort of solution is helpful even when there is not a lot of pressure from the jaw.

[Benny]

settle pettle! I wasn't "knocking" the solution at all! Lots of people use papers, tape or whatever, but I'm just saying that is more than possible to modify your embouchure to beat this problem. Top register of the clarinet is the same, your aural cavity produces the sound. It doesn't demand stacks of practise time. I get hardly any practise done either since I finished studying. And just for the record, I only have half of one of my bottom teeth ( the rest are very jagged) ever since a quick change to tenor one night which resulted in learning that the tip of my 8* link was much more solid than my tooth![/quote]

[Razzy]

I agree, all it takes is about 10 minutes a night. You need to just do more lip exercises type things per night. I did those for a month and continue to do so and the soreness in my lower lip is gone. Just FINALLY yielding results today, in fact! Today I practiced 5 hours in 3 sessions without a single bit of soreness in my lip at all, it was great. It's all thanks to the exercises outlined in Larry Teal's "The Art of Saxophone Playing." I did those on top of my constant busy playing schedule and as long as I applied the correct embouchure in my practice, it got better and better every day.

[Gordon (NZ)]

...If you have the time :D , could you give a few details about your tooth guard?....

As I wrote, "Now I use a clip-on, clear, acrylic cover for my front 4 bottom teeth - home made and a perfect fit."

I happen to have a dental lab micromotor & handpiece for my instrument repair work, but a Dremel tool would do. I used several different burrs, and polishing wheels in this machine.

I started with a small block of acrylic ("Plexiglas") 10 x 10 x 22 mm. I put some carbon paper, ink side up, over my teeth and pressed the block on it to leave marks on the block. I cut these marks away with the dental tool. I repeated this process many times, at the same time shaping the outside of the block, until the teeth fitted (sank) about 5 mm into the block.
The final item is about 1 mm thick around the teeth and 1.5 where it fits to the groove between adjacent teeth.

The whole process took about 1 hour.

I am sure there are easier ways of making a similar (but less classy!) product by folding a sheet of softened casting wax over the teeth, or by doing the same with some mouthguard polymer material.

[barelytone]

...how about an orange rind, like Marlon Brando in The Godfather?

[SaxFlutist]

I find the sore inner lower lip only happens when you start in on a new mouthpiece.

Well, I grow and sell herbs (to pay off my new saxophone) and I came up with this idea.

Sage is naturally antibacterial. Just pick a size leaf that fits in front of your lower teeth, or tear off a bit. Stick it in your mouth. Start playing. Best to have a little bush handy for this. You should be able to do several choruses of Body and Soul on one leaf. (If you're using some other kind of leaf, with or without rolling papers, this might work too - but Body and Soul will sound a little "different").

The oils and tannins in Sage have astringent, antiseptic, and irritant properties. It is therefore an important herb in medications for mouth sores, mouth ulcers, and sore throat medications (make teas and use as a mouth rinse - try a tea with equal parts Chamomile and Sage).Sage is reported to have moisture-drying properties, and can be used as an antiperspirant. It can also be used as a compress on cuts and wounds.

I was also thinking of Comfrey, which is a genuine and proven healer. (It contains allantoin - a speedy healer of sores, but most of the allantoin is in the roots) but the leaf is not tough enough for us rugged sax people.

Cigarette papers can also be used to unstick your keys, mostly for flute players but might work to some extent on saxophones and other keyed instruments.

[tanbark813]

Or you could just be a man and play with the pain.

8-)