cant get away from the pain...

[avitron]

I've had some mouth pains from playing for some time now. I know i'm not alone but i've tried everything. I think it is a mental thing now, and its very tough to make myself believe i can play without being in pain. I've been playing for 10 years and I played for a very long time with no pain. I reached a point where I was playing all the genres of sax and doing them all fairly well. But I had to have very genre-specific setups, very different setups if you will. My classical setup, which is what i primarily play now is a C* with a 3 or 2.5 vandoren. I think i have engrained many bad habits and they all come together to create pain. I have been improving my breathing so I dont think that is an issue. I think one of the main problems is that I might use more pressure in the upper octave...but a lot of times it doesnt feel like I do. The pain is not only in my bottom lip but also sometimes in my top teeth. I have worked on my embousure extensively but it seems whatever I try results in pain after a few days of it. I have tried the mouthpiece excercise, i practice long tones and singing every time i play...I have stepped up and down in reed strength... Like I said, I think it has become somewhat mental now, and its tough to convince myself to loosen up- that just doesnt work. Let me know if you have some good excercises for relaxing the upper register, or just in general.

[Minatar12]

One thing to do is to play your A without octave key. See how lose your emouchure is to play that? Close your eyes and get someone to press the octave key down so you don't expect it. Put a tuner in front of you. If you have your lower A in tune, as soon as you do your A2 it should be in tune as well or very close. If it is, then you know that's the amount of tension your mouth should have. Practice memorizing the way your embouchure is when you do that, and once you have that kind of relaxation be natural, pain should start to go away.

I know that works because I had pains in my teeth and botoom lip too in my 1st year of playing, and I did what I explained above and worked on it a lot and it got my sound better, embouchure more relaxed, and pain aleviated.

[deebee]

Check out:

http://www.inch.com/~rctabnik/

He changed everything that has to do with how I blow my horns.

It feels wierd at first but it is really worth it.

D. Beecroft

www.beecroft.de

[JL]

This may be overly simplistic, but one thing that may help, if you don't have one already, is to use a mouthpiece patch to cushion your upper teeth.

Then be sure that when you "firm up" your embouchure, you do it by using facial muscles and tucking in the corners of your mouth, rather than by biting harder.

[Vortex]

If it's a lip-biting issue, try holding something in-between your lower teeth and gums; something thin, like an orange peel maybe. There's also specialty devices you can order from major online sites like www.wwbw.com that focus on this problem. Good luck to ya!

[Lyle]

Here is another "try this" idea. Lift your upper teeth from the mpc. This might make you aware of how much pressure you have been applying to cause pain. This might also help to reduce the pressure if you play that way for some time. Might help you to relax.

I hope someone's idea will help. To play with pain indicates how much you want to play. Perhaps some people just want so much to be their best, they try to hard.

[KevyD]

I started getting a lot of tooth pain in the top front teeth after 14 years of tenor playing. I started playing with my top teeth lifted, with just the top lip touching the piece. It took months to get used to this. Now I'm playing fully double lip embouchure, with the top lip rolled just a little over the top teeth. And drastically reduced the pressure I was applying to the top of the mouthpiece as well as reducing the biting from the bottom.

The last couple days I've been getting nerve pain in my bottom lower teeth from the vibrations going through my lip! I don't have thin lips either. It is frustrating to say the least. My dentist doesn't seem to know what the problem is.

[Lyle]

KevyD

I am not a dentist but I've spent many hours in his chair. So, let me ask you this-do you have tooth erosion on bottom teeth? As I do. If so, the nerves may be coming exposed, as mine are. This can make your teeth ultra sensitive. The only solution is surface fillings.

If you don't have the erosion problem, try burshing with the Sensidine (sp)Tooth Paste. It does desensitize the teeth.

I hope you find a solution.

[KevyD]

Yes, my gumline has receded a little on the top and bottom. I'm trying to control it from getting worse by flossing every day, brushing gently, taking vitamins, and wearing a nightguard my dentist gave me. There's also some natural toothpastes that have very beneficial herbs in them that have been noticeably effective. My teeth generally feel much better than two years ago.

Still, I wish there was a way for the bone structure to grow back.

What kinds of things have you found to be effective?

I think it got aggrevated recently because I spent a couple weeks doing some pretty intense clarinet playing as well as saxophone. And I just remembered, that walnut shell I bit into the other day couldn't have helped much. Ouch!!

[Lyle]

Ginginites can be a problem. Or some other kind of gum disease. My guess is that a lot of people have the problem, and don&t know it. The bones supporting the teeth will deterioate. Teeth will become loose. Not all dentists check for the problem if the patient does not request it. The dentist can treat these problems. I have been told that some bone will grow back. (??)

You might try another dentist. It seems that if anyone could find a remedy, it would be a dentist. Not all dentists are equal.

For my problem of tooth erosion, surface fillings were the solution.

Good Luck!

[KiwiLaser]

Most saxaphones are actually made to play with the mouthpiece pushed almost all the way on the cork. If you usually play with the end of your mouthpiece covering just the end of the cork, this could be your problem. In order for you to play in tune pulled out that far you have to tighten your ombechure way more than normal. When you tighten this much it seriously hurts your lower lip. I would advise pushing your mouthpiece in until it nearly cannot go any further. Then loosen your ombechure until your horn comes in tune again. It is much much easier for a saxaphone to loosen and bring the pitch down than it is to try to bring it up. Hopefully you can adjust to having a much looser ombechure. I hope this helps at least somewhat. PLAY ON!