[Back to Basics] Starting Reed Strength, Upgrading Reeds, and Maintaining Reeds

Everything you need to know about reeds for getting stated on the clarinet (or at any point in your clarinet journey).
Here is the mouthpiece chart I mentioned: vandoren.fr/en/clarinet-mouth...
You may also want to check out this video if you want more detail on the mouthpiece and reed strength balance: • Are You Using The Righ...
0:00 - Introduction
1:40 - Why Reeds Matter
2:20 - Matching to the Mouthpiece
4:21 - Reed Strength to Start With
5:47 - Upgrade Path for First Year
9:08 - How to Move to Harder Strengths
11:50 - Breaking In and Rotating Reeds
And to see the other videos in this series check out this playlist: • [Back to Basics] How a...
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[@sovereign142]

My instructor says not to move from a 1 1/2 Vandoren with my new Yamaha 4C mouthpiece, It's fine with the low register, but anywhere from clarion C up is very hard to play. I think from your video this means that I need a stronger reed, I thought it was my playing as I have only been playing for 4 months. So thank you I have ordered a 2 1/2 and we'll see!

[@QuickStartClarinet]

I think that is a good idea! 1.5 is very soft for a 4C.

[@rileyfrank1810]

These videos are wonderful! I do have a question though! I’m a saxophonist primarily, but I’ve been trying really hard to work on learning the clarinet as I begin teaching middle school band next fall. My question is regarding tongue position and the inside of the mouth. I have had the tongue position while playing described to me like hissing as a cat, or the shape of the tongue when we say the “k” sound. Is this something you agree with, or are there any other analogies you have heard that make sense to you? Thanks for these informative videos!

[@QuickStartClarinet]

I’m glad you are enjoying them! I think both of those analogies are pretty good. I personally like the German ö for tongue position or the French eu.
Here is my video on tongue position if you haven’t seen it already: ruclips.net/video/iJPDl0MqlzU/видео.html
Let me know if you have any other questions!

[@juliemulie1805]

Thanks for the link to the chart. I found the BD5 13 combined with the traditional Vandoren 3 was way too exhausting to practice with after a decades long absence. Replaced it (for now) with Daddario X0 and Mitchell Luri premium 2.5 and Legere signature 2.25 and have been having enjoyable practice sessions now. Have the next strengths ready to go.
I cannot agree to your idea of cold turkey change to a harder strength and suffering through it for a week as your soft palatte could be damaged in that amount of time...but I looked at throats every day for over 40 years, and wasn't a clarinet professional.

[@QuickStartClarinet]

That's a really good point! You should never be playing on a set up that is so resistant that it feels miserable and is damaging your soft palate. When moving up to a harder strength you should be able to find several reeds in the box that feel decent. If all of them feel bad even after trying to warm-up on that strength then you shouldn't be moving up to that strength.

[@SuzannesVault]

Have you experienced any positive results by "sanding" your new reeds or old reeds (I'm thinking just lightly sanding/smoothing the backs and not the sanding on the front to sort of even out a particular reed).

[@QuickStartClarinet]

Yes and no. There are all kinds of sanding methods that can make improvements sometimes. However, I haven't found a method of sanding that consistently makes reeds better, so in general I don't recommend worrying about it. I have been wanting to make a video about adjusting reeds for a long time. Maybe I will do it soon.

[@SuzannesVault]

@@QuickStartClarinet Thanks for saving me yet another possible distraction from just practicing. :-) BTW: That would be a great video to see from you.