Fixing a "fuzzy" woodwind/brass tone in beginners

In teaching beginning woodwind and brass students, I often come across the same basic problems in students’ playing. A lack of a good tone is common and here I give some solutions for remedying it.

The student should be sure they are using a correct embouchure. In brass students, this is often incorrect placement.  With the mouthpiece alone, have the student first make an “ah” shape with their throat.  Then, close the lips as if to say “mmm”.  Finally the student should allow air to puff through the lips making a “puh” sound.  This is the basic brass embouchure and articulation.

Often a fuzzy sound is a result of not enough air.  Using long tones can help this issue in the long run.  I often ask the student to play twice as loud to see if that makes a difference.  This makes the student naturally use more air and will help diagnose the problem.

On clarinet and saxophone students, one should be sure the reed is the proper strength.  If little air is passing, the reed may be too hard.  If the tone is flat sounding, the reed may be too soft.  A 2 ½ reed strength is a good hardness to start with, though they should move up to a 3 as soon as their embouchure strength allows it.  One must also check that the reed is in good condition with no nicks or cracks, and that the reed is placed properly on the mouthpiece.  Even a small deviation in reed placement can affect sound negatively.  Ensure that enough but not too much of the mouthpiece is in the student’s mouth.  Saxophone players should have about half of the mouthpiece in their mouth.  Clarinet players should have less.

For flute students, check that the embouchure is centered and air is passing across the lip hole properly.  The student may want to “roll out” the head joint slightly— beginners tend to focus the air down into the head joint to ensure a sound coming out but this technique creates a hollow fuzzy tone. Rolling the head joint out allows for a more full tone as the air passes above the lip plate to cause greater resonance.

I hope you find these tips helpful, and if you have questions regarding this or other playing problems, don’t hesitate to contact me at webguybrandyn@gmail.com