Saxes:Paper over the teeth trick?

[TRtrumpet]

Anyone use it, or know what I'm talking about?

[sax5warrior]

Anyone use it, or know what I'm talking about?

...go on...what is it?

[TRtrumpet]

Like when you kinda fold a peice of paper and like put it over your bottom teeth where they go over your gums when you play. I saw people do it at band camp.

[Gdub]

Paper is a good temporary fix if your gums are hurting really bad from forming an embouchure. However, my favorite fix to this problem is a product called EZO and you can get it from just about any drug store. You'll find in the denture section.

 

EZO is pink piece of wax that comes in the shape of a horseshoe. What I recommend doing is cutting it down into one inch pieces and storing it in a ziploc bag for your convenience.

 

What you do with the EZO pieces is to take one piece and put over your bottom teeth and mold it and until it fits comfortably like a glove. Then you form your embouchure like normal, only this time your teeth will not be penetrating directly into your gums, instead the EZO will act as a buffer.

 

You will be able to practice for a much longer period of time and your director will thank you

[TRtrumpet]

Yeah, someone there was telling me about that denture stuff. I need to try it. I tried the paper thing and it's awesome. I can play all day like this! Haha.

[sax5warrior]

Yeah, someone there was telling me about that denture stuff. I need to try it. I tried the paper thing and it's awesome. I can play all day like this! Haha.

i need to try that, especially when marching season can take a brutal toll on your bottom gums.

[TRtrumpet]

Yeah dude... this helps ALOOOOT.

[barisaxy08]

i definitely agree with the EZO idea. We have this camp at Westfield called HASWE (Houston Area Summer Wind Ensemble) and we practice music from 8:30 am - 4:30pm and your mouth really starts to hurt from all the pinching and biting and stuff. EZO makes it a LOT easier on you...but don't use it to where you almost need it everyday. You should still be able to alternate back to playing the sax without it hindering your embouchure.

[king_kool360]

I picked up sax about four weeks ago. My bottom lip is so torn up from trumpet that the sax does hardly anything to it after hours of play. (lol... it took me 1/2 an hour to figure out how to make a sound on the mouthpeice) :~D

[TRtrumpet]

I'm gonna be me some EZO today, lol.

[ginnyqoa]

Paper does work for short terms. But it works really well. Discovered it a few years back and my daily ritual is folding a piece of paper up before warmup. The only thing to watch out for is the thickness of the paper. Too thin and it dosen't do anything, too thick and it can affect your playing, and one slip you could crack your reed.

[itsstephenyo]

If you're gonna try to use paper, you better make it cigarette paper. Now, I know some of you aren't old enough to buy some, but if you have some 18 year old friends that can, it's exponentially better than computer paper. It forms easily over the teeth and doesn't tear when it's wet.

 

Still, like someone else said 2 year ago, Ezo is the way to go. It's what I used to use back then when I was playing 6-8 hours a day. That stuff lasts forever.

[GuitarJoe]

I used both paper and the ezo stuff and actually preferred the paper. It was some special kind of scrapbook paper that was just the right thickness.

[bojangles103]

You can also use cigarette paper. I'm sure it'll be cheaper. However, if your lip hurts after a short while (30-60 minutes) you are most likely biting on the reed and should loosen your jaw while you tighten your corners. If then it becomes too hard to play, you should try a softer reed. When forming your embouchure, you want to try and put as little pressure on the reed as possible. Professionals who use cigarette paper generally just have sharp teeth and are not biting on the mouthpiece.

Edited October 28, 2009 by bojangles103