Editing Embouchure (section)

==Woodwind embouchure==
[[File:SfondoNINI2b.JPG|thumb|Flute embouchure]]

===Flute embouchure===

A variety of [[flute|transverse flute]] embouchures are employed by professional flautists, though the most natural form is perfectly symmetrical, the corners of the mouth relaxed (i.e. not smiling), the lower lip placed along and at a short distance from the embouchure hole. It must be stressed, however, that achieving a symmetrical, or perfectly centred blowing hole ought not to be an end in itself. Indeed, French flautist [[Marcel Moyse]] did not play with a symmetrical embouchure.

The end-blown [[Xiao (flute)|xiao]], [[kaval]], [[shakuhachi]] and [[hocchiku]] flutes demand especially difficult embouchures, sometimes requiring many lessons before any sound can be produced.

The embouchure is an important element to tone production. The right embouchure, developed  with "time, patience, and intelligent work",<ref>{{cite book
 | author = Marcel Moyse 
 | title = De la Sonorité 
 | publisher= A. Leduc 
 | year = 1934 
|author-link = Marcel Moyse}}</ref> will produce a beautiful sound and a correct intonation. The embouchure is produced with the muscles around the lips: principally the [[orbicularis oris muscle]] and the [[Depressor anguli oris muscle|depressor anguli oris]], whilst avoiding activation of [[Zygomaticus major muscle|zygomaticus major]], which will produce a smile, flattening the top lip against the maxillary (upper jaw) teeth. Beginner flute-players tend to suffer fatigue in these muscles, and notably struggle to use the depressor muscle, which necessarily helps to keep the top lip directing the flow of air across the embouchure hole. These muscles have to be properly warmed up and exercised before practicing. Tone-development exercises including long notes and harmonics must be done as part of the warm up daily.

Some further adjustments to the embouchure are necessary when moving from the transverse orchestral flute to the piccolo. With the piccolo, it becomes necessary to place the near side of the embouchure hole slightly higher on the lower lip, i.e. above the lip margin, and greater muscle tone from the lip muscles is needed to keep the stream/pressure of air directed across the smaller embouchure hole, particularly when playing in higher piccolo registers.

===Reed instrument embouchure===
[[File:WikiLoveMusikHamburg2017 B-Klarinette 1K4A0846B.jpg|thumb|Clarinet embouchure.]]
With the woodwinds, aside from the [[flute]], [[piccolo]], and [[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorder]], the sound is generated by a [[reed (music)|reed]] and not with the lips. The embouchure is therefore based on sealing the area around the reed and mouthpiece. This serves to prevent air from escaping while simultaneously supporting the reed, allowing it to vibrate, and constrict the reed preventing it from vibrating too much. With woodwinds, it is important to ensure that the mouthpiece is not placed too far into the mouth, which would result in too much vibration (no control), often creating a sound an octave (or harmonic twelfth for the clarinet) above the intended note. If the mouthpiece is not placed far enough into the mouth, no sound will be generated, as the reed will not vibrate.

The standard embouchures for single reed woodwinds like the [[clarinet]] and [[saxophone]] are variants of the ''single lip embouchure'', formed by resting the reed upon the bottom lip, which rests on the [[teeth]] and is supported by the chin muscles and the [[buccinator]] muscles on the sides of the mouth. The top teeth rest on top of the mouthpiece. The manner in which the lower lip rests against the teeth differs between clarinet and saxophone embouchures.  In clarinet playing, the lower lip is rolled over the teeth and corners of the mouth are drawn back, which has the effect of drawing the upper lip around the mouthpiece to create a seal due to the angle at which the mouthpiece rests in the mouth. With the [[saxophone embouchure]], the lower lip rests against, but not over, the teeth as in pronouncing the letter "V" and the corners of the lip are drawn in (similar to a drawstring bag). With the less common double-lip embouchure, the top lip is placed under (around) the top teeth, an alternative embouchure sometimes recommended by dentists for single-reed players for whom the single-lip approach is potentially harmful.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Prensky |first1=H. David |last2=Shapiro |first2=Gerald I. |last3=Silverman |first3=Sidney I. |title=Dental diagnosis and treatment for musicians |journal=Special Care in Dentistry |date=September 1986 |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=198–202 |doi=10.1111/j.1754-4505.1986.tb00996.x |pmid=3532373}}</ref> In both instances, the position of the tongue in the mouth plays a vital role in focusing and accelerating the air stream blown by the player. This results in a more mature and full sound, rich in [[overtone]]s.

The [[double reed]] woodwinds, the [[oboe]] and [[bassoon]], have no mouthpiece. Instead the reed is two pieces of cane extending from a metal tube (oboe – staple) or placed on a [[bocal]] ([[bassoon]], [[Cor anglais|English horn]]). The reed is placed directly on the lips and then played like the double-lip embouchure described above. Compared to the single reed woodwinds, the reed is very small and subtle changes in the embouchure can have a dramatic effect on [[musical tuning|tuning]], [[timbre|tone]] and [[pitch (music)|pitch]] control.