I notice after a lot of practicing at home my jaw begins to hurt. Is this normal and is there anyway to prevent the pain or stop it quicker?
Thanks
jaw pain
Moderators: Classitar, pied_piper, Phineas
-
fluteguy18
- Posts: 2311
- Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 3:11 pm
It could be a lot of things... like you are extending/ lowering your jaw too much and causing discomfort, or maybe [if you are in your teens or slightly later] your wisdom teeth might be coming in [if you havent had them removed], or any number of things....
Could you describe the pain more? Exact location, whether the bone aches or whether it is the muscles/ tendons etc. etc.
Could you describe the pain more? Exact location, whether the bone aches or whether it is the muscles/ tendons etc. etc.
-
fluteplayer09
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2006 2:47 pm
If it's your wisdom teeth you'd probably ache when you're not playing the flute as well.
When I started college I had jaw pain/soreness from practicing/playing my flute. Turns out, I was pushing my flute against my chin, feeling like that's how I needed to hold it, or that's what I needed to make a good sound... so there was a lot of tension in my mouth and especially my jaw.
Try thinking of your bottom lip as a "pillow" for your flute. It can feel like it's just barely there but it can still be balanced and your sound will probably improve. And your jaw will LOVE you for it.
It might be worth a try to see if the pain subsides.
When I started college I had jaw pain/soreness from practicing/playing my flute. Turns out, I was pushing my flute against my chin, feeling like that's how I needed to hold it, or that's what I needed to make a good sound... so there was a lot of tension in my mouth and especially my jaw.
Try thinking of your bottom lip as a "pillow" for your flute. It can feel like it's just barely there but it can still be balanced and your sound will probably improve. And your jaw will LOVE you for it.
It might be worth a try to see if the pain subsides.Visit [url=http://www.monikadurbin.com/formiapress]Formia Press[/url] to check out my compositions and arrangements for flute and more.
I found this from the FLUTE list archives on Larry Krantz's website:
2.1.77 Prescription for tightness and pain in the jaw.
Back to FAQ Index
(From David Dahl)
I can only suggest what worked for me. Two of the main causes of my tightness (of not only face, but also hands and shoulders) was improper breathing and "incorrect" embouchure. I put incorrect in quotes because I realize that there are different ideas on what is correct. In my case, incorrect meant a tight smiley embouchure. The hole between my lips was too large, and my upper lip was too far out.
To help correct my breathing, I have been working with a breathing bag. I have worked to relax my face and lips as much as possible. To be more aware of the difference, I would first tighten up on purpose, and then try to loosen what was tight. If I can feel loose blowing and sucking the breathing bag, I place the flute up to my lips and try not to lose the feeling.
A great part of why I was tight, was the way in which I used too much of my lips to control the air. By relaxing the sides of my lips and using only the center of my lips to control the air, much more of my face, and everything else, is relaxed. A favorite technique of Keith Underwood is to gently pull down the corners of the student's mouth while the student plays. I can even do it to myself when I play long tones on left hand notes.
Until I was already relaxed, there was no way that I could get air in my cheeks. In my case, the suggestion to let my cheeks puff out a little was only frustrating. Now when I am relaxed, it is hard to believe that it was once so difficult.
(From Alexa Still)
At the risk of stating the obvious, I would suggest first checking that the player doesn't have tremendous pressure at the chin/lip plate (due to problems holding the flute etc), and that they don't have the jaw in an extreme forward or back position while playing. Beyond this, something drastic needs to happen to reduce the tension that apparently is there.
Abandoning the player's usual tone is probably the best next step, just because this tension is such a hard habit to break. Experimenting in front of a mirror, making "ridiculous" sounds a la beginners etc, discovering that *a* sound can be produced using a totally loose feeling mouth, without the usual tension, and then working differently (relaxed!) for control (ie localized middle of the embouchure muscles and abdominal support) maybe more productive in the end than doing battle with the person's current way of playing. I can understand the breathing bags really helping because it is such a relaxed action combined with the usual blowing.
Sometimes when I have students with bad tension problems in posture, I get them to play sitting and leaning, or even lying down (difficult, needing the flute to be suspended for best results) just to get a concept of producing a sound with less tension. It seems that the concept part is the hardest thing. The rest is steady work, but getting the idea in the first place can be so hard!
2.1.77 Prescription for tightness and pain in the jaw.
Back to FAQ Index
(From David Dahl)
I can only suggest what worked for me. Two of the main causes of my tightness (of not only face, but also hands and shoulders) was improper breathing and "incorrect" embouchure. I put incorrect in quotes because I realize that there are different ideas on what is correct. In my case, incorrect meant a tight smiley embouchure. The hole between my lips was too large, and my upper lip was too far out.
To help correct my breathing, I have been working with a breathing bag. I have worked to relax my face and lips as much as possible. To be more aware of the difference, I would first tighten up on purpose, and then try to loosen what was tight. If I can feel loose blowing and sucking the breathing bag, I place the flute up to my lips and try not to lose the feeling.
A great part of why I was tight, was the way in which I used too much of my lips to control the air. By relaxing the sides of my lips and using only the center of my lips to control the air, much more of my face, and everything else, is relaxed. A favorite technique of Keith Underwood is to gently pull down the corners of the student's mouth while the student plays. I can even do it to myself when I play long tones on left hand notes.
Until I was already relaxed, there was no way that I could get air in my cheeks. In my case, the suggestion to let my cheeks puff out a little was only frustrating. Now when I am relaxed, it is hard to believe that it was once so difficult.
(From Alexa Still)
At the risk of stating the obvious, I would suggest first checking that the player doesn't have tremendous pressure at the chin/lip plate (due to problems holding the flute etc), and that they don't have the jaw in an extreme forward or back position while playing. Beyond this, something drastic needs to happen to reduce the tension that apparently is there.
Abandoning the player's usual tone is probably the best next step, just because this tension is such a hard habit to break. Experimenting in front of a mirror, making "ridiculous" sounds a la beginners etc, discovering that *a* sound can be produced using a totally loose feeling mouth, without the usual tension, and then working differently (relaxed!) for control (ie localized middle of the embouchure muscles and abdominal support) maybe more productive in the end than doing battle with the person's current way of playing. I can understand the breathing bags really helping because it is such a relaxed action combined with the usual blowing.
Sometimes when I have students with bad tension problems in posture, I get them to play sitting and leaning, or even lying down (difficult, needing the flute to be suspended for best results) just to get a concept of producing a sound with less tension. It seems that the concept part is the hardest thing. The rest is steady work, but getting the idea in the first place can be so hard!
Visit [url=http://www.monikadurbin.com/formiapress]Formia Press[/url] to check out my compositions and arrangements for flute and more.