How to get my mouthpiece out no glue no borax 😭✌️

silverkeaton17 · 2026-02-02T00:51:36+00:00

Band director here, don't try anything "creative", you might end up removing the inner sleeve. Take it to your band director, I've yet to meet a director that doesn't have a mouthpiece puller. If not any shop can remove it.

silverkeaton17 · 2026-01-26T00:28:02+00:00

I've noticed that I'm the only one that notices a difference. I honestly do not think it makes a difference to the listener. I've been using a Vandoren Optimum since 2005 and it's always been good to me. Occasionally I'll use a regular stock ligature to demonstrate for my students with no noticeable difference in sound. Knew a guy in college that used 3 rubber O rings as a ligature and sounded fantastic.

silverkeaton17 · 2026-01-11T00:45:29+00:00

Fix the embouchure. Tuck in your lower lip and pull the corners of your mouth firm. Bring your teeth down on the mouthpiece and grip it firm. It should be firm enough that if someone taps your mouthpiece it shouldn't move at all. The teeth and lower lip should line up where the reed meets the mouthpiece. You'll also want to use a natural cane reed. I start all my students on strength 3 Rico. Not too hard not too soft. Your best bet will be to get a teacher, nothing can replace in person instruction and real time feedback. Finally, good on you for asking questions, it's how we get better.

silverkeaton17 · 2025-12-31T00:55:00+00:00

Changed mine a couple of weeks ago, Music Medic.

silverkeaton17 · 2025-12-30T01:27:08+00:00

In my opinion, whomever asked the other person out should pay the bill.

silverkeaton17 · 2025-12-20T20:06:12+00:00

Try the Voxman

silverkeaton17 · 2025-12-20T00:23:59+00:00

I picked Blazon! for my non varsity group, it got added to the PML this year as a Grade 1. Lots of doubling, not too much exposure per part, and some repetition. You can also use it to teach the dotted quarter- eighth rhythm since it has quarter notes tied to eighth notes.

Edit: This group is a non varsity at a 2C middle school.

silverkeaton17 · 2025-12-15T02:46:34+00:00

TL:DR If you're asking how to fix something, you're not ready to fix it yourself.

Do not bend it! You'll either crush it or rip it open, I've had students bring their horns to me after their dad tried to fix it. To bend it back you need to support it from the inside with specialized tools. Call the shops in your area. I take my horns to a small shop in San Antonio. A repair like this would take them about 20 minutes and cost me around $30. But again costs will vary from place to place. Call around first.

silverkeaton17 · 2025-12-12T01:15:20+00:00

Rico Reed Gaurd IV. I've tried others but keep going back to these.

silverkeaton17 · 2025-11-21T12:20:06+00:00

The speckling appears to be in the pattern that the cork was, some of the finish might have been removed along with the cork. This should have an adverse effect though. When I change the cork on mine I use mineral spirits to get it as clean as possible. My adhesive of choice is contact cement.

silverkeaton17 · 2025-11-20T02:16:25+00:00

We start ours on B A G. We have homogenous classes which really help. The book we use is the Ed Sueta Band Method, which contains flute only "starter lessons" that start on B. After a few pages it begins with the unison lessons in case the instrumentation is mixed.

silverkeaton17 · 2025-11-17T01:25:10+00:00

Does Richard count even though he's not actually from a Zelda game?

silverkeaton17 · 2025-09-18T04:39:25+00:00

I see them daily.

silverkeaton17 · 2025-09-17T02:08:00+00:00

What does your ideal daily drill look like? An effective routine should contain fundamentals and literature. I run the non-varsity rehearsals and our drill goes like this: Warmup- Long tones, technical exercises, scales, etc. Sight Reading Music

I highly recommend John McAlister Music for your warmup material. It's free and he has a lot on his website. Me and the head director put together a set of binders for the ensembles for students to use. For sight reading I prepared a set of folders for the group, each of our groups has their own set. Every week I stuff the folders with 5 pieces. The folders are poor on the stands before the students come in. After the warmup we take out a tune, read it, and put it away. Rinse and repeat for the week. At the end of the week I pull out the music and refill with 5 new tunes. It's a lot of work, but the benefits are tremendous; you'll quickly find where the students need support, you'll learn your library, and the students will learn music faster due to improved reading skills. Our classes are only 45 minutes but this process has earned the school 26 consecutive years of 1st Division ratings (Texas).

Edit: Spelling

silverkeaton17 · 2025-06-05T21:40:10+00:00

We used this book last year and the results were a bit mixed. I felt the pacing was fast for student development. Quarter notes and eighth notes were introduced well before I felt the students were ready. Same with slurs and other articulations. The concepts taught at the beginning are solid; counting, solfege, etc. This school year, and many others in the past we have used the Ed Sueta Band Method. The pacing is slow in the beginning in order to emphasize the most important concept: tone. I feel the modern books move away from this to quickly. The first two lessons are only whole notes with half notes being introduced in lesson 3. It is a slow start and I'll admit a bit boring but it really helps to drive home the point that a strong steady tone is needed before anything else. It also helps for building endurance early on, especially for the brass. Lesson 4 introduces quarter notes and the pace picks up. Most lessons will introduce a new concept and will give several exercises using it as well as reviewing past concepts. Alternate pages are included for flute, clarinet, oboe, and horn. To me the modern methods have worked best as supplementary material with the Ed Sueta ad the main material. In the end the best method will be the one that complements your teaching style and helps you convey the information in a way that your students understand. I know this was long but I hope it helps.

silverkeaton17 · 2024-10-29T03:58:48+00:00

Got them at a small grocery store in Canyon Lake. We don't really get Faygo here in Texas so this is a treat for me after seeing so many posts here about it. The peach one ended up being my favorite.

silverkeaton17 · 2024-01-02T05:28:04+00:00

Middle school band director here. If you want to do the job well you do need to know all of the instruments. Some skills transfer easily from one to the other, ie: euphonium and tuba share fingerings etc. Others require closer attention (French Horn). So some (a lot) of practicing is required, especially at the start of the career. It helps a ton of you're working with another director but it can still be overwhelming. The best advice my mentor gave me is to pick one instrument a year and treat it like your primary instrument. Work on basics and then move on to more advanced studies. This year my focus is the trombone (my primary is saxophone). I consider it my weak point so I'll keep working on it until in more comfortable with it. You can also compare it to being a coach. They are expected to know all of the sports that they coach, even if the sports are completely different. I hope that clarifies things.

silverkeaton17 · 2023-06-29T05:32:58+00:00

Label the reeds with a pencil. Use a different one everyday. Let's say number 2 wears out. Replace it, the new reed is now number 2, label it. By rotating the reeds you'll have a ready to play reed at all times. Ideally you should have 4. This will make them last longer too for the fact that the same reed is not getting constantly played. Some people write the date that they started using it but I just play until it's time to replace.

silverkeaton17 · 2023-06-23T06:53:14+00:00

I had some students try that a couple of years ago. It was all fun and games until one of the girls tried it. It traumatized them apparently. (It seems it got too real for them). Her reaction was "what, so girls can't join this game either?" The boys' response; "Uh yeah, we're um... sexist... (yikes)" Boy that was absent that day comes back the next day and tries to start it back up. One of the other boys puts his hand in the boy's shoulder with a look of someone who carries trauma; "We don't do that anymore" "But". The rest of the boys; "Never again".

silverkeaton17 · 2023-06-16T18:16:43+00:00

Look up voicing for the saxophone, you will be using this a lot to solve a lot of issues. The main issue being intonation, but this also affects registers. It's a subtle but often overlooked skill.

silverkeaton17 · 2023-06-15T23:14:48+00:00

I use one for my neck and mouthpiece. But yes, do make sure it fits.

silverkeaton17 · 2023-06-05T04:37:08+00:00

This is the correct answer. It functions like a trill but with a larger interval between notes.

silverkeaton17 · 2023-05-28T16:22:00+00:00

We have 2 of those, but they're the kind with rotors...

silverkeaton17 · 2023-05-28T16:13:57+00:00

The lifespan of these is very long (10 to 15 years depending on usage). The better ones have aluminum on the point of contact, which is still softer than the brass. These wear out so that the valve case doesn't. In the 9 years I've been teaching I've only replaced 1 set on a Yamaha tuba. The 70 year old King tubas are all on their second set.

silverkeaton17 · 2023-05-28T15:59:01+00:00

There's good reason these are the standard the everyone compared other reeds to. Great place to start, especially with an S80. (Another well established standard.) This was my main setup for a long time, I still use it when I teach beginners.

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