More sage advice from a master. So much to learn from this gentleman, who shares freely from his treasure trove of clarinet wisdom. Thank you.

Thanks! You know how to create innovative frameworks, both for designing clarinets and for teaching. I'm learning double lip quickly with your 11 Commandments and a tuner. Started with 2 minutes tops. Relax for a couple minutes. 2 minutes tops again. The teeth and lips held more consistently each time. Another teacher told me to bite the same part of the top lip that you normally bite on the bottom lip. That works out well. I think a lot of people get bad instructions and give up. Wouldn't be surprised if some were telling people to deep throat their tooters. If I lose pitch, I have maybe 4 things to remember, and it's easy to diagnose and correct. Tone gets better, then you just create a new bull's eye once you get the pitch bull's eyes consistent: Better and better sound. A chromatic tuner is great for that, long tones or not. I'm returning to clarinet after some fading of muscle memory, so I'm on perfect footing just to go with double lip. It's a lot easier to progress on these things with double lip.

I really liked when you suggested to rest the clarinet on my knees when playing. I learnt clarinet as a child and was always told to stand when playing, not being allowed to sit or gosh, resting the clarinet on something. At that time, there was nothing like a neck strap either. Now, when I returned to playing, I like to play when sitting and I will not feel bad about it. The rest of the tips are also very helpful but this one stucked with me the most. Thank you!

Rather than resting on the knee, how about the use of a neck strap? Some people's bodies (for instance an elementary school student) are not properly proportioned to resting the clarinet on the knee while keeping the clarinet at an appropriate angle. A good elastic strap can help support snugging.

Hi Tom, can you please share with us a good/reasonable method how to sterilize reeds?

I noticed that since in French embouchure there is a 2-3 mm difference in the position of the upper teeth (as compared with usual embouchure), the tonguing of the usual tu-tu-tu just does not seem to work that well. Do you have any advice about proper French embouchure tonguing? I have tried the tip of the tongue on the lower lip, so that the tip of the reed touches the part slightly above the tip of the tongue (think of a piece of metal bending). Or it seems that aiming directly directly tip of the tongue / tip of the reed also works. Any words of wisdom anyone?