Question:
Practicing with Stronger Reeds
I've been using Vandoren V16 2.5 reeds for the past few months. I bought a new (used) sax, and the seller had an unused box of V16 3's that they threw in. I decided to use one for my practice tonight. I immediately noticed that I had to work a bit harder on my embouchure in order to produce a good tone. So I was wondering... is this a good thing to do to strengthen the embouchure? Or will it hurt me in the long run? What if I tried 3.5's?
Thanks,
Frank

Answer:
How long have you been playing with the 2.5 v16's? If you're not ready for some harder reeds, you will end up biting...

Answer:
Now that you mention it, I did have to bite down with my top teeth on the mouthpiece. I've been playing the 2.5's for about 3-4 months.

Answer:
I've been wondering about reed strength and the lip
It seems to me the lips are generally strong enough to control the reed, I think it is actually ones ability to support and direct the air. My reason for coming to this conclusion is this past summer I had a pinched nerve in my left hand, on the 3 side of the 2nd finger. It was only about a week that I could not feel the key touch but even then there was a terrible drag between fingers 2 and 3. My doctor suggested not playing, yeah right. Since I was not committed to play in an ensemble I decided to only practice non-rhythmic exercises. So for 3 months I played long tones, harmonics, altissimo, polyphonics and singing for my daily practice. The result has been greater air control. I have found myself using much harder reeds and considering a more open mouthpiece. But quite frankly I really do not think my lip is any stronger than before, if anything I rely on my lips less.
Again my OCD is showing.

Answer:
For the last couple of years, I've been playing mouthpieces with a tip between .105 and .110 with reeds that were 2 1/2 strength. Then, a few months ago, I picked up a mouthpiece that had a tip of .098 and went to reed that were 3 1/2 strength with no problem.
Last week, I thought I'd try playing one of the mpcs that has a .105 tip with the 3 1/2 reed and I was amazed that I could do it with very little effort. Seems that going down slightly in tip openings and up in reed strength actually improved my embouchure stength.

Answer:
Practice with what you Perform With
When I was young (teens) the macho thing to do was to play wide and hard. I was using a RIA metal with a 9 opening and hemke #5 reed. Now I use a much smaller facing and hemke #3.5. My opinion is to use whatever setup feels right. It doesnt make sense to use a harder reed for any other reason except sound. Generally, the harder the reed, the darker the sound. If you practice using a harder strength than you actually perform with, your embouchure will not get to develop consistency. When your embouchure has to keep making adjustments for different reeds, facings ect, it does not get to firmly establish the nuances and (fretless) flexibility between the actual notes/registers. I would rather focus on the inherent transition in doubling (if you play other horns) and even try to minimize that by using mouthpiece/reed combinations that are less variant in transition. For example, I use a harder reed on my soprano, than on tenor, with the understanding that I will have to blow a little harder in the soprano. This allows me to keep the intonation straight on both horns... the tenor takes more air but offers less resistance, the sorprano has less air requirements but alot more resistance. So in my opinion again... practice what you perform!