Help with breathing/squeezing technique...

[Chris C.]

I think in bands (at least in the past) the point of the harder reeds was they desired more volume, and some harder reeds are indeed louder than an easier reed. It may not be such an issue today.

And in a solo situation, I don't think the difference in volume would be that necessary.

I noticed when I went to an easier reed it needed more control, as pointed out above. The trade off was that I could play longer, and had less 'lost' notes from breathing glitches. The easier reeds are also more comfortable to play.

[CalumII]

Hard reeds tend to vary in pitch less with pressure; they're either on pitch or silent, both acceptable answers from a competition point of view.



Whether you'd be better off teaching people to intonate properly is an interesting question, or perhaps an obvious one.