Earlier, I described different approaches to breathing, embouchure, and the oral cavity. If we try to apply all techniques at the same time, there is a high risk that the result will not be very good.

At this point, I will begin to slightly contradict myself. Earlier, I wrote that in the human/clarinet system, all parts are equally important, and that we cannot say that breathing is more important than the embouchure or the reed and mouthpiece. I truly believe this. However, adjusting all parts of the system at the same time is very difficult, so we need to choose the order in which we work on them or study them.

I suggest the following hierarchy: breathing - embouchure - oral cavity - followed by the mouthpiece and reed - the clarinet itself, and last - finger
technique. In other words, we should first develop good exhalation. I
deliberately avoid the word correct. Later, we add the embouchure to the
exhalation, and finally, if necessary, we fine-tune the sound using the oral
cavity.

Of course, all these elements are closely connected. For example, without a good embouchure, good breathing may produce a sound that is too straight and unprocessed. At the same time, without good breathing, even a good embouchure will produce a childish sound - weak and too soft, a sound that doesn't carry, a sound that doesn't sing. The development of a more intense exhalation stimulates the development of the embouchure, and vice versa. A stronger embouchure makes it possible to use more intense breathing.

So, what is a good exhalation?

Earlier, I wrote about breathing technique. Now I would like to
add a few thoughts about sensation and intention. Before that, however, I need
to make a short digression and speak about my student years.

When I was a student and listened to famous clarinetists, or when leading
clarinetists came to give masterclasses, I noticed how different their playing
was from mine and from that of many of my fellow students. This difference was mainly in how they shaped the musical line and how they connected individual notes into a single line, following a continuous line of breath. It felt as if they knew some secret that they were unwilling to share, because they spoke about things that we already knew.

I remember that we had a student who was not outstanding, good, but not one of the best. Later, he went to France and took lessons with a leading clarinetist. When he returned, he was almost unrecognizable. His playing had changed so much. Yes, it was still not perfect, and the sound was not always ideal, but his playing had acquired something that has always fascinated me in good clarinetists: tone control and the ability to connect individual notes into a single musical line.

When I tried to understand what had changed in his playing, he
said that he had been told that “there should always be air pressure in the
mouth”.

The second story will be shorter. At one masterclass, we asked a guest clarinetist what correct breathing should be like. He replied that they teach children to imagine confetti scattered on the floor, and to imagine
exhaling in such a way that the air travels through the clarinet, and comes out of the bell, and continuously blows the confetti outward.

I believe that these sensations (constant air pressure in the mouth or the continuous blowing of confetti)  are significant. The point is that playing
the clarinet and producing sound does not require much effort, especially with
a light reed. One can simply exhale calmly, and the sound may be acceptable and even beautiful in timbre. However, it will lack the qualities that have always
attracted me in the playing of master musicians.

It seems that in order to sound truly good, the exhalation should always be slightly more intense than what feels sufficient, regardless of whether we are playing loudly or softly. With this kind of exhalation, when we constantly feel air pressure in the mouth or maintain the intention to blow the confetti, the sound may lose some refinement simply because the embouchure is not yet ready to handle such airflow. This is precisely why I say that, on the one hand, all parts of the system are equally important and interconnected, and on the other hand, breathing can come first in the hierarchy. All other parts of the system will adapt to the breath.

It is especially important that the air pressure in the mouth, or the sensation of continuously blowing the confetti, is maintained when moving from one note to another. There is a natural tendency to reduce the intensity of the exhalation during note changes, especially when the interval is large. We are afraid that the sound will not come out as we want. This fear must be overcome, and we must learn to adapt the embouchure and oral cavity to an intense exhalation when reaching some note.

Another useful image when playing intervals is to imagine that we
exhale in such a way that the air coming out of the tone holes lifts our
fingers (if the fingers are moving upward). Or, if the fingers are moving
downward, to imagine that the air is trying to escape through the holes, and we
catch, squeeze it with our fingers, sealing it inside the body of the clarinet.

To summarize, when we play the clarinet, we first form 1) an intense exhalation, which we then 2) refine with the embouchure, and finally 3) fine-tune by shaping the oral cavity, if necessary.