When I first started playing in junior high, it was "natural" for me to use double-lip, but I was taught that that was an "old" way of playing and that the newest instruction was for single.
So that's probably why I bite too hard. Have to use a hard reed to hit the high notes, but then it's too hard to manage the low notes without sounding stuffy, airy, and then I run out of air and become exhausted. To make my lower and middle notes sound nice, I need a softer reed, of which I bite the heck out of and choke off my high notes. I didn't notice this so much in high school as I was playing so much I guess I had more strength to play my #4 reeds..... now I'm battling between 2.5 and 3, thinking of trying a 2.
Nice to know my years of bad habits were totally unnecessary :cry: But, I did say I wanted to take getting back into playing slowly, take it seriously, and become a good musician.
Lesson #1 Down, many, many more to go :O)