I have heard this question many times and many ways, "How hard a reed should I be using. I really like the answer provided here.
David Valdez: I’m generally against starting students out on really soft reeds. I don’t think that it is very helpful because it trains you to play with a much different embouchure than a professional would use. There is some amount of muscle and air-stream control that needs to be developed over time, but it’s not like you need to become iron-lips in order to have a good sound. I was talking to Ralph Morgan, the master mouthpiece maker and former head engineer during Selmer’s Mark VI production, and he was saying how he thought that no one should ever play anything harder than a 2 1/2 or 3 reed on a 5 tip opening mouthpiece.
The Bis Key Chronicles 