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Quick Fix Friday: Tongue the Ties
Happy Friday! This week’s quick fix is one of my favorites, since it’s helped me improve my rhythmic precision. Are ties messing up your rhythm? If so, you’re not alone – ties are great to create musical tension and suspension, but they can also obscure the rhythm. The quick fix? Practice the passage a few times, tonguing the tied note so you can better feel the rhythm and subdivision. After this feels comfortable, add the tie back in for more solid and stable rhythm. A lot of times, like in the musical example below, the tie connects to a downbeat. If the rhythm isn’t precise, it can also interfere with…
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Quick Fix Friday: Check Your Pivot Points
Happy Friday! What if I told you that I had a simple solution to pesky technical problems? Good news – I do! Let’s talk about pivot points. Pivot points are when the musical contour changes directions, or “pivots” (hence the name). For example, a technical passage can move upwards before descending or vice versa. I’ve found that a large number of technical issues happen around these pivot points. What usually happens is that your fingers (and maybe your mind) gets used to going in one direction and can’t pivot as quickly as the music calls for. (Think of it like running down a hill and not being able to regain…
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Quick Fix Friday: Avoid Monotony During Repeated Notes
Happy Friday! Sometimes, a composer likes a note so much that they use it again…and again…and again…. These repeated note sequences can become monotonous if you’re not careful with your phrasing. Anytime you find repeated notes in your music, be sure to add variety through dynamics, pacing, articulation, or other interpretative devices to make these passages more musically compelling. Et voilà – this is an easy way to add some spice to your music! Happy practicing!
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Quick Fix Friday: Your Sound Imitates Your Air
Happy Friday! This week, I wanted to share something I constantly remind my students… Your sound is a direct reflection of your air. If there are dips, bumps, or inconsistencies in your air speed, pressure, or quantity, your sound will be affected. If there is a break in the air, there will be a break in the sound. If there is a waver in the air, there will be a waver in the sound. Think of it like this – when you stand in front of a mirror and raise your hand, your mirror image does the same. Your air and sound are mirror images, so be sure to always…
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Quick Fix Friday: Maintain the Momentum on Long Notes
Happy Friday! Another week, another quick fix! You might think that long notes are easier to play – after some technical fireworks, you can hang out on a few whole notes and relax. If you’re guilty of doing this, you’re missing out on some nice phrasing opportunities. Let’s talk about my theory of musical magnetism for a second. I believe that all notes in music are either moving away from previous notes or moving towards upcoming notes. I think that notes either repel or attract each other, much like magnets. What does this have to do with clarinet? I hear many students who flatline or lose the momentum on longer…
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Quick Fix Friday: Play Between the Notes
Happy Friday! This week’s quick fix will help you direct your air while creating more compelling musical interpretations. If you’ve ever noticed that your sound is choppy or disjunct, it’s probably because you are slowing or stopping your air flow when you change notes. This is especially common if you are articulating notes, as the tongue can often interrupt the air flow if you aren’t careful. The quick fix? Play between the notes by focusing on creating a steady air column. Imagine this: you are riding your bike up a steep hill. You need a bit more momentum to make it to the top. Now, translate the momentum in this…
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Quick Fix Friday: Play with a slurred sound
Happy Friday! One of the most common queries I receive is how to improve clarinet articulation. Many people focus so much on the tongue that they neglect the air. I truly believe that 90% of clarinet problems can be traced back to air, and articulation is no exception. (Don’t get me wrong – there are certainly issues that can arise with the tongue and other factors, but we’ll save those for another blog post. You can also check out my complete guide to clarinet articulation to learn more about improving your tonguing.) On to this week’s quick fix – play with a slurred sound! When I tell my students to…
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Quick Fix Friday: No squishy lower lip
Happy Friday! Do you ever feel like your tone is lackluster, unfocused, or just a bit blah? If so, your lower lip could be the culprit. Away from the clarinet, hold your mouth in a relaxed position, as if you were sleeping. Now gently touch your lower lip. It should feel squishy. This is fine most of the time, but not when playing clarinet. If your lower lip is squishy like this when playing clarinet, it can absorb some of the vibrations and create a duller sound. The quick fix? Make sure your lower lip is firm (but not tense!) by imitating a grimace. This will create a smoother sound,…
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Quick Fix Friday: Follow the beam
Happy Friday! You might be a bit confused about the title (no, I’m not referring to the beams in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, although this is a great series). I’m referring to beams in regard to rhythm. A beam is the horizontal line which groups certain notes together, such as two eighth notes or four sixteenth notes. Now, on to our quick fix: If you’re facing a tricky rhythmic passage and don’t know where to start, look at how the notes are beamed together. Most of the time, rhythms are beamed together by beat. Once you’ve found each beat, you can further break down individual beats to understand the…
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Quick Fix Friday: Breathe from the corners
Happy Friday, and welcome to another installment of my Quick Fix Friday! This week, I have a simple fix to allow you to take fast breaths without disrupting your embouchure. When you take a breath, make sure you breathe from the corners of your mouth and avoid moving your jaws. I commonly see students remove their jaws from the mouthpiece when they take a breath, and this creates a few issues: It causes you to have to completely reset your embouchure every time you take a breath, which means that you have a higher risk of squeaks and popped attacks. It also takes you longer to reform a proper embouchure,…