• Quick Fix Friday: Head Position

    It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted a Quick Fix Friday, so I’d thought I’d remedy that with a quick post on proper head position. You probably know not to slouch, cross your feet, or allow other poor posture habits into your practicing, but when was the last time you checked out your head position? An alarming number of clarinetists (student and professional) are guilty of dipping their heads towards their chests when they play. This is a no-no because it constricts your air flow, and we all know that bad air = bad sound. The quick fix? Check your head position in a mirror while you’re practicing to…

  • Quick Fix Friday: Prepare Your Page Turns

    There is nothing worse than getting to a rehearsal (or heaven forbid, a CONCERT!) and realizing that you forgot about page turns. (Well, ok, maybe there are a few worse things. Like breaking your favorite reed or having to play upbeats for the rest of eternity, but I digress.) It’s all fine and dandy when you’re working on micro-sections in the practice room, but it’s a completely different story when you’re doing full run-throughs and realize that you have exactly 2.75 beats to turn the page. (Here’s looking at you, Tomasi Clarinet Concerto!) The quick fix? Prepare your page turns! Go through the entire piece (or pieces) and determine which…

  • Quick Fix Friday: Open the Case!

    I see you over there, pretending like you’ve diligently practiced every day all summer, telling yourself you’ll practice…later…maybe… There will never be a shortage of reasons not to practice, especially in the summer. (It’s too hot! I’m so tired! One more episode! I’ll do it after lunch! I forgot to order new reeds! I haven’t practiced in so long! I’ll sound terrible! I’ll do it tomorrow!) We’ve all been guilty of this at some time or another during our musical careers. Like anything else that matters, you have to make time to practice. I get that you’re covetous of your free time in the summer, but even 30 minutes a…

  • Quick Fix Friday: More Air, Less Fingers

    I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no panacea to become a master clarinetist (or any other instrumentalist, for that matter). We all have to follow a healthy musical “diet” of scales, long tones, and repertoire to improve. We’ve all seen the gimmicky tabloid headlines promising instant results with zero time or effort (Lose 20 pounds overnight! Earn thousands from home! etc etc). These are certainly enticing, but true improvement (personal, mental, musical, physical, or otherwise) is the result of long-term dedication and commitment… Buuuttt……I’ve discovered a close-to-instant fix that I use and share with my students. This is for those times during practice sessions…

  • Quick Fix Friday: Don’t “Rest” During Rests

    Raise your hand if you’ve ever experienced that awkward moment when you spend so much time practicing and preparing the notes that you forget about the rests….and miss your entrance. I think it’s safe to say that most of us have experienced this at some point during our musical careers. There is a quick and easy two-part solution: Study the score.  Don’t rest during your rests! It’s so easy to relax and lose concentration when we’re not playing (especially during super-long rests), but it’s important to continue your inner pulse. This is crucial, whether you are playing chamber music, band music, orchestral music, and even unaccompanied music (yes, rests are still important…

  • Quick Fix Friday: Don’t Swell on Long Notes

    The title pretty much sums it up today’s quick fix, but let me elaborate. For whatever reason, musicians tend to get lazy with longer or sustained notes. Maybe you’re just glad to be done with the technical passage that came before. Maybe you’re dreaming of splurging on guacamole at Chipotle tonight (no judgement here). Whatever the reason, make sure that the dynamic of longer notes correlates to what comes before and after.  If you have a crescendo leading up to a whole note, maintain the volume – but don’t swell. By all means continue the intensity, but make a conscious and educated decision to swell on long notes. Just because…

  • Quick Fix Friday: Recovering from Mistakes

    My practice sessions are divided into two main parts: practicing to fix and avoid mistakes (woodshedding) and practicing to recover from mistakes (performance practice). I’ve already discussed the minutiae of woodshedding, from improving your rhythm to becoming a better sight-reader. Woodshedding is a crucial part of practice, but today I want to talk about performance practice. One of the simplest yet most under-utilized practice techniques is to incorporate full run-throughs of pieces or larger section to fortify your mental and physical ability to recover from mistakes (because let’s face it – no matter how much you practice, there will always be live performance errors). Many musicians do not include performance…

  • Quick Fix Friday: Ligature Before Reed

    If you’re a clarinet player, I’m sure you know the agonizing pain of breaking a reed (especially a good one!). RIP to the hundreds of reeds I’ve unintentionally killed. May you all join the ranks of loyal and noble reeds from yesteryear who have met an untimely demise. One easy way to prevent premature reed deaths? When you’re assembling your clarinet, always put your ligature on before the reed. This avoids the risk of chipping or breaking your reed with the edge of your ligature. Simply loosen the ligature so that you can maneuver the reed to the position you want, then tighten the ligature and voilà – no chipped reed!

  • Quick Fix Friday: Think Horizontally

    What would you say if I told you that you can make your music sound more flowing, lyrical, and expressive with a quick mental adjustment? Think horizontally instead of vertically. Let me explain: A lot of times when musicians practice, we get bogged down by technical passages, individual notes, and the minutiae surrounding individual measures or even single beats. This is thinking vertically. We become so focused on perfecting each beat or measure that we may sometimes forget the larger musical picture. Even when we are “woodshedding” (working on the technical mechanics of a passage), we should always remember the larger music context. A classic example for clarinetists is the hated…

  • Quick Fix Friday: Give Good Cues

    You practice your part diligently. You study the score and mark in all the other instrumental cues. You listen to several recordings. Yet your chamber music still feels…off. Simple fix? Maintain good eye contact and give good cues. This is an often-overlooked aspect of performing with other musicians. Many musicians are so used to performing under conductors that they are unfamiliar or uncomfortable leading others in smaller conductor-less ensembles. Accompanists and chamber musicians are not mind-readers (although wouldn’t that be amazing if they were?), so it is important to let others know your musical intentions. Practice giving good cues and nonverbal gestures to let your fellow musicians know where you want…