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Quick Fix Friday: Breathe Like Kirby
I love video games, especially when I can combine them with clarinet pedagogy. This week’s Quick Fix Friday is an analogy to help younger students (especially gamers) visualize proper breathing. I’ve taught dozens of beginner clarinetists over the years, and one of the most important fundamentals they must learn is air and breath support. Many younger students aren’t using enough…
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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…
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The Musician’s Guide to Overcoming Burnout and Amotivation
Being a musician is pretty awesome most of the time. You get to work with talented colleagues, play amazing repertoire, and share your art with audiences. But then there are those times when being a musician is stressful, invalidating, and downright lonely. Musicians can experience crippling anxiety, self-doubt, and constant pressure from listeners. But usually, this pressure comes from within.…
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Which Concerto You Should Practice Next, According to Your Clarinet’s Serial Number
If you’re looking for new repertoire ideas to practice this summer, look no further! Here’s how you can use your clarinet’s serial number to generate your next concerto: Locate the serial number on your clarinet. Add all the digits together. Take the sum from Step 2 and add the digits together until you have a single digit sum. Check the…
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The Complete Guide to the Clarinet Altissimo Register
The clarinet is blessed with the largest range of the entire woodwind family. But Voltaire (and Peter Parker) were right when they warned us, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Our responsibility? To perfect the altissimo register so we don’t burst nearby eardrums or alarm any dogs in the nearby vicinity. The clarinet follows a logical fingering and keywork system.…
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How to Overcome Audition Success Envy
Have you ever been mindlessly scrolling through social media, hypnotized by the lulling stream of memes, relationship updates, cat videos, and then suddenly….BAM! Your friend of a friend of a friend made an announcement that they just won a position with the Awesome Symphony/Fantastic University/insert other cool opportunity. You’re immediately happy for them, but you can’t fight the quiet jealousy…
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The Prepared Musician’s Pre-Performance Mental Checklist
Every musician is familiar with the barrage of thoughts that flutter through their mind before beginning a performance. “What if I have a memory slip? Where is my teacher sitting? Why didn’t I choose a less stressful career??” This cacophony of thoughts is normal, and with time you will learn how to control them. In the meantime, there are several…
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Kroepsch Boot Camp
After the success of my Baermann Boot Camp from last October, I’ve been getting a lot of requests to do another boot camp. After all, scales and technical studies are much more palatable when you suffer practice together, right? For this boot camp, I’ve chosen the Kroepsch 416 Progressive Daily Studies for the Clarinet, which are one of my ride…
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Clarinet Crimes You Might Be Unknowingly Committing
As the self-appointed clarinet police, it’s my job to keep the clarinet community safe from crime. Here are some crimes many clarinetists are unknowingly committing: Infractions Flipping from middle B to C. The “pinky keys” can be confusing, and you should avoid sliding from one key to the other on the same side. But why make extra work for yourself…
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9 Ways to Become Your Band Director’s Favorite Student
Happy Teacher Appreciation week! Band directors are some of the most overworked and under-appreciated teachers out there. The ultimate Jack of all trades, band directors must know a bit about every instrument, music theory, and music history (not to mention possessing the skills necessary to teach all of these). They must balance time management, lesson planning, fundraising, after-school rehearsals, and…