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Buying Your Child’s First Clarinet: A Guide for New Band Parents
Congratulations! Your child has decided to join a school or community band program and has chosen to play the clarinet! Clarinets are obviously the best instrument (although I am a little biased), but it can be overwhelming to purchase a clarinet if you are a first-time band parent. With reeds, mouthpieces, ligatures, mouthpiece caps, swabs, and cork grease, the clarinet…
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Quick Fix Friday: Taking Good Breaths
As wind instrumentalists, our most important tool is our air. I personally believe that air can solve about 90% of the problems we encounter on the clarinet (Note not speaking? More air. Can’t play high notes? Faster air.) Since this is a quick fix Friday post (key word being quick), I won’t go into great detail about the anatomical mechanics…
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I Got (Better) Rhythm
Let me begin this post with a potentially controversial statement: rhythm is the most important element of your musical foundation. Hear me out – other musical concepts such as tone, interpretation, and repertoire selection are very subjective and abstract. Even seemingly concrete aspects of pedagogy (embouchure, articulation, fingerings, posture) have fiercely divided and loyal devotees. Don’t believe me? What syllable…
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The Complete Guide to Clarinet Tuning
As if playing clarinet wasn’t already difficult enough (reeds, breathing, coordinating both hands) we also have to worry about tuning. Tuning (also known as intonation) is more than just aiming for the green light on the tuner. Tuning is a complex science with different variables specific to each instrument. The most frustrating part? You must constantly listen and make adjustments…
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Wanderlust-Inspired Compositions
One of the unexpected effects of moving to Paris has been my increasing sense of wanderlust, or the desire to travel and explore new places. A quick search on Pinterest or Instagram will reveal that I’m not alone – it’s human nature to dream of faraway places. Visiting other cities, countries, and continents expands our cultural appreciation and knowledge of…
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A Clarinetist’s Guide to Paris
When most people think of Paris, images of the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and other famous monuments come to mind. These are all must-sees for any tourist, but I’ve collected a few places clarinetists shouldn’t miss. So, if you’re a clarinetist and planning on visiting Paris in the future, here are my recommendations of places to see and things to do: …
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7 Deadly Clarinet Sins
Gluttony: Thou shalt not partake in too much of one composer, instead exploring the vast landscape which clarinet repertoire has to offer. Pride: If thou believes that he or she is without fault, let them be reminded of the Nielsen, Francaix, Tomasi, and Corigliano concerti. Let them also be reminded that even the greatest clarinetist can be humbled by a…
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My First Year in Paris in 10 Photos
Here’s the part where I tell everyone how quickly the time has flown during my first year in Paris – an overused cliché, but true nonetheless. After a whirlwind year, things are finally slowing down enough for me to breathe and get caught up on some much-needed blog posts and updates. Instead of a long-winded account of my year, I thought it…
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Musical Advice in 140 Characters or Less
With the rise of Twitter, there is a new-found expectation of delivering information in a short and concise method – a tweet. 140 characters or less, to be specific. Twitter is a great platform to edit your thoughts and present them as succinctly as possible to the public. Although not ideal for music education, there are certain doctrines which can be…
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Lies My Band Director Told Me
In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, this article is for some of the hardest-working teachers out there – music teachers! Thank you for enduring all the squeaks, scratchy bowings, loud trumpets, and forgotten mutes! “One more time!” “You would make a great bassoonist/alto clarinetist/other auxiliary instrumentalist nobody else wants to play!” “Rehearsal will only be two hours!” “Just because you’re…