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Alabama All State Audition Boot Camp for Clarinetists
Happy November! The air’s getting colder as marching band comes to a close for another season, which can only mean one thing… All State auditions are just around the corner! That’s right, it’s time to dust off those scales and polish those etudes, because auditions will be here before you know it! Lucky for you, I’ve created a free 8-week boot camp for clarinetists of all ages to prepare for their All State audition, whether it’s your first time or you have a few auditions under your belt. I’m a veteran of the Alabama All State Band system, having made 1st chair in the Red Band multiple times, and I…
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Halloween Costume Ideas for Clarinetists
Updated September 7, 2021 Why not celebrate Halloween like the clari-nerd you are? Here are some delightfully dorky costume ideas for my fellow Halloween-loving clarinetists: A clarinet. Obvious, yet effective. Box of reeds. Grab some cardboard and recreate your favorite reed boxes! A reed. Bonus points for chipping/warping/mold/other personal touches. Edward Reedhands. Channel your inner Johnny Depp, but with reeds instead of knives. Jack the (Reed) Ripper. Serial killer + copiously placed reeds to confuse all your non-musician friends. Benny Goodman. Slicked back hair, glasses, suit and tie, and some swing solos are all you need. Mozart Concerto (or your other favorite piece of music). Feel free to use speakers to…
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Chilling Clarinet Solos to Get in the Halloween Spirit
Updated October 3, 2021 As clarinetists, we are lucky to have a veritable treasure trove of repertoire at our disposal. Throughout the years, I’ve curated quite the music library, including all the standard repertoire and some quirky gems I’ve found along the way. I’m sure I’m not the only clarinetist who has purchased incidental music by title alone, and I’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to share some of my favorites with you. I love planning and performing themed recitals, and I’d like to share some Halloween repertoire inspiration with you. Even though I haven’t performed all of these pieces, I’ve read through them and chosen them based on…
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The Bizarre Deaths of Historical Clarinetists
(updated October 2022) You probably know by now that October is my favourite month. I love feeling the brisk chill in the air, indulging in sugary seasonal coffee drinks, and enjoying the magnificent foliage around me. But what I love most about October is Halloween – the scary stories, horror movies, and everything macabre. I have quite the lineup of all things spooky and clarinet-related, so gather ’round the virtual campfire as we celebrate Halloween, Jenny Clarinet style! Prepare to be spooked by the peculiar demises of these historical clarinetists: Harmonides (c. 4th century BC) – During the time of Alexander the Great, Harmonides was an aulos student of Timotheus. (It…
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Uhl Boot Camp
It’s been exactly one year since I launched my first boot camp on Jenny Clarinet! After the success of my Baermann Boot Camp from last October, I made my Kroepsch Boot Camp this past summer, and I even created a year-long boot camp for all you hard-core clarinetists out there! This time around, we’ll be tackling the notoriously difficult 48 Studies by Alfred Uhl. Treacherously technical and tonically tedious, these studies will be completed over the course of two months, focusing on one etude a day. I’ve never worked on the Uhl studies before, and a lot of my readers told me that they were planning to start working on them, so it looks…
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International Day of Baermann
Calling all clarinetists! Last October, I created the Baermann Boot Camp, a practice plan which allows you to complete Carl Baermann’s eponymous scale book in one month. Clarinetists from around the world bonded over torturous key signatures and those dreadful octaves, and we emerged stronger and more technically proficient after an intensive month of scales. A lot of people probably thought I was crazy for cramming so much music into just 31 days. Well, I’m about to share an even more ambitious idea. I’d like to introduce the inaugural International Day of Baermann on October 24, in honor of the 208th birthday of our patron saint of scales. To celebrate, we’ll be…
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The Beginner’s Guide to Orchestral Excerpts
If you’re a musician, you’ve probably crossed paths with a few orchestral excerpts throughout the years. For such short snippets of symphonic literature, you’d think excerpts would be more manageable and less stressful…but unfortunately, that’s not the case. For the uninitiated, what are orchestral excerpts and what’s the big deal? I remember my first experience with an orchestral excerpt. I was asked to record an excerpt from the Brahms 3rd Symphony for an audition in early high school. Having been raised as your typical band geek, I was well-versed in the ways of marching band tunes, patriotic pep songs, and other school band toe-tappers, but I had had little knowledge…
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Quick Fix Friday: No More Peekaboo Pinky
Today’s Quick Fix Friday concerns a fingering issue I see all the time with beginner clarinet players – the dreaded peekaboo pinky! Most clarinet and band method books begin clarinet students with easy fingerings involving only the left hand, such as bottom line E or open G. This is practical for ease of technique and response, but many beginning clarinet students are often unsure what to do with the right hand. As a result, they develop bad finger and hand position habits as they devise ways to hold the clarinet more comfortably. The most common offense I see is holding the pinky (especially on the right hand) behind the clarinet,…
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So You Want to Play an Auxiliary Clarinet?
One of the great things about the clarinet is that it has quite the extended family. From the mighty contra-bass clarinet to the wailing E-flat clarinet, there is a veritable orchestra of clarinets at our disposal. Although each clarinet uses basically the same fingerings and similar fundamentals, each auxiliary clarinet presents its own unique challenges. Here’s everything you need to known about playing an auxiliary clarinet: Why should you play an auxiliary clarinet? To become more marketable. More clarinets = more gigs. Your band director or ensemble conductor asked you to double or switch. Most importantly: because clarinets are cool and you want to learn an auxiliary clarinet! Which auxiliary…
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The Clarinetist’s College Packing List
It’s that time of year again – school bells are ringing, stores are advertising discounted school supplies, and college-bound musicians are preparing for their impending move. I’m preparing for my own upcoming move to Montreal, so I thought it would be nice to share my packing list for all my fellow clarinetists (because we all know that I have a slight obsession with making lists). Keep in mind that this list is just music-related products and is not comprehensive, so don’t forget to pack the essentials (you know, like clothes and stuff). clarinets – Bb, A, Eb, bass, plastic clarinet for marching band, or any other clarinets you may need…
