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All About the Clarinet d’Amore?
Happy Valentine’s Day! What better way to celebrate than by taking a look at this historical clarinet which has been making a recent comeback? Throughout the clarinet’s existence, the clarinet family tree has seen several additions in nearly every key, from the tiny A-flat clarinet to the mighty octo-contrabass clarinet. One peculiar member of the clarinet family is the clarinet d’amore (sometimes spelled clarinet d’amour) – literally the “love” clarinet. The clarinet d’amore was developed around the mid-18th century in Germany, and is most recognizable by its bulbous bell, which is similar to that of an English horn. (Fun fact: this bell is called Liebesfuss in German, which literally translates…
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The Best Clarinet Romances to Perform this Valentine’s Day
What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with one of these beautiful Romances written for the clarinet? These lyrical pieces were written to evoke tenderness and heartfelt emotion, so whether you perform them on February 14 or year-round, both you and your audience will surely love them. ❤️ Here are some of my favorite Romances for clarinet: Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Clarinetists’ New Year Refresh
New Year, new you! (at least that’s what every post this time of year seems to say!) I love a good refresh, and New Year’s Day is always a great time to revisit your goals and start exploring new ideas. Here are a few quick tips and updates you can make so you can set yourself up for success in 2023: P.S. You might also like my articles on New Year’s Resolutions Every Musician Should Make and 9 New Year’s Ideas for Musicians. Happy New Year, and happy practicing!
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Joy to the World Holiday Scale Challenge
Bring joy to the world, one scale at a time! Did you know that the opening melody to Joy to the World is just a descending major scale? Why not add some holiday cheer to your practice routine by practicing this tune in all major key signatures? Better yet, why not challenge yourself to playing this melody in all key signatures in under one minute? I’ve written out this melody in all 12 major key signatures, and you can download this for free here. If you’re up for the challenge, feel free to share your videos with me or tag me on social media! P.S. If you’re looking for other…
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How practicing is a lot like building a gingerbread house
If you’ve ever built and decorated a gingerbread house, you know that there’s a process to achieving a festive, Instagram-worthy result. When you’re building a gingerbread house, you can’t expect all the pieces to come together at once – you have to start with a solid foundation, measure and create patterns for the walls, make sure the icing is the right consistency to hold all the pieces together, collect an assortment of candy decorations, and a plethora of other methodical steps to ensure a beautiful (and delicious) final result. When you’re building a gingerbread house, you might encounter bumps and bruises along the way – that’s just how the cookie…
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Online Gift Ideas for the Musicians in Your Life
The holiday season undoubtedly looks a lot different this year than most of us had planned. Even though many traditions and festivities have changed, that’s no excuse not to find the perfect gift for the musicians in your life! You can buy all items on this gift guide online, so you can stay socially distanced and musically connected with loved ones this holiday season. The best part? These gifts are procrastination-proof! Since all of these gifts are entirely online, you don’t have to wait for shipping! There are hundreds of amazing online retailers which offer valuable goods and services tailored to musicians, and this list is just a starting point…
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Horror films which feature the clarinet
If this is your first Jenny Clarinet Halloween, you’re in for a real (trick or) treat! If there’s one thing I love nearly as much as clarinet, it’s Halloween. During October each year, I share the spooky side of the clarinet world, from unusual history, haunted pieces, and even mysteries of the clarinet. First up, you can’t properly celebrate Halloween with some scary movies! Get ready for some horror films with a heavy dose of clarinet! (By the way, I’m always looking for new horror films to watch, so if you know of any clarinet-infused scary movies you’d like me to add to this list, please let me know!) Grab…
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Crypto-musicology books to read this Halloween
It’s no secret that I enjoy exploring the dark and spooky corners of clarinet and music history, such as the bizarre deaths of historical clarinetists, final resting places of famous clarinetists, or the curse of the yellow clarinet. If you’re looking to discover more strange tales from music history (which I’ve officially dubbed crypto-musicology), here are a few of my favorite books to get you started: Beethoven’s Skull by Tim Rayborn. This book explores the “Dark, Strange, and Fascinating Tales from the World of Classical Music and Beyond.” These are the tales you probably never learned in music history! Beethoven’s Hair: An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and a Scientific Mystery Solved…
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The musical medium who holds a clue to the missing Mozart clarinet concerto manuscript
One of clarinet history’s greatest mysteries is the whereabouts of the manuscript to Mozart’s beloved Concerto for Clarinet in A Major, K. 622, written in 1791 for Anton Stadler. We know that Mozart gave his fellow freemason friend Anton Stadler the manuscript of his new concerto on October 10, 1791 (only two days after he finished orchestrating the piece), along with 200 florins for “travel money” before Stadler embarked on what would become a five-year tour of Eastern Europe. (By the way, 200 florins might not sound like much, but it was the equivalent to a quarter of Mozart’s salary as a Viennese court composer.) Stadler began his tour with…
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The Curse of the Yellow Clarinet
Longtime Jenny Clarinet readers know that nothing fascinates me more than the dark, strange, or creepy history of the clarinet (like the clarinet curse or the bizarre deaths of historical clarinetists.) While researching an entirely unrelated subject, I stumbled upon an old book which mentions a superstition involving a yellow clarinet. This book, written in 1899 by Leon Mead, is titled The Bow-legged Ghost, and Other Stories: A Book of Humorous Sketches, Verses, Dialogues, and Facetious Paragraphs. According to this book, “There is a peculiar superstition among certain theatrical people that an old-fashioned yellow clarinet in the orchestra is a sure omen of bad luck or misfortune to them.” This…