-
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…
-
Moving to Montréal!
It’s crazy how seemingly innocuous decisions can impact your life. Take, for example, my decision to play the clarinet. I was a shy, bookish 10-year-old when I started band. I thought it would be a fun way to hang out with my friends and be exempt from gym. Little did I know that a chunk of grenadilla wood would change my life. Playing the clarinet has given me opportunities I never dreamed possible and introduced me to incredible people from around the world. Just three years ago, I moved to Paris and started this blog. During this time, I learned French, received a Master de musicologie, interprétation et patrimoine, studied…
-
33 Random Thoughts I Have While Practicing
Is it just me, or does your mind tend to wander more often than it should when you’re practicing? I’ve actually stumbled upon some pretty great blog ideas while practicing, but other thoughts…not so much. Here are 33 random thoughts I’ve had while practicing: Can you wear teeth whitening strips while practicing, or will they move around? I wonder how bad it is to drink coffee during my practice session… I really should stop crossing my feet when I’m practicing. I wonder how many reeds I’ve ever played. Have police ever used reeds to collect DNA evidence? They should make an ancestry.com – but for clarinets. Are there any historical…
-
2018 Jenny Clarinet Boot Camp
The 2018 Jenny Clarinet Boot Camp is a downloadable practice plan and guide created to improve clarinet fundamentals. Each month contains a different method book or solo work, which I have organized into daily assignments. Each day features specific exercises to be incorporated into your practice routine. Make 2018 the year of building technique and improving fundamentals! Here is the schedule: January – Vade-Mecum de Clarinettiste February – Klosé Scales and Exercises March – Rose 32 Etudes April – Kell 17 Staccato Studies May – Kroepsch 416 Progressive Daily Studies, Vols. 1 & 2 June – Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622 July – Stiévenard Practical Study of the Scales August…
-
The Clarinet Compositions of Armando Ghidoni
Over the past two years, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to get to know Armando Ghidoni and his music. Ghidoni is vivacious and exudes a genuine joie de vivre, and his music perfectly captures his warm personality – I hear Ghidoni’s laughter and cheer in every single note. I am honored to have written my thesis on the music of such a talented composer and amazing new friend. If you’ve never listened to Armando Ghidoni,’s music before, I strongly suggest you check it out (I’ve included links below)! Ghidoni was born in Italy and later moved to Paris, where he still resides today. He’s written clarinet music for all ability…
-
My Second Year in Europe in 25 Photos
My oh my, how the time does fly! It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Paris for two years already! I’m so lucky to call Paris my adopted home, and I’d like to share some of my favorite photo memories of last year in Paris and beyond. Action shot during my performance of the Mozart Quintet, K. 581. This was taken at the pre-overture of La Seine Musicale. Visiting the René Magritte exhibition at the Pompidou Centre. Magritte is my absolute favorite artist, and I spent the better part of a day exploring the museum and exhibition. Performing the Tomasi Clarinet Concerto at the Fondation des Etats-Unis. I’m so happy…
-
The 5 Senses: Paris Edition
Even though I’ve lived in Paris for over a year, my schedule is so busy that sometimes I forget that I’m in Paris (which is easy to do when most of your time is spent in a practice room). In an effort to be more aware of my surroundings, I’ve collected some of my favorite Paris sensations: Sights: the sparkling Eiffel Tower at night; the font of the metro signs throughout the city; the rolling hills of Montmartre; the view of Paris from the Sacre Coeur or the gazebo at the top of Parc des Buttes-Chaumont; the pastel houses on Rue Cremieux Smells: freshly baked baguettes and other delicious treats…
-
19 Things You Didn’t Know About Jenny Clarinet
Since most of my posts are centered around the clarinet and music, along with the fact that I am a naturally quiet person, I decided to share a few random facts about myself so readers can get to know me a bit better. I always enjoy reading about other people (especially the old-school tagged Facebook notes and Myspace surveys), so I hope you enjoy these bits of Jenny Clarinet trivia! How I got the name Jenny Clarinet: When I first created a Facebook account in 2007, I used the name Jenny Clarinet so only my friends would be able to find me. As I got more friends on Facebook, people…
-
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 would be better to choose 10 meaningful photos from this past year and say a little about each one. (Disclaimer: Some photos are from my travels and aren’t technically in Paris.) I would be remiss to not include a photo of Philippe Cuper, who is the main reason I moved…
-
Musical Advice I’d Give My Younger Self
Let’s pretend for a moment that time travel exists. Besides disrupting the space/time continuum to visit the dinosaurs, joust with knights, or see Mozart perform (all high on my list!), I assume you’d also want to visit your former self to give them advice about the future (or maybe just leads on popular stocks). I was practicing the Francaix Clarinet Concerto earlier this week and was thinking how awesome it would be if I could transfer my current technical abilities to a past version of myself (if only, if only!), which got me thinking about what I would tell past-Jenny. What would I do differently if I could restart my clarinet career…
