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Band Roadblocks: Reasons Why You’re Not Improving As Much As You Would Like
I’ll be the first to admit that I can be a bit…impatient. Maybe it’s my sense of millennial instant gratification, or maybe it’s just pent up creative energy – whatever the case, it can be frustrating in music. Improving your musical abilities takes time and effort, and it can be exasperating to feel like you’re putting in more than you’re getting out. This is especially true in band programs, where you’re side-by-side with musicians of all levels and it’s easy to compare yourself to others. Here are a few roadblocks which could be preventing you from reaching your potential: You don’t practice enough. Just like you have homework in math…
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The Clarinetist’s Guide to Braces
Braces can do wonders to help create the perfect smile, but let’s face it – they’re a real pain in the…mouth. The majority of people will have braces at some point in their life. A common age to get braces is during the preteen or early teen years, which is coincidentally around the time many clarinetists begin their musical journey! Fear not – braces don’t have to put an end to your clarinet career! Here’s everything you need to know about playing the clarinet with braces, whether you’ve already played for a while or are planning to start after you get braces. Can you play clarinet with braces? Yes, although…
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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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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 Complete Guide to Long Tones
You’ve probably heard your band director, private teacher, or other well-meaning music instructor tout the benefits of long tones at some point during your musical career. Maybe you’ve even been known to play a few long tones yourself (when the mood strikes). Better yet, maybe long tones are as integral to your daily routine as your morning coffee (#longtonesforlife). So what’s the big deal about long tones anyway? There’s a reason everybody keeps talking about long tones – they’re kind of a big deal for musicians. Whether you’re a long tone skeptic or believer, there’s no argument that long tones are super important for your musical growth and development. Much like…
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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 air, and I can only say “More air!” so many times before we both get frustrated. Enter Kirby. He (or she??) is cute, cotton-candy pink…and a breathing machine! Anyone that’s ever underestimated Kirby in SSB (that’s Super Smash Bros., for any of my non-gamer readers) knows that his gale-force wind…