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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 of taking a proper breath, but instead wish to address a common issue I see among my students: breathing from the nose or dropping the jaw to take a breath. The most efficient way to take a breath when playing clarinet is through the corners of the mouth. This optimizes…
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Quick Fix Friday: Use A Dictionary
You’re working on a new piece of music. Life is good. You know all the right notes. Rhythms? Piece of cake! Accidentals? Got it covered! But what about those extra-musical words? It’s easy to tell yourself you’ll look those up…tomorrow. You’re doing yourself a huge musical disservice by ignoring the text. After all, there’s quite a difference between dolce and con fuoco! Quick fix? Buy and use a musical dictionary. Use your smartphone (which is turned off or in another room, right???). You can even take the lazy way out and use the camera function of the Google translate app to save your precious fingers from typing these unfamiliar words. It…
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Quick Fix Friday: Be Happy
We’ve all been there. A frustrating practice session where nothing seems to go right. Not wanting to even think about your instrument after a long day. Feeling doubt and wondering why you even bother anymore. Losing an audition. And a million other reasons being a musician ain’t for the weak. So why do it? Hopefully, you still enjoy playing your instrument. It can be so easy to get caught up in the details, competition, and drudgery that being a musician entails. Take a few moments each day to remind yourself what you love about your instrument. Or maybe you don’t love it anymore – life is too short to pursue…
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Quick Fix Friday: Right Pinky
Hello, and happy Friday the 13th! Today’s quick fix will help polish your technique and make technical passages so much easier, all in one fell swoop. The secret? When possible, use your right pinky to play low E, F, F#/Gb, and G#/Ab or middle B, C, C#/Db, and D#/Eb (aka the “pinky notes”). If you’re coming from or going to another pinky note, this won’t work (Clarinet Commandment: Thou shalt never slide from one pinky note to another). But take a look at the final line of Cavallini’s “Adagio and Tarantella”: It is much easier to play B with your right pinky than your left (or with both pinkies). Keep…
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Quick Fix Friday: Breath Attacks
What I’m about to tell you is so incredibly simple, you’ll be mad you didn’t think of it on your own (unless you already know, in which case, carry on with your Friday). You don’t have to use your tongue to start a note. Mind blown? In beginning band, most wind instrumentalists are taught to tongue every note, and we do so diligently as we progress. (This is not an article on proper tonguing technique – that’s for another day). There is nothing wrong with tonguing every note, but by using a breath attack, you are able to get a more delicate response from your instrument. If you didn’t already…
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Quick Fix Friday: Right Hand “Sliver” Key
Call it what you like – sliver key, banana key (as I learned it in middle school), fork key – I’m talking about the key between the second and third tone hole of the right hand. This key is used for high D#/Eb, top line F#/Gb, and low A#/Bb. It’s pretty self-explanatory, but by changing one tiny detail, you can improve your response and technique. Does this passage strike fear in the hearts of my fellow clarinetists? (For those that don’t know this excerpt, it’s from Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsody for Clarinet.) Have you ever squeaked on this D#? Had a stuffy or delayed response? It’s probably because you’re not using the correct part…
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Quick Fix Friday: Reed Placement
One of my favorite masterclass moments was when an audience member asked the pedagogue, “What about reeds?” To which he responded, “Yes, reeds are a good idea.” Reeds are either the best part of our day or the bane of our existence. So many factors affecting reeds are out of our control – humidity, temperature, altitude, full moons, what color socks you wear (just kidding on the last two, but doesn’t it feel that way sometimes?). There is one thing within your control which can make a huge difference in how well your reeds responds, and that is the reed placement on the mouthpiece. This is highly individual, but a…
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Quick Fix Friday: Better Rhythm in Ten Seconds
No, this won’t be about using your metronome (which is the best way to stabilize and improve rhythm). Today’s quick fix is so simple and fast, but very few musicians are doing it. Ready for the secret? Count off. Mind blown? Before you begin playing anything, count at least two measures in your head. If you’re comfortable tapping your foot, this will also help internalize the tempo. Just make sure you aren’t counting by moving part of your body which can affect any fundamentals – like clarinetists moving the elbow or shoulder, which can disrupt the embouchure….and make you look like a chicken trying to fly. How do you find…
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Quick Fix Friday – Lunglock
Breathing. I’ve always thought it was funny that we spend our entire life without thinking about it, then we pick up an instrument (with a few exceptions, of course) and forget everything we know about breathing. Wind instrumentalists will undoubtedly spend many hours studying charts and diagrams of the lung’s relation to the oral cavity; attend several lessons or masterclasses on the discussion of “proper breathing”; or even take up cardio activities (hey, it can’t hurt!). There are even courses designed to facilitate better breathing techniques, such as The Breathing Gym. How can something so natural cause so much angst among musicians (unless you had the foresight to choose violin,…
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Quick Fix Friday – Middle B
Remember when you were first learning to play the clarinet? Chances are, your first note was open G, bottom line E, or low C. Things were great (minus the inevitable squeaks) and all was smooth sailing until you reached middle B. I remember my middle school band director telling me that middle B was the hardest note to learn on the clarinet. At the time, I laughed inwardly as I breezed through the chalumeau register…..and then came to an abrupt halt as I approached the clarion register. From a young age, I learned never to doubt your band director. Why is middle B so difficult for beginners to play at…