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How to Overcome Audition Success Envy
Have you ever been mindlessly scrolling through social media, hypnotized by the lulling stream of memes, relationship updates, cat videos, and then suddenly….BAM! Your friend of a friend of a friend made an announcement that they just won a position with the Awesome Symphony/Fantastic University/insert other cool opportunity. You’re immediately happy for them, but you can’t fight the quiet jealousy lingering at the back of your mind. Does that make you a bad person? Musicians are prone to a unique emotion – audition success envy. Part jealousy, part crippling self-doubt, audition success envy is the confusing feeling you get when somebody you know wins an audition (or achieves some other…
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The Prepared Musician’s Pre-Performance Mental Checklist
Every musician is familiar with the barrage of thoughts that flutter through their mind before beginning a performance. “What if I have a memory slip? Where is my teacher sitting? Why didn’t I choose a less stressful career??” This cacophony of thoughts is normal, and with time you will learn how to control them. In the meantime, there are several productive thoughts to improve your next performance. I’ve created this pre-performance checklist for my own performances, and I remind all of my students to use these steps to maximize their performances and auditions. Here is my pre-performance mental checklist: Don’t be in a hurry to begin playing. Fight the urge…
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Kroepsch Boot Camp
After the success of my Baermann Boot Camp from last October, I’ve been getting a lot of requests to do another boot camp. After all, scales and technical studies are much more palatable when you suffer practice together, right? For this boot camp, I’ve chosen the Kroepsch 416 Progressive Daily Studies for the Clarinet, which are one of my ride or die clarinet studies. And a lot of you agreed – the Facebook poll I created on Jenny Clarinet resulted in an overwhelming majority of Kropesch fans (sorry Jettel, you’ll have to wait your turn!). So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce the Kroepsch Boot Camp, a practice routine designed…
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Clarinet Crimes You Might Be Unknowingly Committing
As the self-appointed clarinet police, it’s my job to keep the clarinet community safe from crime. Here are some crimes many clarinetists are unknowingly committing: Infractions Flipping from middle B to C. The “pinky keys” can be confusing, and you should avoid sliding from one key to the other on the same side. But why make extra work for yourself when you can play B with both pinkies and simply lift the left pinky to produce C? Adding the Eb pinky key on high C#. The clarinet is not a perfect instrument. Some notes are atrociously out of tune, C# being one of them. Adding the pinky key just makes…
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9 Ways to Become Your Band Director’s Favorite Student
Happy Teacher Appreciation week! Band directors are some of the most overworked and under-appreciated teachers out there. The ultimate Jack of all trades, band directors must know a bit about every instrument, music theory, and music history (not to mention possessing the skills necessary to teach all of these). They must balance time management, lesson planning, fundraising, after-school rehearsals, and concert preparation. The hardest part? Turning a cacophony of sound into beautiful music. Here are 9 things you can do to make your band director’s job a bit easier: Bring a pencil – and use it! Nobody can remember everything, so write down missed notes, accidentals, and definitions so you…
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17 Pieces of Advice for Upcoming Music Majors
Congratulations, you’re going to be a music major! Being a music major is a simultaneously rewarding and stressful experience. Besides having to endure the puzzled looks from your friends and the well-intentioned questions from your family (“But what do you do with a music degree?”), you have to balance practicing, studying, and performing. Here’s my advice to music majors of all ages to get everything you can out of your program: Hang out with people in other disciplines. It’s really easy to find common ground and make friends in your studio, but be sure to branch out and meet other people. Defy boundaries and introduce yourself to other woodwind, brass,…
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How to Disinfect Your Clarinet After You’ve Been Sick
It’s never fun being sick. This is especially true for musicians, who often have to suffer through rehearsals, lectures, and performances. After all, the show must go on! Whatever your ailment, it’s important to take proper precautions to sterilize, disinfect, and germ-proof your instrument when you’ve been sick. With everything that comes into contact with our mouths (reeds, mouthpieces, water bottles), clarinetists must be extra careful to disinfect everything to keep the germs at bay. Obligatory disclaimer: I’m not a doctor (at least not a medical one, but I am a Doctor of Music!). You should always consult a medical professional with regards to your health. If you’ve been sick,…
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No More Chipped Reeds: A Beginner’s Guide to Reed Care
Congratulations! You’ve decided to play the most awesome instrument around – the clarinet (or maybe saxophone, which is nearly as cool as the clarinet)! Get ready, because you’re about to enter a lifelong love/hate relationship with reeds. Chipped, cracked, warped, and otherwise broken reeds are an inevitability for reed players, especially beginners. The cost of reeds can quickly add up, but thankfully, there are many ways to protect and prolong the life of your reed. Here are my reed tips (pun very much intended) for proper reed care. Please keep in mind that this is not a guide for reed adjustment or further exploration of reed science – we’ll save…
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Famous Female Clarinetists Throughout History
In honor of National Women’s History Month, I’d like to share some truly inspirational barrier-breaking female clarinetists past and present. To all my fellow female clarinetists out there, let’s keep breaking boundaries, supporting other women, and sharing our history through music! Margaret Knitel (1788-unknown). Knitel holds the distinction of being the first documented female clarinetist in history, as well as the earliest basset horn player in America (and perhaps in the world!). She moved from her native Switzerland to the United States, where she gave her debut concert in Philadelphia. Her critics were mostly kind in America, but she did face criticism for bending the gender norms in Europe. In 1816, the Allgemeine…
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How to Get Out of a Musical Rut
It’s normal for musicians to experience the occasional dip in inspiration, creativity, or motivation. Music is an extremely competitive field which requires years of hard work, diligent practice, countless hours alone in a practice room, endless repetitions of passages, late nights and early mornings, the impossible quest for perfection, and an infinite amount of music to learn. Cue the burnout. If you find yourself feeling unmotivated, uninspired, and apathetic, then you’re in the midst of a musical rut. Here are some suggestions to help you get out of it: Create a playlist of pieces and recordings that inspire you. Include all of your favorite pieces and artists along with any performances…