Klarinet Archive - Posting 000300.txt from 1995/06

From: Nichelle Crocker <NCROCKER@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Glissandos
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 1995 07:27:02 -0400

I couldn't tell from Fred's message if he was joking about a player
automatically finding the tongue/embouchure position by just doing it.
I hope he was. There are times when these things (my experience with
glissanos, for example) need to be expressed in words by our teachers.
A lot of the people I spoke to when asking for advice on how to learn
this technique couldn't explain it because they just "picked it up".
I expressed this same concern about vibrato a few months ago.

Some musicians seem to rely on instinct and natural ability fairly heavily.
It may be helpful on stage, but not as a teaching technique. Teachers
need to have the vocabulary to be able to describe, explain, and
demonstrate any technique they expect their student to acquire. I have
very strong feelings about this.

Nichelle Crocker