Klarinet Archive - Posting 000476.txt from 1996/08

From: Dick Walters <waltersd@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Practice Habits
Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 09:10:11 -0400

David,

This is great information. I really appreciate it. Wish I had you
around here as a teacher (or years ago when I could really absorb
this more quickly.

Dick

Dick. Walters
waltersd@-----.net

From: niethamer@-----.EDU
Date: 8/16/96 11:19:11PM
To: Klarinet - Clarinettist's Network
Subject: Re: Practice Habits

On Tue, 13 Aug 1996, Dick Walters wrote:

> Now that I'm doing the scale and etude studies in earnest, I'd
> appreciate suggestions about a good practice routine.
>
> As a fairly consistant player of rather simple church and
community band
> music for a long time, I really need to develop my technique,
which is
> sadly lacking. Is it better to stick to one scale and its
various forms
> in one setting, or practice the whole regimin nightly, or
what? Surely
> some of you guys have ideas on how to optimize this
improvement process
> (short of a brain transplant from some good player) without
boring one
> to death or wasting time.

Dick - I'll throw in my $.02 here. Neil has made some good
points in his
response, starting with *balance* - some long tones, some
scales, some
etudes, some "repertoire" each day. And consistency is
important, too -
better to do 30 minutes each day than 3 hours only on the
weekend, I
advise my students. I also think, with students who may have
limited
time, that 10 minutes of long tones is better than skipping a
day
altogether, just for the consistency.

This subject came up on the flute list, and below is one
response, based
on the recommendations of Geoffrey Gilbert:

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
The following table can be used as a guideline in determining
how to
divide your practice time:

Category Time in
Minutes/Day

1. Tone Studies 45 30
20

2. Technique: a} from memory 20 20 20
b} published technique 25 25 10

3. Etudes (Studies) 45 25
10

4. Pieces 45 20
00

Total Practice Time Per Day: 3hrs 2hrs
1hr

for serious progress = 3 hrs/day
for average progress = 2 hrs/day
for basic maintainance = 1 hr/day
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

I was interested to notice that long tone practice was a major
portion of
even a short practice session, which means that there's someone
in the
world just as crazy as me!

But on to *finger* technique. In addition to Baermann, some of
my
favorites wich are a bit less formidable are:

1.) J.B. Albert - 24 Scales and Exercises - found in
Lazarus
Method part II as well as by itself, from Carl Fischer.

2.) Gaston Hamelin - Gammes et Exercises (Leduc)

Bob Schmidt published a whole routine for Albert Scales in his
"Clarinetists Notebook, V. 2", possibly still available from
Hickey's
Music in Ithaca. He used it with his students, and I "stole"
the ideas
for mine as well.

I have students buy Lazarus part II because it also contains 24
wonderful
opera/ballet duets for intermediate students, Kroepsch Book 1,
which is a
great book for developing finger wiggling, and some Klose
Etudes in each
major and minor key, easier than Rose 32, and maybe even easier
than
Baermann 2. Lots of good stuff for the money.

Hamelin is my "Zen" scale book. Slow (triplets = mm 72) scales,
A
chromatic exercise in rhythms (which I've expanded), and an
exercise
played in three octaves in each key for eveness of fingers and
sound. I
find this book works well for most students, because it
discourages the
tension that can come from trying to play too fast too soon.
It's "easy",
so you can focus on the proper amount of finger action - not
too loose,
not too tight - juusst right.

Just one more point - the effects of this finger technique
practice are
*cumulative* (if you've practiced carefully and effectively) -
no need
to beat up on F# major until it's fast and perfect (3 months
later, if
you're still sane!). As Neil also said, do a key a week, and
keep going
back to the tough ones. But I do find it useful for students to
do easy
ones in between - eliminates some tension from grasping at all
those keys
in the difficult flat and sharp keys. I also think there's a
phenomenon
where your ear takes the smoothness of, say, F major, and
transfers it to
E Major or F# major if you do them back to back.

Patience, care, and consistency, and your technique will
improve.

David
=====================================
David Niethamer, Internet Liaison
International Clarinet Association
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
niethamer@-----.edu
http://users.aol.com/dbnclar1/
=====================================