Klarinet Archive - Posting 000608.txt from 1996/11

From: "Joie Canada , Jcanada713@-----.com>
Subj: Re: How To Swing
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 09:41:47 -0500

Hi all!

Comments about listening being most important in Dixieland playing are much
to the point. As a Dixieland player, I know that what I know about playing I
learned that way. I've had classically trained players ask how I know what
to play and how I learned to do it, and I had to stop to think, since I never
really thought about it--I sure wish I could read as easily as some of them
do!

When I was a kid, I lived in a town where printed sheet music for
instruments was more or less available only at school, and I got awfully
tired of the same stuff over and over played exactly the same way all the
time. We always had records and radios going at home, and I just played
along with them--something I heartily recommend as exercise. The question
"how do you know what notes to play" is best answered by saying that if it
doesn't sound right, you aren't playing the right notes. The only way to
know if it sounds right is to LISTEN to lots of music--play it loud and often
while you are housecleaning, doing dishes. Put it on your walkman and walk
the dog!

Then when it starts sinking into you soul, get your horn and play along! Add
your two cents to what the folks on the record are doing. Then find some
other folks who have been doing the same thing and jam. Don't expect it to
work out every time--some things just paint themselves into a corner
especially when the group is new. Some work from the start. You have to KNOW
THE TUNES in you head before you can work around them. Clarinets are more or
less "commentators" in Dixieland--They don't usually state the theme, but
punctuate, answer, embellish--what have you. You can't do that until you
know the basic tune and what your instrument is expected to do. When the
stuff is in your head, you will begin to be able to follow along in
progressions that are pretty standard and then you can begin to develop your
own style. Some clarinets go all over the place with lots of notes, some
tend more to personal, private commentary in a more limited register but with
a vocal, remarking style. Experiment until you find your style.

And most of all, have fun with it--this is Not The End Of The World. It is
spontaneous, raunchy, jolly , sometimes aggressive, sometimes reflective,
often profoundly religious (why do you think you need a tailgate band for a
New Orleans funeral?) and soulfull.

Have fun. Perfection ain't going to happen very often--be ready to hear it
when it does and be glad when it was your group that did it!

Joie