Klarinet Archive - Posting 001018.txt from 1997/10

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: bad tone
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 19:00:53 -0400

It is essential that you try the equipment out with your reed....if all
checks out, there are many things that could cause a flat pitch...

1. too soft a reed with too little mouthpiece and too much air
2. too little mouthpiece with too much air
3. too much air
4. too much mouthpiece with too much air
5. very little pressure from the lower teeth and corners....this is
VERY common.
6. some students simply hear the notes lower and drop their tongue in
the back - try using different syllables.

There are many other possibilities, but these are the ones I encounter the
most frequently with my beginning clarinetists....they take time and
patience....and eventually, things work out. Harder reeds are better. I
never start beginniners on anything less than a Rico Royal size 2.5 and I
have never had anyone fail with this hardness/brand.

Good luck.

Roger Garrett

On Fri, 24 Oct 1997 pmedina@-----.net wrote:

> I teach woodwinds in a middle school and am lucky enough to have the
> beginner clarinets all by themselves. I always seem to have one clarinet
> player who plays very flat. The embouchure looks good and when I play with
> the student, she matches my pitch after some work. What is she doing to
> play so flat in the first place? She is on a normandy clarinet, a B45 mpc
> and size 3 Vandoren reeds( I didn't recommend the size, the music
> supervisor does that). They have all been playing for 10 weeks now.
>
> TIA
>
> Pat
>
>
>