Klarinet Archive - Posting 001232.txt from 1997/10

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Long Tones
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 14:07:29 -0500

On Sun, 26 Oct 1997 HatNYC62@-----.com wrote:

> Not as others on the list interepret "long tones" as meaning. Sure, slow
> scales are terribly important, but the reason they are important (other than
> the technical excercise factor) is to hear INTERVALS. This is exactly what
> practicing "long tones" deprives you of!

That's why we do lots of different kinds of exercises....so we can
concentrate on lots of things in our playing.

> Perhaps, but do olympic runners warm up by standing still? No, they move. See
> how inappropriate your analogy is?

Actually, they do.....warming up includes stretching....and that is done
standing and sitting still. The also do a lot of walking and backwards
running.....kind of different than they do in a race. Swimmers do stroke
drills, slow and specific exercises designed to focus on specifics of the
stroke.....this is analagous to long tones....

> I have taught college clarinet majors and had reasonable success without long
> tones. Slow scales and long tones are nothing alike, as far as I am
> concerned.

I have taught college, high school, junior high, beginning, and adult
clarinet students......and had much better than reasonable success with
long tones. Those who do not do them achieve ok results.....but those who
do achieve much better results....in terms of sound production that is.

> For those of you with a bunch of students, try this for a month. Have 5
> students practice 15 minutes of long tones every day and 5 others practice 15
> extra minutes of Baermann III. See what happens.

Not a test.....we are talking about sound production....not about
technical facility. While Baermann keeps you in shape and strengthens the
chops, if you have badd habits or have not developed upper lip
flexibility, 20 years of Baermann 30 minutes a day won't help.

Roger Garrett