Klarinet Archive - Posting 001099.txt from 1998/09

From: "Dee D. Hays" <deerich@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] How can you move your throat and not the jaw!
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 09:26:40 -0400

>On Mon, 28 Sep 1998, Erica Dyson wrote:
>
>> I really am fascinated by this and I am sure my poor tonguing is holding
me
>> back.
>> Can you explain a bit more please - how can you open the throat without
>> moving the jaw - and I thought that was absolutely taboo!
>> It can't be that difficult - but I am finding the correct position is
>> eluding me - I seem to start off OK but by the end of a page of music, I
>> have "slipped" and find myself gripping the reed and reducing the air
flow -
>> why is this damned instrument so tricky for me - after a year of playing
I
>> know I should be better (a poor grade 5 I would guess)..

Don't be so hard on yourself. At a year you are still just barely
beginning. Most school kids are only up to about eighth notes at a medium
speed at the end of a year.

It sounds to me that you are getting either tired or tense as you work on
the music. Relax. Don't try to play the whole page at once for now. Every
few measures, simply stop (unless you are playing with a group of course)
and stretch. Yawn to stretch your throat and embouchure. Then resume.

Dee Hays
Canton, SD

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