Klarinet Archive - Posting 001033.txt from 1998/11

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: [kl] Absolutes
Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 18:33:45 -0500

On Wed, 25 Nov 1998 15:23:41 PST, kevinfay@-----.com said:

> Roger Garrett wrote:
>
> > I wondered which absolutes I actually place on the young clarinetist?
> > Here is a short list:
> > 1. Embouchure - specific structure
> > 2. Air - lots in, lots out - and the proper way to do it
> > 3. Hand Position - 3rd fingers straight, slightly curved fingers, etc.
> > 4. Articulation (tip to top of reed)
> > 5. Tone - if it isn't good, nothing else will be
>
> But for the hand position thing, perhaps (refer to other string), I
> think that these are absolutes, not only for beginners, but all of
> us--sorry to those who believe that everything is relative.
>
> These are pretty basic components. Mont Arey was of the opinion that,
> boiled down to essentials, clarinet playing was nothing but tone &
> articulation. Stanley Hasty was even simpler, noting that tone isn't
> everything, it's the only thing.
>
> There is a relatively thin range of what most of us would consider a
> "good" clarinet sound (with some additional leeway on the jazz side of
> things). The variation in tone is really much narrower that what a
> group of trumpet players or saxophonists would find acceptable.
> (Indeed, from recordings it's hard to know if Marcel Mule and Sigurd
> Rascher were even playing the same instrument). Within that narrow
> range we find our "absolutes."

The notion you are talking about here, which is rather different I think
from what Roger was talking about, and certainly different from what I
had been talking about in my original post in the thread to which Roger
was contributing, is not best captured in my view by the term
'absolutes'.

Tone and articulation are rather one aspect, though an important aspect,
of the stylistic rules or norms that underly any particular style. What
is stylish tone or articulation differs according to whether we are
talking about, say, jazz playing or symphonic playing.

Even within any one style the rules are never totally rigid, but must
allow for bending, and even breaking on occasion, in order for the style
to be living rather dead.

In general, teaching consists of communicating *both* the rules *and*
their flexible application to a student.

It is how we may best do this that was under discussion.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE
tel/fax 01865 553339

....Embrace and extend.

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