Klarinet Archive - Posting 000352.txt from 1999/05

From: "Joshua Gates" <jogates@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Intonation Problems
Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 03:20:40 -0400

<snip>
>Why is it that many claim the ONLY way to
> play in tune is with "correct" embrochure? If we can change the
> instrument to make it more user friendly, why is this wrong? If more
> people can play, and play well, or better with mechanical/machining help,
> why not?

Paulette,
I think the trouble with the Click barrel is that it somewhat relieves the
symptoms of playing out of tune, with out actually fixing the cause. I
teach a 9th grade clarinet player, that had HORRIBLE pitch problems. When
her mother first approached me about lessons, she told me that she plays
very flat, and they don't know what to do. Her band director told her that
she must get a Click barrel, which she immediately purchased. The barrel
corrected her pitch on a few notes (some throat tones), but made the rest of
the notes on the instrument wildly unpredictable. So, with I rather firmly
suggested to my student, to go against the wishes of her director, and to
play using her stock barrel. Without the crutch of the Click barrel, she
could see how her embouchure was affecting her pitch, and she could work to
correct it. Now she plays just on her stock barrel, and she can play
comfortably and in tune with the rest of her section. If it had been up to
her band director and mother, she would have still been struggling with
fruitlessly struggling with intonation!
BUT, I do believe the click barrel has its uses. Playing with a strange
ensemble that has a consistently higher or lower pitch center than you, or
when fighting temperature conditions that are working against you, are some
of the things that come to mind. But that assumes that you have basic
control over your embouchure, and are not using the barrel as a crutch, but
as an aid!

-josh
...................................................................
jogates@-----.edu
Principal Clarinet, NRV Symphony Orchestra
Principal Clarinet, University Wind Ensemble
Music Performance, Virginia Tech
...................................................................
Treat people as if they were what they ought to be,
and you help them to become what they are capable
of being. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

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