Klarinet Archive - Posting 000965.txt from 1999/11

From: Neil Leupold <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] don't mind me asking
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 23:53:21 -0500

Nick Yip wrote:

> The problem that I have now is that when I try to play the
> whole thing, I tire half way out and have to leave parts out
> which sounds terrible to do. This piece goes on and goes on
> and there is no place to breathe. It is like a musical etude.

> I have tried and practiced the following:

> 1) I have took breaths at the rests.
> 2) Tried to look for places where I double and therefore can rest.
> 3) Developing my embouchure muscles, which I will continue to do.
> 4) Ran it over and over again.

> I practice 1 hour a day. We rehearse this piece first or last. Re-
> gardless, I always get tired somewhere midway through it. I always
> warm up for about a half an hour to an hour before rehearsal. I have
> also asked my teacher and he does not know.

The problem I have with questions like these -- and they often
pop up in this form on the list -- is that they request a quick
& easy solution to what is actually a long-term development issue.
Nick, assuming that this "tiredness" you discuss is embouchure fa-
tigue, the only quick solution I can offer is a band-aid of sorts:
don't warm up quite as much before the rehearsal, and take it easy
on the other pieces that come before the Mendelssohn. Try just run-
ning through a five-minute series of long tone exercises, along with
a couple of scales, as your total warm-up for the rehearsal. Pare
your warm-up time down to 15 or 20 minutes max. This will spare
your embouchure some longevity for the actual music, while still
getting the air stream and muscles activated to perform.

In the long term, however, what you describe is a a three-fold
problem, on the surface. The more transparent issue is that you
are not yet at the point of letting your diaphragm do the work
of generating your tone. The only muscle in your entire body
that should manifest tension at any point is your diaphragm,
and until you learn to use that muscle to optimum effect, the
rest of your muscles will continue to carry that tension and
inhibit your overall growth process as a clarinetist.

I might point out that being a clarinetist and being a musician
or two separate things.

Secondly, when the diaphragm is not being used to its fullest
benefit, the aforementioned tension causes us to exert a great
deal more muscular effort than is actually necessary to control
a particular aspect of our clarinet-playing technique. This is
what causes the 'tiredness' and fatigue that is so often at issue,
and it is the reason that we find the embouchure tiring out after
a certain amount of playing (it is also a peripheral cause of
things like tendinitis, but that's another discussion). I can
tell you, with a perfectly straight face, that it is possible
to play 6 to 8 hours at a time -- even longer -- without any
fatigue or discomfort setting in. The only limitation is how
much free time you have, and whether you can maintain the men-
tal focus to keep playing. It helps to have a well-cushioned
chair.

Finally -- and I already mentioned this -- the necessary muscu-
lar force for controlling reed vibration, for nimbly dancing over
the keys with your fingers, and for touching/releasing the tongue
to/from the reed...is very small. The issue is one of power, which
is not the same as force. It's the difference between taking in a
chest-full of air and then just blowing it out with all your might
vs. filling up the entire torso with air and then releasing just a
tiny portion of that air volume into the instrument in order to
produce a tone. There's a lot of "force" in blowing out the air
with all your might, but "power" arises from harnessing that force
and directing it in a very controlled manner, such that the volume
of air is contained inside your body and used as a platform, on
which rests the tiny and subtly controlled air stream that is
used to generate tone on the instrument.

None of this is to say that the muscles need not be well-conditioned.
As clarinetists, we are athletes, stresing and straining our bodies.
The muscles, like those in the embouchure, need to be strong. But
we're not out for brute force when using our muscles. Our aim is
to condition the muscles such that they can exert the LEAST possi-
ble amount of force necessary to play the instrument, and only that
much. The rest is stored as power in the diaphragm. The diaphragm
stores all of the bodily tension which usually forces muscles to
work harder than they need to. By harnessing that tension in the
diaphragm, preventing it from making its way into the rest of the
body, well-conditioned muscles are subject to remarkable subtlety
and control. But yes, those muscles do need to be well-conditioned
before the desired effect may be realized. So how do we get to
this point?

First of all, patience, diligence, and mental focus are key. It's
a process that requires continuously and repeatedly going over the
same principles and exercises, day after day, week after week, month
after month, etc., until the new physical sensations become a natural
part of your playing technique. You must always start with the dia-
phragm. I'm sorry if this sounds dogmatic, but it has to be, because
the diaphragm is so seminal to all other genuine growth that can be
achieved as a clarinetist. The embouchure should actually be a very
insignificant part of generating tone on the clarinet. The tongue
should be a very insignificant part of articulation. The fingers
should be a very insignificant part of moving from note to the next.
There exists a direct proportion, a ratio between diaphragm usage
vs. muscular subtlety: the more completely and effectively the dia-
phragm is used (to support the air stream and minimize overall phy-
sical tension), the greater the control a player has over all other
areas of clarinet technique. And, not surprisingly, when usage of
the diaphragm lapses (for whatever reason), one's overall level of
ease-of-playing drops to the same degree.

I would write more and be more specific, but I have to study for
an economics final.

-- Neil
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