Klarinet Archive - Posting 000895.txt from 2000/10

From: "Patricia Smith" <pattiesmith@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] tuner suggestions?
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 21:06:08 -0400

While we are on the subject of playing with tuners....

i find that I need to play a few long tones with my metronome (quarter note
= 60) to set my embouchure and breathing before I begin to do my tuner work
for the day. The reason is this -
You indicated that you are returning after many years away from the horn.
Make sure you are breathing properly (Neil Leupold describes this process
very well in an earlier post just a few days ago.

Neil Leupold wrote:

"Try breathing from your diaphragm first -- from the lower belly, where your
pants wrap around your waist. Expand there first while taking in air,
slowly filling up your lungs with air. Expand upward to the chest *last*.
After taking in a full supply of air, maintain the expanded feel in your
belly while playing,
such that you push downward and outward from there, allowing you to control
the flow of your air stream while actually using less air to produce your
tone.
No matter how free blowing or resistant your clarinet is, proper breathing
tech-
nique remains the same. "

You need to be breathng correctly and have your embouchure set correctly to
know where your pitch really is, rather than pinch your lips and play around
with the air in order to put the needle where you want it. The real idea
with a tuner is to help us learn to hear pitch relative to where we are in
an ensemble -
Please don't get me wrong - it is important to play on pitch - but at the
expense of good habits, it is just not proper playing at all. As you go
along, you will develop proper ways of adjusting your pitch and continuing
to keep a good sound and proper breathing.

Neil, great post on breathing...in my book, it's akeeper...

Patty Smith

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