Klarinet Archive - Posting 000580.txt from 2001/02

From: webler <webler@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] i'm new and i need help...FAST!
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 23:17:47 -0500

Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for tempo problems. It has been my
experience that tempo problems in young players exist for at least two
reasons:

1. They are impatient.
2. They exhibit signs of mental laziness.

To combat number 1 you must be willing to practice everything slowly, with
a metronome, so that you can concentrate on the tempo as well as the notes.
The best things to use are scales and arpeggios, practiced slowly,
carefully, and consistently. This takes a great deal of self discipline.
It takes a great deal of time and persistence to develop the concept of
good and bad time cannot be corrected in one or two practice sessions.

As to problem number 2, the first step is admitting that there that it is a
problem with this. It has been my experience that many wind players do
not like to count mentally. They would rather guess or speculate when a
change should be made from one note to the next. These players depend on
the person next to them to change notes in the proper place and then they
will follow. When I get a student like this, I ask them to draw a 4" line
without a ruler. (belief or not every one of them actually draw a line).
Then I ask them how they know that they just drew a 4 inch line. All of
them have had to admit that they don't know for sure, and the reason is the
fact that they were just guessing since they did not have a standard to
check it against. Then I ask them how can they expect to play a dotted
eighth and sixteenth note pattern if they are not thinking about 16th
notes. If you merely guess at the length of time that it takes to play the
dotted eighth, you will be wrong most of the time. However if you
subdivide by using 1 e & a (or whatever other mechanism you may decide to
use), you will have a better chance at playing the sixteenth note properly;
Assuming you are subdividing evenly.

All of this takes great mental thought and is often to bothersome for many
young players. After all, music is supposed to fun and not work, (he said
with tongue in cheek).

To help you achieve better mental strength in counting I would like to
suggest the following. Get out one of you old beginning books. Go to the
sections on quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes. Practice the exercises
that keep you on the same note, with a metronome and begin to work on
subdividing in your mind, with a metronome. Concentrate on the eveness of
each exercise. Remember the distance between is equal, just like the
distances on a ruler are equal. (except for accelerandos, Ritardando, and
Rubato)

I hope something that I have said might be helpful.

If you don't have a private teacher I would highly suggest that you get
one. To fix a problem like this, you need outside input from someone who
will constantly steer you back in the right direction.

Jay Webler

And the teacher said, "So, you use a ruler to draw a straight line? That's
funny, I've always used a pencil.".

-----Original Message-----
From: Wildfire Coconut [SMTP:chateau_swamp@-----.com]
Subject: [kl] i'm new and i need help...FAST!

k, first off, i've been lurking for about a week so i have finally decided
to come out and introduce myself. my name is natalie. i'm a freshman in
high
school. i've been playing the clarinet for 2 years and after chair
auditions
i some how became 1st chair in the high school band. but now the girl below
me is gonna challenge me tomorrow to try to get my chair [BTW, i think she
deserves more than i do since she's been playing for 4 years longer than i
have and i think she's better then me anyways. but then again i don't want
to lose my chair ;) ]. so anyways, the reason i going on about all of this
is because in our 'challenge' we each play 5 chromatically adjacent scales
(i've got that down) and out chromatic scale (easy) and measures 236 to 251
(which is all 16th notes) in our version of marriage of figaro for our band
director. i'm guessing you all know how fun that piece is. i can play all
the right notes but i cannot keep a steady beat for my life (just on this
one part), even when the band director is conducting or when i use a
metronome. i'll rush and then slow down and rush again and blah blah blah,
you get the point. and i've tried everything-playing it in 4/4, taking 5
notes at a time, making it kind of swing-ish. and yes i know this is short
notice but does anyone know a good technique for me to use to help me with
the tempo? i'm getting desparate here...*tear drop* thanx
gnatalie

'Life is a sexually transmitted disease with a death rate of 100%. We
should
do
all we can to eradicate this terrible plague.'
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