Klarinet Archive - Posting 000792.txt from 2001/10

From: Tom.Henson@-----.com
Subj: RE: [kl] 25 year hiatus (was Off Topic Chat)
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2001 13:35:42 -0400

You know, this brings up what I was thinking before about returning to
playing clarinet.

We now have the mental knowledge that we did not posses before about how
things should sound, and hopefully how they should be done.

I am amazed at how much I have learned from this list in just the last week.

Roger Garrett explained something that I think I was doing, but never
mentally understood why it worked. It had to do with the slow air vs. fast
air (also hot air vs. cold air). I printed out his article on this and sat
down the other night and read it through several times. I then started to
practice this step by step. I am now able to understand and feel the
differences in the tongue and throat positions. Thank you Roger!!!

He also mentions in this article that position of the mid-tongue in relation
to playing in the clarion register vs. the chalumeau. Again, I can now
understand and feel this. What you can understand and feel, you can recreate
in practice, over and over, until it becomes second nature to you.

I also purchased Abe Galper's book; Tone, Technique, and Staccato. He very
plainly says that we should not be concerned with how long we practice, but
the quality of how we practice. If we really concentrate during shorter
sessions, he says that we will make faster progress than by playing long
sessions without any real concentration or goal. Makes perfect sense to me.

I practiced 30 minutes of "slow air" last night. Let me tell you it does
wonders to strengthen your embouchure.

Tom Henson

Nichelle wrote: << Same here. In a way, I feel that it has been a real
blessing to have the
opportunity to "start over" with my clarinet playing. I, too, am
re-learning things that I struggled with before, with much better results.

I think that before I stopped playing, there was a sense of urgency (and
anxiety) that I had about everything relating to my clarinet playing. I
thought that quantity was the key. Now I am focusing more on quality and
balance. My practice sessions are very goal-oriented and I am taking time
to carefully re-work fundamental techniques, though my ensemble playing and
solo literature demand a lot of my attention as well. I don't feel the
sense of urgency now as much as I feel a sense of *purpose*. It works a
whole heck of a lot better if you ask me. >>

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