Klarinet Archive - Posting 000185.txt from 2002/11

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Methods or Studies For Improving Tone and Tonguing
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 09:28:41 -0500

Russell Harlow wrote:
> REGARDLESS OF AGE-----IT HAS BEEN MY EXPERIENCE THAT ONE NEEDS TO HAVE AN
> INTENSE AND PASSIONATE DESIRE TO CREATE A CERTAIN QUALITY OF TONE ON AN
> INSTRUMENT - BE IT BRIGHT, DARK, ENGLISH, GERMAN OR AMERICAN. YOU NEED TO
> FIND A QUALITY THAT YOU LOVE. "HEAR IT" IN YOUR MIND BEFORE YOU PLAY A NOTE.
> IF YOU ARE RELAXED THE BODY WILL FOLLOW. THEN THE TECHINQUE THAT YOU ARE
> SEEKING WILL BECOME MORE CLEAR.
>

For what it is worth, a posting that suggests that tone character can
have attributes such as "bright," "dark," "English," "German," or
"American" without an explicit, unambiguous description of each of these
vague, unclear, and frequently meaningless terms does little more than
stir up the muddy water.

I state once again (as I have stated on a number of occasions in the
past), that none of these terms are helpful to any student because (a)
they are ephemeral and personal, (b) not descriptive of sound character,
and (c) relics of a era when such descriptive terms were presumed to be
clear and meaningful; i.e., simply stating them would allow a student to
understand what it was he or she had to achieve.

They (these terms used to describe sound character) are little more than
baloney and doo-doo! It is time once again to argue that, wordwise, the
king is wearing no clothes.

Dan
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**Dan Leeson **
**leeson0@-----.net **
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