Klarinet Archive - Posting 000146.txt from 2006/02

From: jcblegen@-----.net
Subj: RE: [kl] Practicing Scales
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 18:29:51 -0500

> I think scales/patterns are excellent practice:

I certainly agree. In my own case, doing a daily warmup routine of scales, arpeggios, and
chromatics has brought great dividends. It takes my 20 minutes to a half hour to do. Then I
work on other things for the rest of my practice time, things that are interesting to me and
specific to the kind of playing that I do (only jazz).

I'm in my mid 60's and have played clarinet since the age of 14 (six years of violin before
that), but I did very little real practicing during most of my adult life. I played dixieland gigs
for a lot of that time, and I kept my chops together by putting in a few minutes of playing a
day, but my day job and family didn't really allow much more time than that. And I wasn't
progressing -- just barely keeping myself at the same level.

Three years ago, I retired from the day job. Since then I've been practicing regularly (never
less than an hour, usually more like 2 or 3), always doing the basic warmup routine. The
results have been dramatic (and noticeable to the musicians I work with). Keys that used to
be difficult for me no longer bother me; fast tempi don't scare me; learning changes to new
tunes is far easier than it was. I've still got a long way to go (and that's not going to
change!), but, damn, it feels good to be able to do some of things that I couldn't do before.

As Rob Pratt suggests, I treat that warmup routine as a kind of meditation, listening
carefully, making legato scales and arpeggios as seamless as possible, and paying attention
to breathing, posture, all of those things that I can't think about when I'm performing.

I read somewhere that Goodman played scales every morning, every day of his life,
including the last one. Not a bad example.

--
John Blegen
jcblegen.com
blog.jcblegen.com

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