 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: claril
Date: 2005-04-20 05:27
Hi all,
I can be sure it has come up before, but just to clarify, is it believed to be good to push the diaphram a lot when playing always?
I push when play soft high notes but I think not normally.. are you supposed to be conciuious of continually pushing the diaphram?
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2005-04-20 14:02
"are you supposed to be conciuious of continually pushing the diaphram?"
Firstly- the diaphragm contracts on the INHALATION, not on the exahalation.
Secondly- the diaphragm is without proprioceptive nerve endings, and therefore without sensation.
So anybody who tells you to "support using your diaphragm" doesn't understand how the muscle works. The "pushing" which you are referring to comes from the abdominal muscles. A certain amount of pressure is necessary, although in my opinion most teachers exaggerate the abdominal force needed to play the clarinet. Perhaps in learning you can experiment with varying amounts of muscle pressure, but in the end I don't think it's something which you need to be consciously aware of. Far more important, in my opinion, is to play with a good posture. If you "think upwards" along your back and neck, without tensing up or becoming rigid, you'll probably have all the "breath support" you need.
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2005-04-20 14:11
Keith Stein wrote: Therefore forte or loud tone is attained by relaxing the diaphragm rapidly and steadily, whereas piano or soft playing can only be successfully accomplished by a more muscular push.
Stein is wrong to imply that the diaphragm is under conscious control. Nevertheless, he might still be right in teaching that the player should be conscious of pushing with something down in the belly. Liquorice seems to think not - what do others think?
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2005-04-20 15:12
Before you all jump down my throat, I realise that I should probably clarify my opinion, as I can see that David has already misunderstood me. I did say that a certain amount of abdominal pressure is necessary. However, I feel that this is often over-emphasised by clarinet teachers, often causing a collapsing of the chest and shortening in the back by students who believe that some kind of extreme abdominal force is required. I feel that much more emphasis should be put on a relaxed lengthening in the spine, which then combined with some abdominal pressure will create enough air pressure for clarinet playing. Therefore I feel that it is much more important to be conscious of this lengthening than it is to be consciously "pushing" with the abdominal muscles.
Post Edited (2005-04-20 15:14)
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Author: VermontJM
Date: 2005-04-22 22:44
Really good point- I see my kids collapse all the time. The idea of lengthening is good.
I find it hard to get my point across to kids about how to use their abs without either puffing out their chest or collapsing upon themselves.
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