 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Sang1Lee
Date: 2006-12-07 22:06
i'm a highschool student.. and, i have alot of questions and some questions bug me if i don't get any solution/hint at it
ok... ah, how do you use the 'double lip embouchure'?
and, i also play alto sax. by playing sax, does it help my clarinet playing? how much should i practice each instrument?
EDIT: Also, how should i divide up practicing the Bb and A
and what should i practice on the A other than the pieces
Post Edited (2006-12-07 22:20)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2006-12-08 02:15
As long as you don't have perfect pitch, I would suggest doing all your practicing on the A clarinet.
I do it and so do all of my students...GBK
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Author: GBK
Date: 2006-12-08 03:15
skygardener wrote:
> GBK- why do all the practice on A?
Chances are, if you are like most clarinetists, you have spent more than 90% of your formative years playing the Bb clarinet. You have learned its idiosyncrasies of tuning as well as its blowing resistance. Your muscle memory and blowing memory have been "locked in" to the feel of a Bb clarinet.
When you first encountered the A clarinet, you noticed that although it is only 1/2 step difference in pitch/length/sound etc... the built in "muscle memory" you developed with the Bb clarinet feels initially odd with the A clarinet. It then took a bit of retraining to adapt to the subtle differences between the two.
The goal therefore is to make the A clarinet as easy and comfortable to play as the Bb. All the time. Without any "muscle retraining"
The transition is, in my mind, always easier when going from a larger instrument to a smaller one, rather than the other way around. The technique gained by doing finger exercises, learning the unique blowing resistance and slight difference in the finger position on only on the A clarinet, makes going back to the smaller Bb clarinet feel like "child's play."
Baseball players warm up by swinging a heavier practice bat, before hitting. The analogy with the A and Bb clarinet is similar.
If you can achieve a free blowing, colorful, and flexible tone color on the A clarinet, the Bb clarinet will always sound and play that much better.
BTW - Want to increase your tonguing speed by a few metronome clicks, without doing anything appreciably different?
For one month, practice ALL your tonguing exercises, whether they be Kell, Lazarus, Klose, etc..., only on the A clarinet.
After a month, try to play the same exercises on the Bb clarinet.
Notice the new difference in your maximum speed...GBK
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Author: awm34
Date: 2006-12-08 03:20
I've only been playing 4+ years and just got an A 6-8 months ago. I find that doing most of my scales and exercises on the A has had a good effect on my B-flat playing.
Alan Messer
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