 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Katherine Gassert
Date: 2001-12-19 13:33
Hello Kathy,
I just read your letter about playing in mass and squeeking. I am 38 and have picked up the clarinet after not playing for 25 years. I went and talked to a professional steel guitar player who instructs in brass instruments, because I am having the same problem that you were. (I know this is a long way around to get to my point...) Anyway, he told me that if I were a child, in most cases, I would have no problem with this. Children play and laugh alot. Therefore the muscles around their mouths get alot more exercize than the mouths of adults do, (that is with the exception of those who talk too much...and those are the wrong muscles to excercize for playing an instrument.) He suggested that I begin to exercize my smile muscles several times a day in the mirror by smiling big and then pursing my lips together like I was a three year old giving mommy or daddy a kiss.
Surprisingly enough this has begun to help tremendously with playing my clarinet and the squeeking has minimized. (It also tickles my funny bone because of the seeming silliness of the exercize and the reflection in the mirror).
I hope this is helpful, and that you have not become discouraged and stopped playing for mass. Be blessed and prosper in Christ.
Katherine
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Author: William
Date: 2001-12-19 15:16
In addition to your facial airobics, I suggest that you need to be more careful in selelcting your reeds and in preparing them for performance via conditioning and balancing. Squeeks usually occure in the beginning student because of blowing too hard combined with an improperly formed embouchure. Also, since you suggest that you sqeek when playing in Mass, perhaps you are trying to "overplay" to accomodate the new accoustics a large room full of people can present (compared to your practice room) and that, combined with some personal nervous tension, may cause the lack of control in your embouchure causing the sqks. However, there may be some comfort in knowing that there is probably not a clarinetist playing that hasn't suffered the embarasment of an untimely Sqwawk at some time or another. Some stories are legendary, like the one about Benny Goodman who squeeked his way to the top of the opening gliss of Rhapsody in Blue during a NY Philharmonic concert. He reportedly was hired because the "regular" orchestral pros couldn't gliss the whole way up like he could (usually). I, personally, heard an internationally acclaimed clarinetist from one of our major symphony orchestras squeek his way through a performance of the Stravinski Three Pieces for solo clarinet at a Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic presentation in Chicago, three years ago. He played without warm-up after talking for about thirty minuets to an 8 AM morning audience of band directors and other pros--just unpacked his A and Bb and started to play. To be fair, later that same day, he gave a flawless performance of the Gould "Derivations" for clarinet with a featured wind ensemble to an overflow audience in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel--all three movements from memory. My point is, that the real pros playing today seldom make public errors and the occurance your squeeks will probably diminish after you gain more playing experiance. But, for now, it is more important to encourage you to keep playing for Mass and staying envolved with His music. My old college band director used to say, "If you are going to make a mistake, make it confidently--people will think that you are right." OK--so maybe my morning humor is not up to speed yet, but keep "smiling," seek some professional clarinetists help if you can, keep playing and Good Clarineting!!!! (Merry Christmas--now that I no longer teach public school, its nice to be able to say that)
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-12-19 15:40
About 10 years ago I attended an outdoor concert by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, at which I was sitting way at the back of the pavilion, in the grass, about 1/4 mile (it seemed) from the stage. At the beginning of the clarinet cadenza in Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherezade", the clarinetist let out an enormous squeak which I could clearly hear from my distant vantage point. A friend of mine and his family were also attending, sitting in a different spot (also far from the stage). The next morning at work, the first thing my friend said to me was, "Did you hear that squeak?". It happens. Other mistakes also sneak through sometimes, even into recordings. I've got an excellent older recording of the Chicago Symphony playing Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" suite in which the 1st trumpet very audibly splatters a solo entrance. (He makes a great recovery by 'sneaking in' on his next entrance to almost make it sound like the way he played the first entrance was intentional!) Another older recording I have, of the L.A. Philharmonic playing Rachmaninoff's 2nd Symphony, has a spot where the bass clarinetist clearly misses an accidental during an exposed passage. Nowadays it seems that with digital editing the recording companies remove the flubs before releasing the recordings, but it wasn't always so, and certainly live performances are risky propositions at any time.
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2001-12-21 17:25
I recall the following story that Professor William Revelli of University of Michigan told:
Prof. Revelli used to drive performers to and from Hill Auditorium during the annual May Festival. One year, the soloist was Percy Granger, performing I don't remember which piano concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
In the middle of the slow movement, Granger really leaned into a chord with his knuckles, and let out a tremendous klunker.
Later, taking Mr. Granger back to his hotel, Revelli commented "Too bad about that chord in the slow movement."
Granger responded "Oh, I always do that. People only remember your mistakes, anyway."
My uncle, a pianist, said "So I made a *(&^(*% mistake. What about all the notes I played beautifully?"
My comment is: Someone who never ever squeaked in a concert is someone who never gave any concerts.
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2001-12-21 17:41
More (perhaps unrelated) comments:
"Sujeito a Guincho" is a Brazilian clarinet quintet. Their name means literally "caught on a squeak". Change one letter in Portugese and you have "caught on a hook", what happens when your car is towed away. This group is composed of all first-rate artists. If they can take the subject so lightly, we all should be able to do so as well.
Paul Schaller, retired from the Detroit Symphony, said in paraphrase that squeaks are an indication you are taking risks in your playing, that you are striving for the best musical path, and not taking the easiest technical path.
Facial exercises are a good thing. Long tones work best for me, but only if done *every day*. You need consistency in your workouts to get that kind of consistency in your playing. I am a weekend warrier in my 50's, and have had my share of squeaks. The biggest thing I have learned in the last decade is to head for the long tones and scales before working on repertoire.
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Author: sarah
Date: 2001-12-21 20:33
In my Early music history class we have to listen to a lot of music, and recently baroque music. I was listening to one of the Bach pieces, either Mass in B minor of a cantata, when something went wrong with the trumpet player. While playing a series of broken chords he must have hit the wrong partial or something. If anyone cares for the recording, it is the newest edition of the Norton Anthology of Music volume 1. CD 6, track 19, 45 seconds in. (yes, I actually remember all of that but not which peice it was.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-12-23 02:43
I'm finding out that nothing squeaks so easily as a basset horn.
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2001-12-26 13:04
Everybody does it. In the 1950''s there was a recording of the Boston Symphony playing Ravel's "Bolero" on both sides of a 78 where the first trumpet really creamed the last section where they went up really high. A decade or so ago, there was a color story in "Investors Business Daily" about the horn section in the Chicago Symphony, arguably the best in the world. Dale Clevenger was quoted as saying something like 'some days its just a clambake out there'.
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