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playing clarinet with sore throat

Author: Bb
Date: 2002-03-28 20:59

hey "Sneezers",
I have a very sore throat right now, and when I tried to play, I sounded horrible!!!!!!! Is it me, or my clarinet??

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RE: playing clarinet with sore throat

Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-03-28 21:11

Bb -

A little of both. When you're getting a cold, your sinuses start to stuff up and your hearing changes, even if you don't feel it just yet. Also, the soreness in your throat changes the way you perceive the air pressure in your throat, and you automatically compensate to get as close as possible to the familiar feel.

The change in your hearing is particularly hard on your playing. When I was in the West Point Band, I often marched in parades in the back row, just in front of the drum and bugle corps. When I stuffed cotton in my ears to drown out the blast, I found that after a few minutes, I couldn't make a sound at all. I depended too much on my ears to give feedback on what to do.

While you have the cold, just play soft, long tones and slow scales to keep your embouchure and fingers in shape. Your body will tell you what you can and can't do. If you start coughing, you're doing too much.

Don't worry about reinfecting yourself after you get well. Once you get over a cold, you're immune to that particular virus.

Get well soon.

Ken Shaw

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