 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mohannad
Date: 2013-03-17 00:38
I am a highschool student and absolutle beginner to the clarinet (B-Flat), it is march break, so I can't get help from my teacher. I have a very strange problem with high notes, it is difficult to explain but here goes:
So I had a problem with high notes which was latency- a delay from when I started blowing to get the note to when it came out, an exaggeration would be the starting up of a plane engine. I was able to fix this by making sure that all my fingers covered the holes well and by blowing a powerful gust of air. But then when I tried to play a legato C major scale, I found extreme difficulty in using the same stream of air to play the B and C. I can do a quick transition across the break with my fingers but I realized that the fingering wasn't the problem, it was the air stream. I was told that I should be able to use the same embouchre and air stream when moving in to the higher register so that once I had a good stream of air, all I needed to do was to move my fingers. I found it impossible to go from throat A to register key B without completely cutting off the air stream and starting a new powerful air stream. I can only play a very staccato C major scale. I tried going from A to B without any tonguing but the B is just a hiss unless I pump out what is left of my breath as strongly as I can. Then I thought I cracked it, the embouchre and air stream I had when I was playing the high C and B was the type I should always have, so I worked in reverse and played a high C and then went to a middle C with no tonguing and strangley the high C sound stayed even while fingering a low C, like magic. I got a similar effect when releasing the register key while playing a high D to get a low G as if the register key was effectively stuck. To move back to the old note without tonguing, I had to sort of loosen up my embouchre. Can anyone explain this to me? How can I go smoothly from A to B without tonguing or atleast without needing to make a change in air stream, angle or embouchre?
Note that I can play high notes without latency individually but not when moving to them across the break. I am certain that the problem is not with my fingers because I watch them on a mirror, the changes that need to made to get the note are in my air stream and embouchre.
Does anyone have any idea of what could be going wrong?
I can play CDEFGA well and throat tones fairly well, but there is no way that I can get a B the same way that I'm playing other notes. It is like I have to make a gear change in my mouth more tension, more air, figit with the angle, to get the note. These changes make legato impossible from A to B.
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Author: Taras12
Date: 2013-03-17 01:53
Throat tones are the most difficult to master especially playing across the break. Make sure you are providing enough support from your diaphragm and keep your air stream fast and steady.
The other technique that might help is using "resonance" fingering when you get to A. As you press the A key, also use your right hand fingers closing the tone holes as if you were going to play a C5 (C above Middle C). Keep this fingering as you go to B using your left hand to make the B with your pinky.
(This resonant fingering also really supports the Bb throat tone).
Tristan
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Author: gsurosey
Date: 2013-03-17 02:43
Some questions:
~ Do you know if your clarinet has any leaks or any other mechanical issues?
~ Does your reed strength match your mouthpiece (hopefully, your teacher would know the answer to this)? If your reeds are too strong for your mouthpiece, you'll be fighting to get notes out, especially across the break.
~ Are you biting really hard to try to get the notes out over the break? It's possible you could be biting too hard and closing the reed off (in my experience, biting is common, especially in beginners).
----------
Rachel
Clarinet Stash:
Bb/A: Buffet R13
Eb: Bundy
Bass: Royal Global Max
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-03-17 04:28
It's possible that you're making an unconscious shift - probably clinching your jaw a little (it doesn't take much)as you go up from A4 to B4. Or your fingers aren't all covering the holes accurately when moving all at once even though you have no problem with coverage when you start above the break (and have time to prepare your fingers).
Using "resonance" fingerings as you go over the break can help by allowing you to move fewer fingers at the point of actually changing registers and may be worth trying.
A trick you can have someone else help you with once you get back to school - your teacher or a student who plays clarinet well - is to turn the mouthpiece around so when you have it in your mouth the normal way, the holes are facing in toward you. The someone else plays the instrument (does the fingerings) from in front of you while you produce the sound (embouchure and air). In doing this, the person doing the fingering can let you feel how a stable embouchure really feels as he or she changes notes from register to register (both directions). Often my students are surprised at how different it feels when I handle the fingering chores and how much easier the register change is. The person doing the fingering can make a point of not changing on any predictable time interval, so you will have to warning and no opportunity to make any change to your embouchure, conscious or not.
If all goes well with this experiment, the next step is to try to replicate that feeling while doing the fingerings yourself. Of course, if you still have a problem with someone else's fingers covering the holes, it narrows the range of problems to investigate. Too much mouthpiece? Too little? A reed that's too hard or too soft? A leak in the instrument?
Karl
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