 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jerry
Date: 2001-06-06 01:03
...........learn by.
Can I ask a question. Okay, thanks.
When you (any of you) look at a sheet of music (for any instrument - no words), are you able to hum, tra-la-la, teh, teh, teh, etc. or otherwise "sing" the music (I guess you call it harmony) without your instrument? Is this a way to learn or get an idea of how the piece is supposed to sound before you play it? All of this assuming that you do not already know the piece of music, of course.
Not sure if I'm making sense with this, but I'm not asking about the "counting" or the clapping. Only whether you can tell what the music should really sound like and is this a part of what makes playing music on the instrument easier?
Thanks.
~ jerry
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Author: Meri
Date: 2001-06-06 01:08
I can do this without problems, usually with a metronome. Actually, I work out difficult rhythms or ornaments away from the instrument, or occasionally phrasing, which then leaves only the purely technical (in the broader sense of playing, not the narrow, finger sense) difficulties.
Meri
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Author: Sara
Date: 2001-06-06 02:55
Thats the way that I learn my music, my teacher gets really upset when we spend almost hte entire lesson on a couple of half notes. But in the next week, I can just take the music and sing it to myself, and then snap and count it. After I can pick up my clarinet and play it almost perfectly except when there's a ton of technicallity in it. So the next lesson I can play through several pages in the same amount of time that it took to play those few measures the week before. I can never seem to explain this to him, so I just brush it off and continue with my ways. But let me tell you its worked fro me for as long as I've been playing, at least seriously playing anyways. Well this is just my two cents worth.
Sara
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Author: Stephanie
Date: 2001-06-06 03:40
Well, I'm bored, so I decided to put my word in though it really doesn't matter. Anywayz, I find it a lot easier to play the music after I've looked at it and worked out the rhythms. (Is that how you spell it?) That's why I like to take my music from honor bands back to the hotel so I can look at it and all before rehearsal the next day. Well, now I"ve said my piece. I guess I'll be going!
Stephanie
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Author: Jim
Date: 2001-06-06 04:14
Sure, its a great way to become familiar, and to see if the melody is recognizable. But... I am a singer, have been since college 30 years ago. Sight singing is just something I do anyway.
Jerry, I know from your posts that you are still rather new to the clarinet. As you progress, and especially if you play in a group, you'll find that doing an analysis of the piece first is most helpful to sightreading. You look for the key signature(s) time signatures, repeats (including endings, dal cappos, codas) articulation, dynamics and so on.
I think when you said "harmony" you actually are referring to "vocalizing." Harmony has to do with notes being sounded at the same time (chords.) No single clarinetist or singer can do that!
Jim
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Author: William
Date: 2001-06-06 13:40
Being able to "hear" the printed music is an ability that some people are born with. For others, it is a skill that is naturally developed with experiance. In any case, most experianced players are pretty much able to look at a piece of music and hear, at sight, how it sounds before actually playing it on their instruments. From my own personal perpective, as a public school music teacher, with some arranging and writting experiance as well, I developed (out of sheer neccessity) the ablility to go to our local music store and preview arrangements for bands, orchestras and jazz ensembles simply by looking at the conductors scores and imagining in my mind how they would sound in actual performance. My piano skills are too minimal for playing the scores I teach and there is not always a keyboard available when you need to know how a group of notes sounds--you have to "do it by ear." As a semi-professional clarinetist, I can effectively study and almost learn to play my orchestral parts by simply looking through them--analyzing difficult rhythmic or technical problems and "hearing" how the part sounds--before putting my clarinet to my mouth. Then, what is left to do is the proccess of teaching my fingers and my tongue to do what my mind tells them they have to do (by honing those pesky precise coordinative skills through countless hours of "happy practice") in order to perform musically (as Meri suggests) the music at hand. Bottom line, hang in there. Practice your rythmic patterns by counting "in your head," tahing out loud--but softly so as not to disturb your neighbors-- or by doing whatever works for you. Try to hear the notes before you play them (you will not always be successful as a beginner) but DO NOT become discouraged and give up. These skills will develop naturally as you gain more experiance as a clarinetist and musician. We've all "Been there, Done that!!!!" Good clarineting to you!!!!!
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2001-06-06 21:23
If you've taken voice lessons as I have, you'll have encountered sight singing. It's a skill that can be learned, more easily for some than others, but it's worth it. I think music majors have to take sight singing in college whether they're singers or not. It's a good skill, but it's a real pain to learn. You start simple- all notes in sequence, then add various intervals. Usually you use do re mi for notes, it makes things easier. You are given do (the key letter) on the piano and you sing from there. If you want to learn how, you can probably find a book to teach you (I used one but I can't remember the title) that has lots of examples to try- you sing them and then play them to see how close you were.
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-06-06 22:58
Good thoughts. I think a way to start this is to "sing" pieces that you have previously played before,, but are (possibly) rehearsing now. This should give you some feel for actual (cold) sight-singing. It will certainly give you the confidence that this skill can be learned.
Best,
mw
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Author: Bob Curtis
Date: 2001-06-07 22:22
~jerry:
There is no easy method that I know of by which you can "hear" the music before you play it. You either learn how to do it through years of experience or are born with it. I had to learn it through years of music classes, sight singing, sight reading, etc. It comes natural to me now.
Yes, I can look at a piece of music and get a pretty good idea of how it sounds, etc. I can also do this with a full score in a band arrangement. It has taken years of practice, but it can be done.
I recommend to you that you carefully look through your music, see what is there, repeats, key changes, etc. and then make an effort to see if you can go one time through it WITHOUT stopping. Yes, you are going to make mistakes, but keep going. This will help you develop your skills in sight reading. It will get better with constant practice. Don't pick a piece which is too hard at first. Get an easy one, and then progress on to more difficult ones. Remember, ONE STEP AT A TIME.
Good Luck!
Bob Curtis
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Author: jerry
Date: 2001-06-08 00:07
"...you either learn how to do it through years of experience or are born with it."
Bob, I doubt that anyone is "born with it". But I know what you mean. I'm sure one must be able to recognize the sound (mentally) when he sees the written note. To be able to hear a note "played", on just about any instrument, and say, "That's top line "F"." or "That's middle "C"." (or whatever the proper term is for a particular note).
And that, I'm sure, is what takes many hours of practice -- listening and looking at the printed music. I think I get the picture now. It may be best to experiment with something simple, that I already know the melody of, and try to hum it. Or simpley try to assign a sound to each written note.
I'll work on it. Thanks to all. I'll have a new topic soon -- STRESS (musically speaking).
~ jerry
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2001-06-08 02:11
You might or might not be able to hear the pitches, but you can always get the rhythm--and that's much more easily done without the distraction of operating your instrument.
As for the pitches, they're just the vertical component of the musical graph. The more adept you get at counting, the more attention you will have time to pay to the ups and downs of the pitches.
Before you know it...voila!
Good luck,
Allen
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