 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: beth
Date: 2001-07-04 01:16
hi...ive been giving lessons to 4-6th graders for about a year now, but mainly for saxophone and flute. i got my first clarinet student. hes been playing since the begining of the school year, and he has no problem with the notes or rhythms, and has a decent tone...but he is horribly flat. he plays, for the most part, very well in tune with him self, but in order for me to play in tune with him, i had to pull my barrel out a very large amount. he's probably about a quarter tone flat, i guess. is there anyway to solve this problem? im thinking its most likely his embouchure, as i played the clarinet and it was fine (it was a vito). his embouchure looked fine, but there could be something a looked passed. any suggestions as to why and how hes playing so flat, and anything i could tell him to do to see if it improves the intonation? any input would be great :]
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Author: David
Date: 2001-07-04 03:54
You normally teach saxophone? I may be wrong, of course, considering I'm not quite as experienced as some out there, but from my understanding the clarinet required a much firmer embrochure than the saxophone.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-07-04 04:05
Beginners on clarinet tend to be flat. The embouchure can look fine but still lack support in the beginners. Also his air support may be weak at this point, which will also lead to flatness. Finally, while beginners should be started on somewhat soft reeds, some people start them on reeds that are way too soft even for a beginner, again leading to some flatness. I would suggest a 2.5 Mitchell Lurie.
However, I would bet that a significant element is the air support. This is extremely critical to playing in tune on the clarinet. The air needs to have strong pressure behind it no matter whether the student is playing loud or soft. Beginners will typically put a lot of air through the horn but it won't have the proper pressure.
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Author: Bob Curtis
Date: 2001-07-05 21:40
As Dee stated, air support is so important in playing any wind instrument. I teach my students to hold the tummy very firm, as if they were going to cough. If it is not this firm, it is too flaby and the tone and intonation suffer. One other item is that they might have a longer tuning barrel than normal and this could cause a problem. Right now, I would not worry to any great amount because this usually clears up before too long as they become more accoustomed to listening to others as they play together. If it continues then I would really become concerned especially with the tuning barrel.
Good luck
Bob Curtis
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