 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Meri
Date: 2003-05-12 20:51
I've been having a lot of trouble teaching projection of sound to some of my young students (10-14 years old), who otherwise play with a good, strong sound, some sense of musical style, and accurate rhythm. Any ideas?
Meri
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Author: cyso_clarinetist
Date: 2003-05-12 20:54
I think a lot of the hesitance in younger students is that they are afriad to squeek and make mistakes so they figure if they cover everything they aren't at as high of a risk. What I tell my students two very common pieces of advice which seem to work.
1. Play out and don't be afraid to squeek, more than likely you wont.
2. Imagine you are in a huge concert hall and you have to play so that everyone in the back can hear you clearly like they were standing right infront of you.
i know this is very common knowledge, I just thought I would share again.
Goodluck,
James
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Author: jez
Date: 2003-05-12 21:23
Meri,
What a hard job we have in reducing the aural impression of clarinet timbre to mere words.
I'm a lot more than 14 years old and find myself wondering how your pupils can make a 'good, strong sound' yet you are worried about their projection. Is the sound too unfocussed? (it was good) Do they have trouble making themselves heard? (it was strong) Can you try to define more specifically what you would like to be different.
Do you play to them, or even better, along with them in their lessons? There's nothing like copying to speed up development.
jez
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Author: Meri
Date: 2003-05-12 23:54
I often play duets with my students, which I encourage them to match my sound quality. I often play recordings of players whose sound I like. Their sound is basically "big" (most have been convinced of the idea that air is the root of playing problems--a squeak is a rare thing among my students), but it doesn't quite have a "ring" to it--it could be a sound that is not quite fully focussed. It only happens when they are doing solos with the piano. I've tried the concert hall/big room idea, and reaching to the farthest houses that they can see--doesn't work. Hmm, maybe actually take them to play in a church with good acoustics, and work on projection there?
Meri
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Author: pantherpawz06
Date: 2003-05-13 01:36
I am in a concert band with about 15 clarinets, 3 of which are in grades 9-12 and the others are in junior high. We have a very talented group of older musicians, and so sometimes the younger ones feel that if they mess up (squeak) then the upperclassmen will get upset with them so they barey play at all. Being faced with almost the same problem you are, my director started having solo programs. Where we all pick a solo, and that helps them with projection because we have a very large auditorium, and if they mess up, no one is there to yell at them (upperclassmen) so they tend to perform for themselves which tends to boost confidence and then reflects onto the stage. Good luck. Sarah
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Author: CPW
Date: 2003-05-13 03:25
One thing that might help........let them listen to symphonic music that has a good solo....for example Der Freischutz overature or Cap. Espanol. They can hear how the solo clar projects over the orchestra.
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Author: allencole
Date: 2003-05-13 04:32
I like the idea of playing in a church and trying to fill it up. Projection is a pretty refined subject and it isn't going to happen overnight, but I think that the best answer is to provide the students with experiences that they can draw on later.
In trying to really play out and put the pedal to the metal, students can often intimidate themselves. Hand a microphone to an inexperienced speaker and they are frightened by the sound of their amplified (and reflected) voice. Give an inexperienced singer a monitor speaker and they recoil from the loudness (and dryness) of the sound. Take a young bass player and hook him up in a heavily amplified system and he will be startled at how much of the band's sound is HIM.
People who have this initial experience in front of an audience tend to recoil from further attempts and not learn from it. I suggest that you set up periodic visits to a desirable space so that your students can have several experiences in which they incorporate the lessons learned in previous visits.
Allen Cole
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Author: clarinetwife
Date: 2003-05-13 15:46
I have very similar issues with some of my students. I think that dynamic range and projection are interrelated. Students need to learn that "p" doesn't mean "puny". Sometimes they think that if they have a fat sound they are not really playing softly. I sometimes find that when I get a student playing a really nice forte on a particular passage, that helps their sound on softer passages. It also is partially a function of the age group--many kids that age don't like feeling they are "sticking out".
I like duets with students, and I like having them listen, as others have mentioned. One thing I am going to try after reading some of these posts is having them listen to some woodwind quintet and other ensemble music, because students will be able to hear where voices blend and where one voice comes to the fore, but on a smaller scale than listening to a symphony orchestra.
Projection is a rich topic that students will work on even into college and beyond. I am a skier, and I remember an interview with Tommy Moe after an Olympic win. He said he won because he kept his hands out and kept his weight on his downhill ski. I'm sure his coaches were teaching him those things when he was eight years old, and it was still something he thought about on race day.
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Author: ginny
Date: 2003-05-13 17:01
One of my son's teachers had a calendar with a bear on it. He had to hit the bear with sound, aimed and focused on the bear 20 feet away in her living room. My other son's voice teacher uses the same trick, sing at the clock in this case (his head is up and the sound is out.) This lesson is also in a large room. Are you in a small room?
Marching band also worked, if LOUD is all that's required.
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-05-13 18:22
Sound projection is a concept that is very hard to teach. remember, that students in this age are still growing into their adult boidies and therefore don't have the wind capacity that ordinary adults possess.
Strive on focus and flexibility as well as air support. control over the tone is far more important in this stage.
Projection comes with correct diaphramic/embourchure relationship in performance.
This for a young musician is alot to bite off, so make sure they realize the given dynamics of all the music they possess.
Being too picky and pushy may backfire, so stress enjoying music in the early developing stages.
Make sure they have a variety of music and stylistically have them keep to what is good and sensible.
A long loud piece is certainly not easy for a small 11 year old. Keep things in perspective from the student's viewpoint.
Remeber they need to know why they need to play a given piece at a certain volum/intensity.
David Dow
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