 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mohammeddisto
Date: 2003-07-08 00:21
:(
i'm learning this excerpt from the bonade book...it's frustrating...any new advice out there besides "practice it carefullyf and increase tempo graduallly"?
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-07-08 00:59
You must learn the excerpt in relation to the other parts in the orchestra.
A good deal of your time should be spent listening to a recording to hear how your part fits into the whole picture.
Learning the notes and rhythms are only half the battle.
Beware of the measure before #14 (measure 21) This is the famous flute passage that was mistakenly printed in the score on the clarinet line.
It is incorrectly written in the Bonade book. If you must play it at audition, the Hadcock book shows the correct way to think of the rhythm as well as the correct notes...GBK
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Author: Craig C
Date: 2003-07-08 08:02
I'd totally second GBK's suggestion to listen to recordings, it helps put the part into perspective with the rest of what is going on. And beware the misprints in the Bonade book... the one that sticks out in my head is the first 2nd measure after 9 should be all chromatic, and I think there's a B# missing or something.
The orchestral part has the marking 76 to the dotted quarter, but i would definitely start the metronome beating each eigth note to get the runs as even as possible, and then gradually move to a dotted quarter feel. Also, I try to psych myself up for it by looking the similarities in a lot of the runs. For instance, the run of triplets in the first bar of #11 just all goes up a half step in the 3rd bar of 11 and then up another half step in the fourth bar. At the 3rd and 4th bars #17 the group of 5 32nds are nearly the same, though with C# changing to C natural. For me the mental confidence helps a lot, and when you break it down and see a lot of rhythms and patterns of notes that keep reappearing it doesn't seem as daunting. Even the more bizarre runs you can usually break down into fragments of major or minor arpeggios or whole/half steps and then go back to the basic scale patterns you already know.
Sometimes I whiz up and down my C major scale and thirds just to get my fingers and brain moving quickly and accurately before jumping into the passage at a fast tempo.
Other than that, it just takes a lot of time at the metronome, and for me working on it every day for fifteen minutes at a time helps me speed up more than working on it for an hour straight on one day, because after a while I just hit the wall, and I think you brain needs to digest it over a period of time and you can only move the metronome so much faster in one sitting.
I hope this helps. Good luck!
Craig
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-07-09 13:00
The Stravinsky Firebird is one of the tougher exerpts to learn and the real trick to successfully playing this piece well is to get to the point where the hands and fingers are doing the job without any notice....I think that once you get this one into the tactile memory you will have no trouble.
This 6/8 should definitely have a two feel and all of the altissimo register material should be played with normal fingerings....don't allow the speed of the piece dicatate the use of normal fingerings. I use a few fake fingerings because the tempi is so fast who cares if a 32cd is a smidgen low....
several superb recordings are out there of this, the most magnicicent I think is the Bernstein NY pHil record from the late 60s on CBS/Sony. Try to also play with a fairly easy blowing reed...the dangers of a heavy reed is the inability to get the upper notes with freedom.....
As to practice play every note very cleanly and seek a clear fluid tone. This is brilliant music and therefore requires a brilliant sound. Remember the mythical firedbird!
David Dow
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Author: vin
Date: 2003-07-09 13:38
i have found that once you can play it by yourself half decently, a helpful thing is get a GOOD flute player and play through the whole thing together with a metronome on slow eighths then increase bit by bit. this will help you with phrasing, rhythm and style and give you practice "just doing it"
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