 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: karyn
Date: 2004-03-22 05:47
I teach elem band and want to know some tips for tuning my clarinets.
Ex. pulling put barrel, embouchure. Any tips on certain notes for example?
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2004-03-22 07:24
Start them early on recognizing flatness and sharpness in relation to another player, and on how to pull out/push in to correct it. Ideally, everyone in the ensemble will have one person to listen to at any given time (e.g. each player listens to the player one higher than them in the section, and the top player listens to the lowest voice on a similar part in the ensemble).
While this may be difficult for elem. students, I'm very reluctant to have people rely on a tuner, since the pitch will rarely be consistent a few minutes later.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: allencole
Date: 2004-03-22 07:26
Angle of the horn is often a problem at that level. Students may be trying to watch their fingers--and if so, are probably dropping pitch as the angle rises. You may find that flat players improve in pitch once you correct the angle.
Allen Cole
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2004-03-22 13:52
My community band is mostly retired directors... and tuning problems still plague us! Get a standard set with a tuner, first.
Tune to open G (they should all be able to manage that) as a group.
We tune as a section first, then to the oboe concert B-flat (our C) in 3 octaves... I wouldn't worry too much about how they sound above the staff, that tends to vary with skill level.
It may suit the overall sound to play things above the staff an octave lower.
(Works for us, anyway.)
Do the kids practice pitch corrections, at home, with a tuner?
Post Edited (2004-03-22 13:52)
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-03-22 15:48
Quote:
Ideally, everyone in the ensemble will have one person to listen to at any given time (e.g. each player listens to the player one higher than them in the section, and the top player listens to the lowest voice on a similar part in the ensemble). I don't think this is that good a system. But rather ONE player be the "standard" for everyone else to tune too (as it is in most orchestras/bands. It's usually principle violinist or the oboe and they are considered the "concertmaster". In my wind ensemble it's the lead clarinetist for two reasons - One: He's been there since the beginning of the band. Two: We have no oboe!).
If we tune to one player above you, things can go bad. Lets say the first player is one cent flatter than his "tuner". Then the tuner is one cent flatter than that above HER (Ah! Notice the gender change? I try to be as PC as I can! And that was very subtle and smooth![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif) ) And as the band goes on, when the loop comes to an end, there is a DRASTIC difference and it must all be worked on again.
Whereas with a concertmaster, they have ONE, stable (hopefully), non-changing (hopefully) pitch. So if one is SLIGHTLY flat, and another SLIGHTLY sharp, at least you have them all within a span of a few cents.
Alexi
PS - Note that above method doesn't require any tuners. It's just "relative" tuning. Which is great if you don't have a "fixed pitch" instrument playing along. Piano, Marimba, etc. If you do, it's probably best to have the concertmaster tune with the fixed pitch instrument first so that there isn't too big a spread between your concertmaster's best guess at a concert A, and the fixed A on the piano.
PPS - This could take a LONG time if there's a lot of people in the band. A quicker way to quickly tune before rehearsal would be to have section leaders tune to the concertmaster, then have them tune their section. Tuning EACH person to a concertmaster or fixed pitch was only done in our band before a performance.
Sorry about all the writing. My brain's on overload and I keep thinking of stuff to write down. Hope I didn't waste TOO much of your time.
US Army Japan Band
Post Edited (2004-03-22 16:00)
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