 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: mags
Date: 2004-06-10 21:02
Wonder if you can help me. I am now learning the high A B and C ....and my goodness!!!! Never have I heard such a dreadful sound...like I stood on a cats tail!! When I blow at first...it sounds very low....and I do have the register key on. I have to move my mouth around....and even find myself moving my body..to find the high pitched 'horrendous sound' that I eventually get. I wonder if there's something wrong with my clarinet.....although...I manage from B to G perfectly well. My teacher told me to persevere......he thinks it's because it's just a new note....and I'm expecting too much too soon....I'm not so sure.....Is this a common problem...I play the damned thing and can barely put up with the screech....Any advice appreciated, thankyou, Margaret x
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Author: hans
Date: 2004-06-10 22:40
Margaret,
I agree with your teacher. Your high notes' tone will probably improve by playing them more, unless there is something lacking in your instrument.
Here is a (not exhaustive) checklist of things that can affect tone negatively that you might consider:
lack of breath support
lack of lip support
tonguing the wrong place on the reed
tonguing too hard
moving the lower jaw while tonguing
too much mouthpiece in the mouth so that the reed can not be controlled
the chin being puckered up instead of pointed
the clarinet held too far out from the body or too near
too little mouthpiece in the mouth
the reed is too stiff - results in a "stuffy" tone
the reed is too soft so that it chokes before enough air support can be applied
a poor combination of mouthpiece and reed
an instrument which is poorly designed or in poor condition; e.g., defective pad(s), weak springs
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Author: mags
Date: 2004-06-11 07:55
Yes...the ones just above the staff...and Hans...ty for that..I will try and go through them
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2004-06-11 08:31
Also try this: Observe how far the holes are for those notes, and notice that you still have a significant amount of tube to resonate. Too often, when people play the "high" notes, they think of putting the air just a bit past the mouthpiece, when it needs to be solid for a far greater distance.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-06-11 13:16
Good luck mags! Let us know how the experimenting works out . . .
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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