 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Molly
Date: 2004-10-01 02:22
I am studying to be a music teacher and am having a very difficult time playing the clarinet. I am playing on a 2 1/2 Rico reed (not the best, I know, but it is in good condition) and I know that there is nothing wrong with the instrument. When I play, all I can manage is the third octave. I would love to be able to pick it up in a classroom setting and demonstrate good tone for beginners, but right now I would be quite a poor example. When I point the bell of the clarinet straight out from my body, I can usually ahieve a low tone, but pulling it back to the normal position sends the tone back up to the high notes. Is there anyone who has played both the flute and clarinet and might know some of the pitfalls of switching from one to the other? I need help!
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Author: mkybrain
Date: 2004-10-01 03:14
lol, from what u said, ur playing on "a" reed, and its rico? So you use this reed over and over a gain?
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2004-10-01 03:20
Ideally, find a good clarinetist to get you started. It took me years to unlearn my bad habits after switching from flute.
Don't bite. Your lips should keep the clarinet stable in your mouth, but should not actually try to push the note out.
Also, just blow... what goes on inside your mouth has significantly less to do with the sound than it does on flute (take this with a grain of salt, of course... what goes on in your mouth DOES matter, just not in the same way).
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2004-10-01 04:11
Let me help clarify a few things for Molly. Molly posted this on the BB because of my suggestion. I listened to her for a while this evening. While she only played one reed, it was perfectly okay. She got the same result on both her own mouthpiece(junk) and my mouthpiece(M30). She is not biting. She takes in enough mouthpiece and the emboucher looks okay. Her clarinet also plays fine.
The main problem is that whenever she blows she only gets the altissimo. When fingering low C it comes out high E. The only thing I can figure is that somehow the voicing that she uses on the flute is keeping her from producing the proper voicing needed for the clarinet. Her tongue position is in an E position, etc. Our hope was that perhaps someone else on this board has encountered this dilema and could offer useful suggestions.
It might be useful to know that Molly is not a young student, but rather a graduate student here at Vanderbilt who is an accomplished flutist.
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2004-10-01 08:38
I do wonder whether she is touching one of the side keys and creating a leak. You talk about what happens when she fingers low C. What happens if she fingers open G, keeping well clear of the keys? She really ought to be able to get an acceptable G regardless of what voicing she might be using.
Maybe also she is just trying too hard. Tell her to forget all about good woodwind technique, and just blow as though she were a nine-year old child transferring from the recorder. She should be able to get some approximation to the throat notes with no effort at all.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: CJB
Date: 2004-10-01 12:30
I'm, trying to think through the problem slightly in reverse, the main criticism I've had of my abysmal flute playing, at least from a tone production point of view is the angle I direct the air flow. When playing flute I'm aware of having to bring my jaw forward (a slight overbite probably doesn't help here) and really concentrate on where the air is going.
I've had a little experience of trying to get an accomplished flute player to try clarinet, who again had a tendancy towards ending in anything other than the lowest register. I had slightly more success by getting her to relax the emboucher by considering the mouth position of a child sucking a thumb then just drawing the lower lip in until it cushioned between the reed and teeth. This at least gave the desired pitch. Unfortuneately she decided that she didn't like the buzzy feeling on her lip and stopped playing before making any real progress.
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Author: William
Date: 2004-10-01 14:47
Just yesterday, I encountered that exact problem with a sixth grade beginner who, like you, could only get the overtones by holding the clarinet straight out in front of her, like some of those old pictures of Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman. After many trys and reed, mouthpiece and ligature switches--and even just the mpc & barrel--I went back to "square one".
The cure?? I had the youngster go through this simple routine: 1) open mouth; 2) lower lip over lower teeth; 3) place reed on lower lip; 4) upper teeth on the beak; 5) wrap lips around mpc and point chin; 6) position entire clarinet at a proper 45 degree angle; 7) finger E4; 8) take deep breath and "tah" air through entire length of instrument.
And, "Zounds", she produced a very fine sounding E4 (bottom line) that any beginner would be proud of (and she was!!). And after that, she quickly went on to produce and learn the other basic beginning notes (F4, G4, D4 & C4). And if she should start squeeking again at home??--she should go back to the "routine" and just review the basics. Worked for her (and for me, the teacher). Hope this also helps you.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-10-01 16:51
Are you absolutely sure that
1. She does not put too MUCH mouthpiece/reed in her mouth. (Holding out in front of her at right angles Could tend to lessen the insertion.)
2. Are you absolutely sure the lower teeth are not touching the reed?
I agree with going back to the basic routine William mentioned.
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2004-10-02 01:45
absolutly sure that she is not hitting extra keys and has the mouthpiece in the mouth correctly.
Thanks for the suggestions
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-10-02 03:37
Perhaps the problem is you told her not to bite. LOL!
In my opinion EVERY player bites. Some bite harder than others, especially with harder reeds, and some have lip tissue that is used to it so they no longer notice they are doing it.
We can't play much with ZERO suport from the teeth. Support from the teeth = pressure appplied via the teeth = biting.
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2004-10-02 13:16
Having had a few flute lessons years ago, I would place my bet on the idea that Molly is directing the air stream *across* the mouthpiece (flute style) rather than down into the instrument.
This would explain why she gets some sound when the instrument is held at right angles to the body, but none when the instrument is held in proper clarinet position.
Have her pull her chin back and direct the airstream downwards.
Susan
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2004-10-02 13:17
Try this:
You turn the barrel around and have the clarinet facing you. Have her think of blowing a low D on Flute and you finger a low C (or you finger an E if she has perfect pitch). That way there is no tension on her part with the fingers, etc and it's only the air/embouchure that is affecting the sound on her side. Don't make her voice an E - that's for more advanced players and will cause her to squeak. Use Oh as the voicing. Make sure that the tongue doesn't go too far back in the throat when you do it.
I encountered a similar problem with a Trumpet Player at Eastman who though was amazing on trumpet couldn't get a sound on Clarinet for a while. Completely different mouth shape.
Also have her try playing double lipped briefly so that she can't possibly bite.
I think that the problem is solely in her tongue position.
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Author: Molly
Date: 2004-10-04 17:53
Thanks to all of you, I have the most amazing clarinet tone I could have hoped for. The squeaks are few and far between and and low register has arrived! DAVE recommended a softer reed which helped so much (I don't feel like my head is going to explode every time I get a good tone). I tried continuing to go back to the basics, as William suggested, but David Peacham's suggestion of "forgetting about good woodwind technique and just blowing like I was a nine-year old beginner" really helped. I embraced the high restister and blew with so much air that eventually the notes fell down into the robust low register. I pity the other people in the building while I was doing this, but I tried to pick a low traffic time. At DAVE's suggestion, I was not shy about the high notes, but tried to play the loudest, highest note possible, and thus the low register was born. Who knew it would be on the other side of the high notes and not below them?
From the teeth marks I still feel on my lower lip, I surmise I might be biting too much and many of you suggested that might be a downfall. That will be the next thing I tackle. Again, my most heartfelt thank you to all who helped me to unveil my clarinet skills. Thanks especially to Hans for the wonderful packet of information about the Clarinet and thank you DAVE!!!
Molly
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Author: SimpsonSaxGal
Date: 2004-10-06 00:44
Hey Molly. I play saxophone, but I dabble in clarinet too. My bottom lip always got really sore from playing sax OR clarinet. My sax professor suggested getting some of the waterproof medical tape, tearing off about an inch, and folding it over itself "hamburger style." When folded in half again, it slips right on your bottom teeth. It takes a bit of practice getting used to it, but it'll help your bottom lip a lot.
Hope this info helps. I wish you the best of luck on the clarinet!
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2004-10-06 01:47
As a kid I swore by the Medical Tape.
I won't tell you just how long I used the same piece... it started out white 
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