 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: rc_clarinetlady
Date: 2005-03-23 04:44
I'm looking for a little advise from some of you. I have a student that is a freshman in HS and is having trouble playing her solo for contest. Not because the notes are difficult or the piece is hard to memorize but because she can't seem to play a phrase any longer than 2-3 measures without having to take a breath. This is very disruptive to the phrasing in her piece. I've done what I know to do to help her. I have her playing long tones and we've had the whole, "how you breath and support the tone properly" discussion at every lesson. She seems to be breathing right. I don't see her shoulders move up and down and I do see her belly moving in and out. She's in good physical condition as she's a dancer too. I think she gets good support but she can't seem to sustain it for more than a measure or two. There is asthma in her family and her mom is a nurse so I asked her to check her daughter out for asthma. So far no asthma has shown up in her that I'm aware of.
This problem is only there when she attempts to play through her entire solo. It's only 3 1/2 minutes long so I don't think it should be exhausting her. If we are breaking it down and working on parts then she's fine and can go the entire 4 measure phrases without a breath but put it altogether and she is gasping. She is getting very discouraged. I've questioned her about the strength of her reed many times but she thinks it's fine and her sound is good. She plays a Pyne mpc with a Vandoren 3 1/2 reed. The same problems occured when she played a Vandoren m15 mpc too. Anybody have any advice for me to pass on to her? I've never come across this before.
Thanks,
Rebecca
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2005-03-23 05:09
Only 2 things come to mind here, Rebecca:
1. She's not getting enough air into the lungs when breathing in. It doesn't sound like this is it, but if she inhales with an "O" shape, it can help get more air in quickly.
2. She's blowing too much air into the clarinet. If her throat is in the aforementioned "O" position while she's blowing, this will create both an unfocused sound and an inability to sustain a phrase due to lack of air.
Moral of my story: "O" in, "EEEEE" out...
Katrina
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-03-23 08:09
Not to say that she ISN'T, but perhaps she isn't practicing enough. Whenever I had a concert, I seem to remember a few weeks before running through the material about twice in a row per day, as though it WAS a concert (play straight through at the correct tempo). This way I'd be sure to build up enough lung support and stamina to run it through at least ONCE in concert-form.
Not pointing fingers, but it's a possibility.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2005-03-23 11:46
I've recently been helping someone with shallow breathing.
Of course it's important to breathe IN to comfortable capacity.
Under competitve or performance conditions it's all too easy to keep taking little IN breaths.
From a medical standpoint breathing IN predominantly without clearing the used air (containing Carbon Dioxide) is a source of respiratory distress. It then stands to reason that this is why we "sigh" from time to time in order to clear stale air and CO2.
SO can I suggest that your student clears her lungs before taking a breath in ?
My friend has improved his breath longevity and seems less stressed by long passages as he now understands the mechanism. He is also more able to tolerate short quick breaths where required by the music. This in turn is making his playing "smoother" as he is not now so concerned by his breathing issues.
Athletes use a system to hyperventilate before running or swimming in sprint events. ie 5 or 6 full breaths with the emphasis on more forceful outward breaths.
Another thing which may help is taking a breath before she really needs to.
This should allow for fuller breaths rather just snatches immediately before entry putting stress on even short passages.
I realise this is not a panacea and may not be the problem for your student, but I would put it forward as a good basic principle anyway.
Hope your student can get past this "hurdle"
BobT
Post Edited (2005-03-23 11:49)
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2005-03-24 20:42
She can finish a 4-bar phrase when she starts from scratch but not when the same phrase occurs in the middle of the piece. This is because there is plenty of time to breathe at the beginning but much less time in between phrases. She already knows how to breathe correctly but she has to do it faster while taking in the same quantity of air.
Have her play a bunch of phrases but give her 4 beats of rest between each phrase. Then give her 3 beats, than 2, than 1 each time taking in the same amount of air. When she can do this replace the last beat of each phrase with an eighth note and an eighth rest. Then replace the last beat with a dotted eighth note and a sixteenth rest, still taking in the same amount of air even though there is less time to do it in. Finally, play as written.
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Author: Oldbass
Date: 2005-03-25 09:00
I found this a fascinating thread. I agree with "bob49t" that there may be a problem with emptying the lungs, rather than getting enough air in. Another suggestion is that your pupil may becoming anxious during her solo. This will make her want to take extra unnecessary gulps of air. Shout at her to relax! (Only joking!)
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2005-03-25 22:31
I had trouble breathing when I first started playing. Our band director told us to take breathes in just like we were breathing like darth vader, and from then on out I could play longer. Another thing we did was get a bread bag and tie it to the end of a paper towel holder thing and try to fill up the bread bag. It works.
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