 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bigno16
Date: 2005-07-09 23:34
Ken Shaw said:
"You can practice this with an exercise the great teacher Keith Stein showed me many years ago. Stand in a corner of the room facing the intersection of the walls. Play a low E fff and gradually decrescendo. At about mf, you should start to hear the middle line clarion B. Concentrate on the B, keeping it strong as you fade the E down to ppp. Toward the end, the B should be just as strong as the E. It may take several tries. It helps to use a slightly softer reed than usual. It also helps to push up with your right thumb, to put a little more reed in your mouth. Finally, make sure only about half of the red part of your lower lip is over your lower teeth. Anything more kills the high frequencies."
I've been trying to do this during some of my practice time for the past 2 days but have been unsuccessful at hearing that clarion B. How noticeable is it? Is it an obvious sound? Do you have any more suggestions for obtaining the high frequencies? Or do you have any idea what I could be doing wrong just from past experiences? I know that's a difficult question to answer having never heard or seen me do it, but any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-07-11 17:13
The middle B is part of the sound of the low E and emerges from it.
Play the middle B softly and hold the sound in your mind.
Then play the low E with a bright, resonant, even raspy tone. Keep the very back of your tongue high, sloping down to the tip, which should be below your teeth. Don't let your tongue touch your lower lip. It can help to imagine the airstream going through the top of your mouth, into your sinuses and out your forehead. Other people imagine the tongue as a ski jump, down which the air accelerates. It doesn't matter what you think, as long as it works.
It's important to take more reed than usual and to have as little of your lower lip as possible inside your teeth.
It may help to play double lip, with you upper lip over the teeth. This frees the vibration of the reed.
As you decrescendo, remember the middle B and listen hard for it. Concentrate on bringing it out.
The purpose is to learn to make extreme sounds, which you can turn into good ones. No one would play with that tone, except for a comic effect. However, integrating it into your regular tone adds a "ping" that makes it carry, just as perfume makers add a tiny amount of skunk oil to make the other parts of the scent noticeable.
Doing this the first time isn't easy, particularly if you don't have someone to demonstrate it for you. Keep at it and keep us informed of your progress.
Ken Shaw
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