 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-07-28 21:33
When you are playing the Clarinet - do you sit towards the front of the chair (helps to keep a straight back) or do you sit back and use the back of the chair as support?
And, have you been told one thing yet do another? (told to sit forward, but never do, etc)
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Author: mkybrain
Date: 2005-07-28 21:45
depends on how tired i am. If i have plenty of energy and the music is exciting, im towards the edge of my seat, otherwise i am sitting more towards the back. There isn't really a huge difference in my playing either way though.
However I am always sitting up straight.
Post Edited (2005-07-28 22:02)
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Author: chumbucket804
Date: 2005-07-28 21:56
I sit at the front edge with a straight back and both feet flat on the ground under my knees. I was told to sit this way in the sixth grade, and it has stuck with me since.
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Author: Carol Dutcher
Date: 2005-07-28 22:04
I sit with my rear toward the back of the chair as it is more comfortable for me. If I scoot towards the front of the chair, I get kind of an ache in my back. An interesting question. Sometimes I cross my legs! Sometimes the feet are flat down. We played a benefit at a "Farm" out near Petaluma. We had to sit on rough terrain under a big tree. The clarinet player in the set after me toppled over backwards. He was not amused. I could not believe my eyes. He wasn't hurt though, just quite indignant.
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Author: ClariBone
Date: 2005-07-28 22:12
It depends. When playing clarinet, if I am sight-reading, soloing, or trying to master difficult passages, I am on the front of my chair. However if I have already mastered the music, I feel more relaxed sitting toward the back of the chair, with my back straight. On trombone, I never sit towards the front of my chair because I am told that I need to relax more when playing trombone (I'm not as good on trombone as I am on clarinet, so I have a tendency to play rigidly).
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Author: marzi
Date: 2005-07-29 02:19
depends on the chair i get stuck with , i was taught to sit at the edge also in elementary school,(must've been so my feet would be on the floor), and now i find i am better off if i remember that, but usually i relax and take up the whole seat,(not as small as i used to be either!). at home i prefer one of those counter stools actually, a compromise between standing(my last teachers preference ) and sitting.
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Author: rc_clarinetlady
Date: 2005-07-29 05:09
Back of the chair and very relaxed for home practice. Sitting up straight for woodshedding.
Orchestra rehearsals have those awful "musician's" chairs that sit you straight up and forward. They give you terrible backaches by the end of a two hour rehearsal.
Why do you ask?
Rebecca
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Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2005-07-29 05:44
I don't necessarily buy the "sitting up straight is the only way to play" theory. I think that band directors do that more to make kids uncomfortable so they're more likely to pay attention. People have explored the effect of "comfortableness" of classroom furniture on student performance, and many believe the more uncomfortable the kids are, the more likely they are to pay attention. Apparently, some classroom furniture is designed with the purpose of being uncomfortable. I think this theory that discomfort keeps students "in line" is largely responsible for making band students sit in what must be the most uncomfortable position imaginable (to me anyway). It actually seems like it might have the opposite result. Since sitting up requires you to tighten your stomach and back muscles, I would think it would make it harder to fully expand your lungs... On the other hand, sitting back (not slouching) with the back of the chair supporting the weight of your upper body, seems for me to be a much more comfortable position in which I can play and breathe more freely.
I usually sit with far back on my chair with my back resting on the back of the chair. My back is usually pretty straight (not curved or slouchy), but usually isn't a 90 degree angle (because most chairs angle back very slightly). I often cross my legs at the ankle when I play because it helps me sit up straighter (I tend to slouch if I relax my legs, but if sit with them completely parallel and straight my leg muscles get tired, especially if I'm teaching or practicing for a long time). When teaching, I often rest my bell on my knees just because it makes my thumb hurt to hold it up for many hours. But if I'm practicing seriously or performing, I don't rest it on my knees. SOrry for writing so much.
DH
theclarinetist@yahoo.com
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Author: Arnold the basset hornist
Date: 2005-07-29 07:20
Hello,
mostly I sit at the front of the chair.
I do that in the office, I do that when singing in the church choir, and when playing basset horn off course.
Nevertheless when practising basset horn at home, I'm not sitting at all, I'm standing using a floor peg.
Arnold (the basset hornist)
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Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2005-07-29 11:46
I find the Andrew Marriner position to be the best...which is basically lying down in your chair with the clarinet propped up on various parts of your anatomy.
It sure doesn't do his playing any harm...
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Author: Mike Clarinet
Date: 2005-07-29 12:38
I sit with my backside firmly in the centre of the chair, back supported by, but not leaning on, the back of the chair, feet firmly on the the ground and NOT crossed. My teacher, who was a retired Royal Marines clarinet instructor, used to tell horror stories of hernias and ruptured diaphragms due to poor posture when sitting. This may just be me, but I find that poor posture leads to poor intonation and sloppy finger technique. A sort of 'who cares?' attitude to how I sit seems to affect all aspects of playing in my case. When I practice at home, I always stand. My wife plays bass clarinet in the same band as me, and she finds it very difficult to stand when playing bass. We sometimes practice band parts together, and she gets annoyed with me standing and towering over her, but that's another story...
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Author: larryb
Date: 2005-07-29 13:02
depends on the chair
- I never sit back on a stool
- shaker furniture, I sit forward, but have trouble reproducing certain notes
- stickley/arts and crafts style, I sit in the middle
- wing backs, I sit on an arm, legs dangling about three inches above ground
- I don't play on any french furniture earlier than Louis XV, because the clarinet wasn't quite yet invented then
- brahms sounds best in a biedermeier double half back side chair
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2005-07-29 13:50
Thanks, GBK -- please let us know when the furniture maker comes out with their "contra-alto ophicleide" model --- then I'll consider buying one.
Didn't see the "clarinet" model on the website you linked, but I'm digging their "jazz" barstool!
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-07-29 13:54
David Spiegelthal wrote:
> Didn't see the "clarinet" model on the website you linked, but
> I'm digging their "jazz" barstool!
Just below it in the next row...GBK
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2005-07-29 14:04
I play bass clarinet and never use anything but about the front three inches of the chair. That way, even with an upwardly angled neck, I can angle the instrument so that the bell is under the chair.
For any instrumentalist, I would assume that the main reason for sitting up straight is that it allows you to breath more easily from your diaphragm and increases your lung capacity. I just tried a small experiment that others may want to try as well: Lean back in a relaxed position in your chair. Breathe in as deeply as you can. Before letting your breath out, sit up straight and note that you can (and will) breathe in additional air. (Hey, maybe that's why I can go for longer periods without a breath than most musicians!) Without having my instrument at hand to try it, it seems that a straight seating position would also allow one to more easily create the laminar (smoothly layered) air flow that contributes to great tone quality.
Speaking of chairs, once while shopping for office chairs, I came upon a highly adjustable (and highly expensive, ~ $1,000) chair that allowed the seat to adjust back and forth to the point where I expect I might be able to sit as I prefer in the chair while playing and still be able to use the back. Maybe someday...
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Author: Tyler
Date: 2005-07-29 14:51
About the middle of the chair, RELAXEDLY, not stiffly, sitting up straight (when I think about sitting up that is...)
-Tyler
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Author: Danny Boy
Date: 2005-07-29 15:14
Loving the clarinet chair...I assume it's because of the black/silver colour scheme.
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Author: marzi
Date: 2005-07-29 20:32
And then there's the leaning way forward on the chair, face up to the music position, the better to read those tiny black dots - is that B or D, A or C? and thats with glasses!
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-07-29 20:48
Typically I'm the one who tells students they need glasses before they have been told by the nurse at school
Music is one heck of an eye test........
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Author: Tyler
Date: 2005-07-31 17:40
You know, my sitting posture changes dramatically when playing tiny marches in a community band that performs a 10-15 piece concert after only an hour of rehearsal.............
-Tyler
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Author: msloss
Date: 2005-08-01 02:44
Good question to ask Glenn Gould were he not dead and all...
Post Edited (2005-08-01 02:44)
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