 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Pam
Date: 2000-07-06 15:28
Technically, my playing is pretty good, but I have a difficult time with dynamic range and emotion in the music. Does anyone have some advice for improvement in this area? I know it would make a big difference in my playing, but somehow something is not happening.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-07-06 16:01
Think opera... your clarinet is a singer(s) in the opera. You can even mark what your trying to have your character express and the dynamic/color to be used. Also try this exercise. Take a simple melodic phrase and play it many times. Each time make it go through a different emotion, happy, sad, angry, glib, silly, fluffy... it can be done, if you think opera. Also, try on scales to go from sweet to growly tones, at various dynamic ranges. The clarinet really can produce many colors, not merely volumes. Then use the palate to paint the feeling. Also, follow the dynamics in scores, if you merely do that you'll sound somewhat emotional.
Ginny
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Author: Amber
Date: 2000-07-06 16:50
Well I am not sure how I do it technically or mechanically, but if you get into the mood of the piece, you unknowingly start making tiny ajustments to create the sound you are trying for. It helps if you can break down the passages as if it is two people talking. Then you image them talking back and forth, putting the energy and emotion people use when they talk. You already do this when you yourself talk, so in a way you are just transfering the feelings and nounces you use to talk to your playing. This helped me a lot. Hope it helped for you!!
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Author: Jonathan Block
Date: 2000-07-06 18:44
Some quick suggestions in no particular order:
1. Focus on the horn as an extension of your breath.
2. Try playing outdoors and translate what your seeing in your playing.
3. Listen to other players and feel what they are doing. I wouldn't limit myself to clarinet here; go see some live jazz.
4. I don't know what your playing/band situation is, but try playing in a small group and focus on the drummer.
5. Meditate.
Good luck,
Jonathan
(http://synthblock.tripod.com)
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Author: ken
Date: 2000-07-06 20:18
Some marvelous suggestions from folks and I couldn't say it better myself; we don't call it the performing arts for nothing! However, when the rubber meets the road, playing with emotion and feeling translates into making "real
music" as opposed to merely pushing buttons. The ability to play soulfully from the heart and express moods through the instrument is a truly innate "gift" that can rarely be taught or dupicated. It is primarily an extension of the individual's personality, life experiences and to a small degree training. Count Basie once said, "you can't play it unless you lived it". Sotto Voce! <:-)
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Author: Sara
Date: 2000-07-06 20:56
My teacher always tells me to do this Fantasia thing, where you take each little different section of music and try to think of what it sounds like its depicting. It worked for me when i was working up th Stamizt concerto3. I had everything from ballroom dancing to sword fighting.I think it helps you to try and interpret your playing.
Sara
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Author: Pam
Date: 2000-07-07 01:16
A lot of good ideas. I will try your suggestions. :-)
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Author: Bob Gardner
Date: 2000-07-07 03:16
If you love the piece you are playing and really know it then the job is almost done. Try playing "Summertime" and try and put some feeling into it.
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Author: Sara
Date: 2000-07-07 04:20
Yeah, I think its easier to put emotion into something if you actually like the piece your working on. But see, before when I first began to take lessons, i would only work on things if i liked them, and so one week that excercise would be imaculately perfect then the next it would down right sound like i was sightreading it, which I basiccally was, but I'm a good sight reader. But now He's got me to the point where he can't make things fun, which is why I like him, everything is fun.
Sara
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Author: Bob the Composer
Date: 2000-07-07 14:07
Everyone here has made remarkably good suggestions, especially Jonathan Block. To be more specific about meditation, it helps you to focus, I'm told, and I also believe that its hard for somebody to express themselves through music until they know themselves, and meditation is one way (perhaps the best way) to do that.
However, I've noticed that often, what works for one person may not work for another. Although what I said above is basically correct, it is ultimately up to the performer to figure out the best way to express themselves. Knowing yourself can help.
One more piece of advice. Although it sometimes helps if you know what a certain piece represents, most pieces don't really represent or depict anything, so that wouldn't always help.
Bob
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Author: steve
Date: 2000-07-07 14:27
bob the comp said:
One more piece of advice. Although it sometimes helps if you know what a certain piece represents, most pieces don't really represent or depict anything, so that wouldn't always help.
I agree....but, what I did was to decide what the piece meant to me....In hindemith's sonata, the third movement is very stark, sad, and sort of depressing....when I played it in HS, it came to represent my feelings when my first real girlfriend and I called it quits...I wrote a whole story in my mind with the music as the sound track...the last movement of the poulenc sonata became the soundtrack for a particularly rowdy friday night with my friends....funny how years later, the music always brought up those soundtracks!!!...folks who talk about absolute vs program music would be horrified...:)
sorry to sound like an old fart, but imho, as you gather more life experiences, they become translated into your playing...some of the most hair raising music I ever heard was at the philadelphia holocaust survivors gathering in the early 80's....there was a klezmer band, and the clarinetist was a survivor....
s.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-07-07 17:02
Following on to steve's comments:
Not so many years ago I played Satie's Trois Gymnopedies for a piano adjudication. A pet fish of mine had just died (Buddy, long live his soul) which fit the 1st Gymnopedie just right.
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Author: Tim
Date: 2000-07-08 21:12
The pianist Glenn Gould used to do all kinds of strange things when he played. One thing that I've "borrowed" from him is his tendency to sing when playing. I know that you can't do this when you're playing your clarinet, but I've found that even imagining that you're singing helps immensely - in fact I sometimes find myself getting a little too carried away. It also helped me to appreciate music more. I can now more easily listen to the works of Bach and Mozart, I no longer find them dull or boring. So I'd suggest listening to a lot of music, too.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-07-08 22:23
Tim wrote:
-------------------------------
The pianist Glenn Gould used to do all kinds of strange things when he played. One thing that I've "borrowed" from him is his tendency to sing when playing.
-------
In better tune the Glenn, I hope!
If a god wanted to listen to Bach, he'd ask Glenn Gould to play ...
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-07-09 05:08
Sara wrote:
-------------------------------
Who is Glenn Gould?
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Do a quick search via www.google.com (hint - one of the most famous piano players of all time).
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Author: Tim
Date: 2000-07-09 09:34
For anyone who is interested, Glenn Gould is one of the best pianists the world has ever seen - a great artist to listen to, even if you are just playing clarinet. The most striking thing about him was that he was a little crazy, but his playing was absolutely fabulous, possibly as a result of this. Apart from singing, he used to sit at the piano at an incredibly low stool, about 14" high, and people remarked that it looked as if he was playing with his nose - he sort of leant over the keyboard so that his head was close to the piano. Most importantly for me, he transformed the way Bach and other such Baroque-era composers were played. Now unfortunately the Clarinet was not around in these days, but you can still get hold of transcriptions of Baroque music. In relation to this topic I would highly recommend him if you want to listen to more classical music, to get an idea of how you can get more emotion into your playing. That's the key, really, don't listen to just anything, listen to some really excellent artists. I don't know many Clarinettists, but my favourite pianist is Vladimir Ashkenazy, and some of the really great pianists include Rubenstein, Pollini, and Schiff. Would anyone care to recommend any artists that would be more suitable for a Clarinetist to listen to? As a matter of fact, I am trying to find a recording of a really good Clarinettist so I can get an idea of what to aim for in terms of my tone.
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Author: ken
Date: 2000-07-09 19:45
Tim, Robert Marcellus and Harold Wright are about as good as they come for what a beautiful "classical tone" on the Bb/A clarinet is supposed to sound like. Start with them and build from there; you can't go wrong. <:-)
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Author: Jim
Date: 2000-07-10 04:23
Pam, if time, energy, oportunity, and ability permit, join a school, church or community choir. (I have sung for more than 25 years in church and community choirs as well as played the clarinet (not continuously) since JFK was president.) I feel that you are much more open to the music when your body is the instrument itself, and you have less on which to concentrate (reed, technique, mechanics) and can put more concentration into making music out of the piece. A good choral director will concentrate on bringing this out. (As will a good instrumental director.)
By the way, your face will convey nearly as much emotion as your music does. Truly the eyes are a mirror of the soul! Try memorizing a piece and watching yourself play in a mirror, (or in this modern age use a video camera.)
As for recordings of clarinet showing emotion, try Stoltzman's "Aria" CD, most especially his playing of three pieces from Porgy and Bess including the mentioned "Summertime."
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2000-07-10 06:16
There is a Canadian URL specially dedicated Glen Gould.
http://www.gould.nlc-bnc.ca/econtent.htm
He also published autobiography. There are good videos:Glen Gould on the Record and off the Record.I like his Goldberg Variation and Italian Concerto 2nd movement both when he was young.
As to gttting emotion:
1.Better mouthpiece,barrel,and reed. Especially reed.This is a precondition of express tunes freely.
In a liner note of Harold Wright CD, before coming to concert,he played the same passage several times using different reeds to let his wife in a closet to judge which was more beautifully played.Even he was taking much trouble to select good reeds:I guess maybe one among far more than 1000.(Some pros have almost 100,000 reeds.)
2.Tone colors: There used to be many good players who could change tone color as free as they intend. This is certainly a gift. Some teacher says dynamics exercises is good to have this ability:pp to ff,then back to pp.
3.Tone Development through Interpretation: This is a collection of pieces Marcel Moyse gathered for himself to develop his own tonality including Operatic arias as Ginny suggested. It is segmented:low register,middle and high register,suppless of tone,interpretation of classical pieces.This means even such a great artist like him tried to deepen his tonality methodically although he had been gifted with beautiful tone and expressionability.
Almost all serious flutists have a copy. It might be good on considering how.
p.s. Mark once informed that there is a collection of opera arias by Ben Amato(I guess?).
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-07-10 11:18
Hiroshi wrote:
<br>-------------------------------
<br>p.s. Mark once informed that there is a collection of opera arias by Ben Amato(I guess?).
<br>-------
<br>No, Ben's book is a collection of opera excerpts for the clarinet - see http://www.reed-wizard.sneezy.org .
<br>
<br>Ben is a sponsor of Sneezy.Org and a heck of a nice guy.
<br>
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Author: Pam
Date: 2000-07-11 02:29
O.k. all, I'm learning a neat piece right now called "Deep Wood" by David Bennett. The music is supposed to remind the listener of the things you'd hear walking through the woods. Things like leaves falling, or birds flying. It was actually written for the Bass Clarinet but never goes down as far as the low E Flat so can be played on either.
Technically, it's pretty easy. I enjoy working on it, because it makes me think about how I see the music, like "what would be happening here?"
I play in a church orchestra usually 2 services every Sunday, sometimes 3. Jim, I honestly couldn't do choir too. That would be physically impossible to be in both. Much of the music we play is accompaniment to the choir and singing in church. Occasionally, we do songs that just feature the orchestra. That doesn't mean that it's boring in any way though! We have some terrific musicians -- and have access to some great arranging.
Much interesting advise here tho! Thanks to all and I will try some of what everyone suggests.
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