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Problems with sharp throat tones

Author: msboyd13
Date: 2007-09-28 17:20

Hello all

I started playing clarinet last November after 25 years of not playing. It's been wonderful and I am much better now than I ever was as a child/teenager (I'm 40 now). I'm playing on an older Armstrong student model (at least I believe it's older as it was a gift from my sister) with a Van Doren B45 mouthpiece and an Optimum ligature. Unfortunately I can't afford to upgrade at the moment but I'm hoping to in the next year. I have found a great teacher who has been both inspirational and demanding. He even "made" me play Stravinsky's first piece last year at our recital last year.... definitely a challenge.

Well a new year of study has become and I have to work on my tone... I'm having major problem getting Bb, A, G and F in tune... I've tried many things but one thing that seems to work is pulling out the mouthpiece from the barrel (as well as pulling out the bottom part of the barrel). However, even though this helps me play these notes in tune I tend to squeek more, which leads me to believe that I am losing too much air. My guess is that I need a longer barrel in addition to more practice on the notes. What do you all think? If a (longer) barrel could be a solutioin can I just order one or do I need to find one suited to my clarinet? Is it worth it for me to buy one (actually I have no idea how much it
would cost).

Thanks for the help
Michael in Rome

Michael

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