 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Yusuf Zaid
Date: 2000-12-11 21:31
Looking through the postings on this board, I have noticed that beginners, at around 3
months of learning, seem to reach a sort of watershed in their developement. It seems
to be a critical time. I suppose it's a point when a person has become accustomed to
the instrument, has discovered more or less what is required to learn to play the
clarinet and, more importantly, has discovered the amount of ability he/she has to
learn this fine instrument. One discovers the weak points in developement, ie: finger
technique, tone developement, the ability to play over the 'break', etc.
These sort of areas seem to become sticking points and it can probably result in a
student becoming discouraged to the point of giving it up without some sort of expert
guidance. For those who have a tutor, this period of further developement is probably
not too painfull and they can be guided through it. There are others, however, who,
for one reason or another, who do not have access to a tutor.
I am one of these people, for me it is a matter of cost, I shall have to employ the
services of a tutor some time in the future as I don't believe a person can achieve
his/her full potential without one. But for now we struggle on.(Ahh, there there).
This Clarinet BB has been of enormous help to me (and others in my position I am
sure) you good people are always there for good help and advice.
This period I am talking about is a good time for some serious self assessment., and I
shall relate my own experiences in the hope it may help some other fellow beginners
over some problems.
I have been playing now for about 3 months. Up to a couple of days ago I have
seldom managed to get a good tone from my instrument. This didn't bother me too
much at first. I thought well, given time, it will come. Needless to say, it didn't come.
I was also having problems getting over the 'break' smoothly, there was always that
short pause between ,say, Bb to C, always going up, hardly ever coming down the
scale. There was always that short pause before I could get the C to 'sound'. Annoying
and frustrating.
A couple of days ago I had had enough. I wasn't getting any further and I was getting
pretty dispondant.On top of that I was listening to some professionals and their sound
was sooooooo beautiful. Why couldn't I even approach that sound? So I thought it was
about time to do a pretty thorough self assesment.
I started with the reeds. I tried various strengths in various positions, I ended up with
a Rico Royal 2 1/2. but the sound still wasn't there. The mouthpiece I knew wasn't too
good, it came with the new Buffet B12, but it was something I had to live with for
now, ( I've got a Hite premiere coming for Xmas) Anyway forget that one for now. I
checked the insrument over for leaks, maladjustment, etc. Everything seemed fine
there.
Now I looked at how I was playing the instrument and here I made my first
discovery. I had always thought that I was using my diaphragm properly, make a fat
tummy,pull the diaphragm down, etc. I was playing long tones and I decided to try a
little vibrato, more out of a need to try and improve the sound than anything else. I
decided to use the diaphragm to produce the vibrato, I don't know if this is correct,
anyway the vibrato was quite nice and surprise surprise the tone improved quite
drammatically. It was then I dicovered that, although I was using my diaphragm
before, I was counteracting this by contracting my abdominal muscles, using these to push the
air and restricting the diaphragm. By using the diaphragm for vibrato I had to relax
the abdominal muscles, the diaphragm was allowed to operate freely , a good column
of air was produced and the tone sang out. What an uplifting experience. I have
become aware for the first time of my diaphragm being used properly. I still tend to
tighten my abdomen if I don't concentrate but its early days and practice will make
perfect I am sure.
Now for the break. Very careful examination of my finger positions brought out
the fact that my left thumb was sitting too high over the key ring. I was using too
much of the thumb to press the register key and the thumb was allowing a tiny
fraction of air to escape from the thumb hole. In fact the whole left hand position
wasn't very good. The fingers were coming in too much from the side and the index
finger wasn't positioned correcly over the 'A' key. I looked in the mirror to see what I
was doing. I also used the method of holding my clarinet like a flute with the barrel
resting on my chin. The fingers then asume, practically, the correct position for
playing the clarinet. Lowering the clarinet to the correct position keeping the fingers
in this position and there you have it. Now I tried the break and with the correct
diaphragm involvement there was a great improvement ,hardly any pause at all. It all
felt a bit strange holding the fingers like that and having to concentrate on the
diaphragm. I reckon about a week or two and it will begin to feel more natural.
One more thing I discovered was when I was holding my clarinet the instrument was
being held much too close to the body. This resulted in upsetting the embouchure as
the bottom lip was getting crushed. Pushing the instrument away form the body
around 6-8 inches resulted in the mouthpiece entering the mouth at a more benificial
angle and the bottom lip had more freedom to rest on the reed instead of being pushed
onto it. This resulted in another improvement in tone and more control over the
sound.
All these mistakes I had made unconciously. There was no one to correct me and I
was slipping into bad habits. This strict self assessment, using information taken from
the Clarinet BB and following the advice from you good people, has made all the
difference to my playing and now I am feeling more positive about the whole learning process.
I have acquired an old mouthpiece of much better quallity, no name on it but you
can see the quality difference in the manufacturing and the resulting further improvement in sound. ( Found in a pawn shop, £1.00)
I have also bought a Legere Plastic reed, 2 3/4. I am very pleased with it .
All what I have said is probably pretty obvious to most of you people out there. I
hope, however, that I have made a point about good, honest, self assesment, using
information from a good source and that without it we can, without our being aware
of it, fall into bad habits and make things difficult for ourselves, at whatever grade we are.
Thanks once again for all the help that's been put on this BB. Your comments
encouragement and critisisms as always, will be very welcome.
Yusuf.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2000-12-11 22:10
I'm a just over 3 "monther". Very thorough and interesting assessment. I'll use it to check my playing. Thanks Yusuf.
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Author: Christoffer
Date: 2000-12-11 23:28
Seems like you give some good advice that I could benefit from. During my first few weeks of playing, I got a lot of squeaks and poor tone quality, but then I tried experimenting with the angle in which I held the instrument, and boy, did that work wonders! Most important, I think, because that also made me consider the position of my whole body and the importance of getting that right too. Holding the clarinet a bit further away from my body forces me to righten myself up, thus enabling me to breathe more freely and focused - so many of my problems simply came from standing bowed and crooked, a very bad habit of mine.
I can only agree with your praise of this BBoard. Like you, I cannot afford a teacher right now - but if there is such a thing as a second best solution, I guess this is it.
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2000-12-12 03:09
If you can check into your local college (junior) or what ever. You may fine they offer a class on woodwinds.i signed up for "Beginning woodwind Instruments" for a total cost of $11.00. There are only 3 to 5 people in the class. The semester runs three months. I will be signing up for the same class in January. anyhow it is a great deal and beside in intructor i get to play with other people. The intructor keeps saying the same thing to me "you are NOT counting" Anyhow check out the local schools you may get lucky.
Peace
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Author: Tracey
Date: 2000-12-12 05:29
If you can't find a teacher, then another good thing you can try is listening to CDs of great clarinetists playing. I don't know if at three months it is too early to be listening or comparing to such a high level of expertise, but good tone is always a necessity. Because the tone and facility of the professionals on recordings is so spectacular, you can subconciously apply it to your own playing. The tone that you would be listening to from your teacher can be heard on cds. My teacher recommends as a starting point the Mozart concerto played by Robert Marcellus as well as the Brahms Sonatas played by David Shifrin. )
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Author: mw
Date: 2000-12-12 22:02
I don't believe that "self-assessment" ever stops. I think there are many difficulties & related "difficult periods" to clarinet. If it was easy, we'd all be equals to Drucker, Carbonaire, or Manasse, etc. I don't think we ever stop learning, except when we decide that we are through. Mind over (something that does) matter, Clarinet. mw
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-12-12 23:24
Yusuf gives a fine example of how to break out of a plateau period when it seems as if there's no progress. Those plateaus happen to everyone, including experienced players. We need time to consolidate what we've learned. Sometimes what seems to be a standstill is really a "settling in" period where kinesthetic memory and other information that's newly learned (therefore easily and quickly forgotten if not practiced regularly) gets "burned in" and becomes a part of permanent memory. Learning the clarinet is like learning to ride a bicycle if it's *well* learned. (As an adult returning to the clarinet after quitting for years, I was pleasantly surprised at how fast the technical stuff came back.)
So I think those plateaus are valuable, up to a point -- but when it starts to feel as if the point has passed, Yusuf's self-assessment process sounds like an excellent way to break out of the level spot before it gets ground down into a rut.
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Author: Kim L.
Date: 2000-12-13 03:06
It is never too early to start listening! We even have babies listening to Mozart. Go figure. The more we listen, the better the perspective we will have on how we are supposed to sound and the style that pieces should be played. It is the best thing for anybody, beginner to professional to do.
Great self-assessment Yusuf. It takes a patient individual to do what you did. Playing an instrument can be frustrating no matter what level we are at.
Good luck in your playing.
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2000-12-13 05:03
Here is a sneaky way to get some "teaching" when you can't afford it:
Take your horn to a repair person whose primary (playing) instrument is clarinet, or to a musical instrument store with a good woodwind sales person, on the pretext that you think there is something wrong with your clarinet and you would like it checked, like you can't go up smoothly over the break, as you say, so maybe the keys need adjustment. (In fact, this is not dishonest; your instrument may indeed require some minor adjustments for problems you didn't even know it had). The good repair or sales person will then observe you play and correct your technique!
I learned this inadvertently when I bought a new alto sax. I had had a lot of clarinet lessons as a kid but few sax lessons. So as I was trying out the horn in the store and running into difficulties with intonation and emission of low notes, I complained. The sales guy corrected my blowing technique (I had not enough air), and fingering (I was using a non-preferred fingering for middle and high C), as well as giving me a half dozen other useful pointers.
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2000-12-13 05:27
Another problem you're having is that it sounds like you're not playing with anyone else. Not having a teacher and playing by yourself means not only missing the benefits of a teacher, but also not learning how to play with other people. The community college idea suggested in one of the previous postings sounds like a good idea. Even if you don't get a "teacher" out of it you'll gain experience learning to blend with other instruments. If this is unavailable where you live, try to hook up with any kind of amateur musicians with whom to "jam" who'll have you. What you'll discover is that tone and technique are the least of your problems and probably better than you think, but playing in tune and on time are what you will need to work on.
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Author: uliano guerrini
Date: 2000-12-13 07:48
nice post yours, Yusuf
:-)
now I'm playing since 4 month of which the last three with a teacher
I passed all the stages you described and have to admit that with someone telling you what's wrong that should have been a lot easier, I remember the "break problem" and how fast I took over it when I was told exactly the same thing you found by yourself (ie index on the A key and thumb goin too up on the register and too far when opened).
I faced the tone problem with a different approach than yours:
after a month of self teaching the first time my teacher listened my sound she was quite impressed "your tone is really good for a beggineer!" but I was not satisfied (I compared with her sound eheheh) so I bought a new horn (Buffet RC) to replace the crappy old one I had and, not yet satisfied a month ago I changed the default buffet mouthpiece (vandoren B40), now after a month of getting used to the new mouthpiece I gradually switched the reed from 2 vandoren to 2.5 and finally 3 vandoren and I can say to begin to feel comfortable with the tone I produce... I will never be satisfied but for now is ok
More, I have quite a good control of the chalumeau and clarion register from (let's say) pp to ff and I can play f up to the high register G
So everithing is easy for me? am I running downhill progressing faster & faster?
Not at all!! now I'm stuck with rithm, which is ever been my weak point.
In the first months I was happy, I learned to tap the foot syncro with playing, I learned how to swing octaves, I believed the most was done, how wrong I was!!
Now I'm starting to play pieces with syincopations and all the automations I learned does not work anymore: it has been hard to learn how to play a syncopation here and there, but the last piece contained lot of phrases with up to 3 contiguous sincopations (even not all the same lenght! :-( ) ... what a horrible sensation to find myself tapping at the beggining of the second or the third of these syncopations! :-(
it seems that such "blocking crisis" shoud happen quite often in the learning progress, crisis in which we think how not gifted to music we are think how stupid we have been to imagine we could have learned to play and the feeling toward the instrument change to the blue, to the black...
nevertheless it is up to us to demonstrate we are wrong: my technique is to think that blue mood cames only after too quick progresses that gave me the illusion of easyness, so I force myself to recall my initial spirit when I decided to start: "I knew to be (heavily!) ungifted for music I knew that the learning progress would have been difficoult and slow but I WANTED to learn".
Now I have to be glad with the progresses I made, which I actually made much faster than I foresaw, and this gladness shoud be, and is, enough to cancel every blue mood which only origin is too fast progressing
well I realize that I wrote this poem just to rise my mood in a moment of discomfort (this afternoon I have to tell my teacher that she can forget me playing multiple contiguous syincopations) but I hope that reading all this can help other beginners to come out of bad sensations toward the instrument and themselfs
uliano
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2000-12-13 11:27
Yusuf:
You have some anatomical details wrong. The diaphragm is the dome shaped muscle dividing the top half of your abdomen (lungs) from the bottom half (stomach, intestines, etc). It cannot PUSH air out. Muscles can only contract.or relax. When this one tightens it draws air into the body (and the pressure on the gut makes the stomach push out). When it relaxes air 'drifts' out and the stomach returns to normal.
To PUSH air out the abdominal muscles have to be used. These are the ones across the front of the stomach from the pelvis to the ribs. They tighted when we sneeze, cough, shout, vomit, defecate (in a hurry), or blow up balloons. It is THESE (with help from supporting muscles in the back and between the ribs) that give pressure to the air when we play instruments. For vibrato these muscles may fluctuate in their tension, or the diaphragm may provide a fluctuating OPPOSITION to the abdominal muscles.
Tense players may tighten the diaphragm while playing and hence reduce the pressure on the air provided by the abdominal muscles. Although it is inappropriate for clarinet playing, we are quite used to tightening both these muscles at once because that is what we do when we defecate, especially when constipated.
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Author: Anji
Date: 2000-12-14 14:03
Hey Dude,
It's gratifying to hear you stick with this, the "Devil's own instrument".
I wish I could tell you that it get's easier, but I'm still on the upslope after most of a year.
You are definitely on the right track, as you discover the things that make sense and discard the ineffective methods.
I'm glad you took a flier on the Legere, it makes for one less thing to worry over.
(Remember that they will allow you to "trade up" in strength so long as you have the original package. I have a few for different mouthpieces.)
The only thing harder than learning this gizmo on your own is child-rearing (Oh yes, you're doing this already!)
Drop me a line off-page and I'll send you over two of my beginning books.
As you have discovered in the positioning experiment, the only way to succeed with the clarinet is to "Keep your chin up."
Best regards,
a fellow beginner
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