 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: superson
Date: 2010-06-24 16:07
Hi
I feel like I've forgotten how to play the clarinet.
So for about a year now, I've severely neglected my clarinet, due to exams and lack of a teacher. As a result, its been shoved under my bed and only brought out on saturdays when I play in a community youth orchestra. Anyway last weekend I felt that it deserved to come out from under the bed and be played regularly again.
Since then I've been really struggling to play. I wasn't exactly great before but I could play up to about grade 5 with ease. I tried playing a grade 5 piece, I could play easily before, but it didn't seem natural to me anymore. I figured this was because I was severely out of practise, so dug out grade 4 pieces and even struggled with them. My fingers are sluggish, the clarinet sounds airy, I get tired after about 10-20 mins and it feels awkward.
Anyway, are there any suggestions as to how I can 'remember' how to play . I've heard that people haven't played for a few years. how did they get back into shape? how long did it take? I plan on getting a teacher again in the near future when i can afford it.
any suggestions appreciated.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2010-06-24 16:30
It could take a couple of weeks just to get some familiarity back and three months to develop technique.
The airyness is embouchure vs. reed strength/mouthpiece opening. I might suggest trying a half strength weaker (or more) for awhile.
As for getting back into it, long tones at the outset of practice will help develop the embouchure and breath control. Try:
starting a low E with light air and light embouchure (no sound), gradually increasing embouchure energy until you get just a hint of a sound (this should not take more than two seconds). Once the beginings of the sound are there, begin a SLOW cresc (counting from one to eight) arriving at the loudest you can play on eight (your pace should be 60 beats per minute), immediatley start back down to nothing counting from eight again to one (but make sure you fade to NOTHING).
This is done all in one breath. You can do this a couple of times on Low E, then F, F#, G. That should be enough work, but you can work your way back down if you have energy left.
After that, work on slow scales to develop strong technique.
....................Paul Aviles
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Author: Plonk
Date: 2010-06-24 16:42
I'm returning to the clarinet after a complete break of 3 years. I was post grade 8 level, but I started back at grade 1 pieces when I picked up the instrument again. I started by just playing for 5 minutes a day, gradually increasing the length of time, and gradually increasing the difficulty of the pieces I was playing. I started about 40 days ago, and am now again playing my grade 8 pieces with relative ease when it comes to finger work, but still need to get my stamina back to where it was. It's getting better but it used to be great! Long tones and scales are great, but I would advise doing a little more each day of whatever pleases and interests you - playing something boring will kill your motivation stone dead very quickly. Don't overdo it by playing for too long, playing too high or too fast. As soon as you feel you are stretching yourself, put the instrument away. You should be able to play again the next day, but push yourself a bit further. If you overdo it, you'll need a day (or more) to recover.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-06-24 16:52
As others have said - there's no way past practicing and rebuilding that muscle memory.
The worst you can do is to put yourself under too much pressure. Stay away from too technical stuff for a while, work on your tone and endurance first. Then, gradually, move on to more taxing pieces.
Always remember: it's supposed to be fun!
--
Ben
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Author: superson
Date: 2010-06-26 20:01
Thanks. I'll just keep at it, I'm starting to notice a bit of an improvement now, I was getting scared I'd never remember.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2010-06-27 13:18
To me the most important element in playing easily is the response of the equipment. Assuming your instrument is in good condition and you're using the same mouthpiece you've always used, it sounds like you're playing on reeds that, at least right now, aren't responding well for you. When you need to put more effort than is comfortable into just producing a sound, everything else tenses up and everything about your playing can become an effort - I've always found this to be true even when I am in shape. So the best thing you can do is probably to find new reeds that work. Paul's suggestion to go lighter until you're back in shape may be the answer, or just going through any unused reeds that you have already at hand may turn up one or two that play more easily. Then all the rest of the suggestions may become less difficult and your endurance may be much better, allowing you to practice more and improve faster.
Karl
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2010-06-28 12:10
Btw, superson, you've got lots of company among comebackers here. In fact, that's probably one reason you haven't got a few hundred responses -- there are so many of us that we realize we're repeating ourselves. (Guilty -- I quit for nine years after high school and have mentioned it one or ten times here before....) I agree with the advice other people have given. Playing the clarinet really is a lot like riding a bicycle. Once you find that file in the brain-storage and open it up, the knowledge of the basics comes right back. The embouchure takes a little longer!
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: superson
Date: 2010-06-28 18:11
Thanks, again, I'm using a lighter reed too, which is making a difference. I'm still finding it a lot of effort though. Is there a way to improve embouchure? I can get a good sound for a bit but then my mouth aches and I get tired.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-06-28 18:48
If you go back to lighter reeds, you may want to consider to go back to an easier (read: your good student) mouthpiece as well, if you still have it.
Advanced mouthpieces may sound good, but do require a well-trained embouchure.
I often find myself going back to my student mouthpieces for some days when I switch instruments between seasons (soprano in summer, bass in winter).
--
Ben
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Author: James Langdell
Date: 2010-06-29 18:18
I recommend reviewing the short mechanism exercises in the Klose method. Those are a very condensed way of identifying some of the tricky coordinations of fingering, quickly bringing back memories of how you solved those problems in the past. A refreshed with these points prepares you for the weakest points in many passages you play in other music.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2010-06-29 19:21
James Langdell wrote:
> I recommend reviewing the short mechanism exercises in the
> Klose method.
That's a great suggestion. Another good book to try once you've mastered the Klose exercises is "Vade Mecum du Clarinettiste" by JeanJean.
It's a real workout, so you don't want to rush yourself in working through it, but it's specifically designed to get the busy player with little practice time back in shape. It's got exercises for improving the left hand, the right hand, articulation, etc. as well as a "Reader's Digest" scale and arpeggio routine.
Another book (or set of books) people often recommend are the 416 Kroepsch studies, which are sort of like the Klose exercises, but longer and in all keys.
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