 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Laurie
Date: 2000-12-26 05:48
Hey,
My newest assignment from my band director is to get my best friend to play the clarinet as well as she sings. He know I am going into music edu.. and has told me a number of time " My director never cared.. he never prepared me for college, or my own teaching.. I won't let that happen to you.. " My director is behind me 110% in everything I do.he is so understanding and supportive etc etc.. I cannot disappoint him.
Here is the deal : ~ My friend is a phonomonial singer. Her dream is to be on broadway. She practices day and night, takes solo's, takes leads in every play. She has such a passion and desire to sing. Tho she enjoys clarinet, and tries, she does not posess the same love and desire in her playing. And it shows.
I'm only 16.. I've been playing the clarinet for about 8 years.. I've taught 4th graders before, but never 11th graders, people my age- I have no vocal expirence. none what so ever. I've been told that i'm pretty good at sight singing tho. How do you teach expirence and love though ? I I know all the techical stuff, alt. fingering, why this is done etc.. - I don't know how to go about this though. I really think, she won't change her playing and her playing will never match her singing just because the love the passion, the energy, the excitement, the fear isn't there.
This is what I'm thinking : 1. If she thinks of playing and singing to be the same.. Ya know.. constant air flow, play more open, legatto, etc..try to keep a steady tone, try to make it pure.
if anyone has any more suggestions, it would be such a great help..
Laurie
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Author: Anji
Date: 2000-12-26 12:43
Great singers (and I think my wife is one) approach music with the sound already clear in their mind, before piping out the note.
Instead of concentrating on the technical aspect of the exercise, mebbe the director is prodding for your pal to listen more closely to the sound coming from the horn.
Its pretty clear that having a stick shoved in your mouth differs from singing. Honestly, if I had a singing voice (and I don't), woodwinds wouldn't have the same appeal, there's alot of apparatus to maintain and accomodate.
Phrasing, dynamics and timbre are probably more important to the music than where your fingers come down next.
Here's my suggestion, find a piece of music that the singer likes but finds out of their vocal range, preferably at the lower extreme of the horn. Play the intro, sing the bridge and finish with the horn covering the lower end.
I like Mel Torme's "Christmas song" as such an exercise. (You'll need to transpose it into G maj.)
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2000-12-26 14:00
Try and get her to sign with the horn. I mean a song that she loves to sing i.e. summertime and try and get her to feel the song via the horn. She has a voice that loves to come forth. She if she can develop a second voice--the clarinet.
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Author: deebee
Date: 2000-12-26 14:14
Hi -
this is possibly the wrong thing to be writing in a CLARINET bulletin board, but your friend's best contribution to the band might be as a singer rather than as a clarinettist. . .especially if, for clarinet, "the love the passion, the energy, the excitement, the fear isn't there."
Why not get her to sing a Broadway number, or whatever, with the band backing. One of the bandmembers could arrange the chart - perhaps someone going on to study music ed, who has the director's 110% support
...hmmmmm...starting to warm to this idea...HINTS:
- search through the band library for three or four familiar pieces that have a similar feel. Some of these should be accompaniments - either instrumental or vocal.
Have a look at the scores - see what jobs the various instruments do. Sit out of the band, following the scores as the band is playing.
- carefully decide on the key and routine - probably check on this with a very basic piano or guitar chart.
. . .how is the singer getting on and off the stage?
. . .make sure the intro gives her an unambiguous entry into the song - don't get too tricky! Cater for possible "nerves".
. . .is any dance or movement to be included? Will there be room on stage? kicking-over of music stands? squashed piccolos?
. . .how will she be mic'd?
- if a sketch score has more than about four or five lines, then it's possibly too busy. Think "broad brushstrokes."
- (if scoring on a computer) Don't rely on a midi rendition to sound exactly like the band will - especially with regard to balance and instrument tessitura (although it may well be handy to check for note accuracy)
- get the band to put down a rehearsal tape for her to take away.
====================
Come concert night - what a huge buzz!!
Waddaya think?
deebee
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-12-26 18:17
Laurie -
Your friend has to go with what she loves most. Pretty clearly that's singing. If she neglects singing for clarinet, that will hurt her singing, which I know you don't want.
Still, although I'm sure she knows it already, there is no better combination than singing and clarinet.
Singers learn to put notes together in a single line, totally connected to the breath. Clarinetists have to work hard at that, and singing is the best way for a clarinetist to learn how.
Clarinetists have the instrument to play intervals in tune and play notes faster than any singer can possibly go. This is what singers have to work hard on, and playing clarinet gives a singer a huge advantage over non-instrumentalists. When I sing, I can hear all the intervals by playing "air clarinet" along with the notes.
Ask your band director (gently) why your friend has to play clarinet better, instead of concentrating solely on voice. Maybe there's a good reason.
By the way, there's some wonderful music for soprano, clarinet and piano. Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock is the best and most famous, but you'll find a lot more in the Sneezy archives.
Good luck.
Ken Shaw
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Author: ron b
Date: 2000-12-27 01:50
Laurie -
The facts are... first; your friend is your 'best' friend, your peer, not your student. She's an excellent vocalist and then, just because, for whatever reason, she also plays clarinet. Maybe she just likes tooting it :] - wonderful !!!
Second; I didn't hear you say she asked anyone, including your band director, for help. She knows where she's going. Don't try to lead her (don't even *think* about it) - walk with her.
The tone of your post is that you're uncomfortable with this role. It sure would make me nervous. It makes me more than uneasy just reading about it. Maybe you could ask, **politely**, that your director not put you in that situation. If he insists, ask him to include, ask, your friend about this, uh, 'deal'... . Otherwise it's not a deal - for anybody - it's a scheme...
Would you like it, someone trying to 're-make' you ? - - - neither will she.
(two cents, please
ron b
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Author: Laurie
Date: 2000-12-27 02:13
Ron ~
How do you know exactally what i'm not saying. I do not feel comfortable helping her, nor do I have the knowldge to do so. I would do anythign for her ~ But you see this was not her idea.
How do I go about not doing this, yet not dissapointing my director ?
Laurie
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Author: Tim2
Date: 2000-12-27 02:40
1. Seems to me your director isn't looking deep enough into how he is making you feel. That's not good.
2. Asking him for help would probably not be successful because he doesn't have the answer. If he did, he would be doing it himself.
3. Have you considered playing a duet with the singer? (a clarinet duet) The sound that you have and your control on your instrument (the line) may be a discussion that would come about. She obviously has an ear and will work to match sound.
4. Would you consider singing in a duet with her? That would be the flip side.
5. You have a good raport with your band director and probably don't want to ruffle any feathers. I understand, as Ron said earlier, It is not a comfortable position he has put you in. He doesn't realize it though. If it were me, I would say, "I don't know what I can do, and here is why......However, I think doing number 3 or number 3 and 4 would be an indirect way for you both to benefit.
I wish you well in this endeaver and in your future as an educator.
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Author: Julia
Date: 2000-12-27 19:42
This is an awkward situation, I guess. From reading your post laurie, I think all your director is trying you to do is to get some more experience in making the clarinet 'come alive' for someone, so to speak. He picked your best friend simply because of that fact, and because he knows she loves music (particularly to sing). i would talk to your friend and ask her if she wants to improve on clarinet---even though singing is obviously her focus. I can't imagine she wouldn't want to get better. Remember that this doesn't have to take all your time, or all her time---maybe it won't even happen at all. First step though, I think would be to ask your friend. Then talk to your director depending on the outcome of your talk with your friend.
Best of luck!
Julia
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Author: ron b
Date: 2000-12-28 17:33
Laurie -
You are a sweetheart to care so much about your friend. I'm sure the feeling is mutual. You don't want to ruin that.
So, what do you do?
You go to your teacher and, as politely as you know how, you tell him 'no'.
Your best friend is perfectly happy doing what she's doing. Her aim in life certainly is not to become a clarinet virtuoso - she just likes playin' the thing!
She's serious about singing and - you all (who know her) know she's good at it... she likes band but it's not her main focus for her future. Being a vocalist is.
If your band director wants to do any more than let her enjoy being in band now, that's up to him - not you. And he needs to approach her directly about whatever he has in mind, not go to her through you to do it. That's not right.
I'm not your dad, or your guardian, so I can't go directly to your director. I'd like to though :]
ron b
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