 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MikeDog70
Date: 2012-02-28 18:31
Trumpet player here...now now, don't be pushing me out the door just yet.
I am also a high school band teacher, and have a question. What are some good techniques to use with students who are having difficulty moving from throat tone A to B over the break? I just had a lesson with a freshman who tends to move her fingers way too far off the keys and stops her air in between playing throat tones to anything over the break. She won't stop her air stream going from say G to A, but when the break is involved, she does.
Thanks for any suggestions!
South Tama County High School Bands
1715 Harding St.
Tama, IA 52339
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2012-02-28 20:19
Trumpet players are welcome here.
It isn't unusual for students to stop the air going across the break. If their fingers are not moving to the keys together and securely between A and B then stopping the air avoids the inevitable noisy note change. I also think it is a fear habit that people develop....they are afraid it won't work right since it has not worked so many times in the past and a habit develops that often is no longer needed.
A weak embouchure can create the break problem, but in my experience it most often finger movement. When you slur from A to B it takes a great deal of finger movement and if the fingers are flying too high off the keys that only makes it harder. The first thing to do is to get the finger height under control. Sometimes just holding a pencil at the correct level will help the student realize what is happening when their fingers are always hitting the pencil. Also be sure that the LH 1st finger is rolling on and off the A key, not being picked up and put down. Just a little downwards roll of the 1st finger is all it takes to go from A to B. Practice playing A-F#, A-E for a while.
With my students they are often surprised to find that they do not have to stop the air once I point out that they can just keep the air moving while going between A and B (etc).
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2012-02-28 20:31
Because the air pressure required for the B to sound at a given dynamic is larger than the air pressure required for the A to sound at the same dynamic, she has to be in a position to provide that increase in pressure.
BUT, it's not a good idea simply to blow harder at the point of change from one note to the other. That feels unnatural.
The TECHNICAL description of the solution is that you blow harder on BOTH notes, equally; but the diaphragm resists that blowing on the 'easier' note, the A.
The EXPERIENTIAL description of the solution is that you play with your abdominal muscles a bit more 'flexed' -- as though to protect yourself from a young person who intends to punch you in the midriff -- and alternate between the two notes, keeping your abdominal muscles exactly the same. The diaphragm learns to oppose the abdominal muscles on the A more than it opposes the abdominal muscles on the B so that the two notes sound at the same dynamic.
The reason that this is difficult to describe, but actually easy to experience, is that we cannot feel our diaphragm. So we SEEM to be doing nothing.
I've written at length on this subject -- see , eg, a 'keeper' thread entitled 'support'. However, it seems to be a difficult idea to get across, as other threads will attest.
Tony
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2012-02-28 21:51
Have your student approach the break from above, going from B to A.
She should make the least possible movement between the B and the A. Have her keep her right hand down, and also her left ring and little fingers. Tell her to just "nudge" the throat A key with the side of her left index finger. Ask her to hide the movement from you by keeping everything as small and quiet as possible.
Don't worry if the A is a little flat. This is a learning exercise, not a way of playing.
When she gets this smooth, reverse the process. Once she's comfortable going in each direction, have her lift her left ring finger as well, and then one additional right hand finger at a time so she gets full venting and can play in tune.
Ken Shaw
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Author: kdk
Date: 2012-02-28 21:59
To the extent that stopping the air stream from A to B is a habit (whether, as is likely, caused by fear of the interval or not), it can be useful to demonstrate playing the interval without stopping the air, if you can play the interval effectively, by reversing the mouthpiece and having the student provide the air stream while you do the fingering. This often doesn't sound completely even - the B may be softer sounding than the A (per Tony Pay's comment above), but the B should speak if you cover the holes, and the student will experience the unfamiliar feeling of not stopping the air. Students who have gotten that far without solving this problem often aren't really conscious that they're doing it.
Karl
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Author: MikeDog70
Date: 2012-02-28 23:39
Excellent, thanks everyone! I will be sharing these posts with her at her next lesson and experimenting with these ideas.
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Author: oca
Date: 2012-02-29 10:40
Experienced players also have this problem regularly as the farther away the note is from the mouthpiece, the more resistance it has.
Tom Ridenoir advises to pull out the bell 2 millimeters to "free up the B"
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2012-02-29 13:47
Finger coordination and instrument repair. If those are in order, everything else should fall into place. I had an epiphany one day years ago when I realized that that extra "push" for the higher note over the break also caused me to squeeze the instrument a bit harder, thus closing the holes more completely.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: kdk
Date: 2012-02-29 14:04
This often works as you suggest but *can* work the opposite way - the extra squeezing may cause fingers to pull closer together and slightly off the holes. It's one more thing the teacher needs to watch closely.
Karl
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Author: Nessie1
Date: 2012-02-29 16:36
My first thought was the use of the A key - as described by John Gibson. Secondly, if the problem is stopping the air, practising slow progressions over the break may help, concentrating on keeping the airstream going. At first don't worry if the B seems a bit weaker than the A, again as others have said.
Another thing which will help both of these is an exercise of long slurs approaching the throat notes FAF, EAE, DAD etc then you can repeat the process using A flat as the top note and then with B flat.
It is a long slow process to gain the confidence, smoothness and reliability that we aim for with this - it probably remains something of a challenge for most of us but, as with a lot of things, once you gain confidence and stop feeling nervous it will improve a lot.
Hope this helps
Vanessa.
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Author: Trevor M
Date: 2012-02-29 19:10
It might be worth pointing out that using a 'covered' A (fingers down on the right hand) improves the consistency of tone color between the two notes and makes for an easier finger transition as well.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2012-03-01 03:30
Here's how I play a B....
All fingers down, with the RH pinky on the C lever, and the LH pinky on the B lever. Simple.
Here's how I play an A...
Same fingers, except I lift the pointer finger of each hand, and the pinky of the LH. So when I'm going back and forth, or crossing the break, I am only putting down THREE fingers because the rest are down.
For Bb.....
Same as the A, except I now lift the middle finger of each hand.
Working these notes slowly back and forth will get the coordination of moving all the fingers together. Also slow scales (easy ones like C or F are better) and have the students focus on keeping the fingers close to the keys. You dont need to lift off more than half an inch off each ring and key. A slow scale that is easy I find is best for focusing and isolating finger technique, embouchure technique, and basically anything else.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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