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Michele Gingras altissimo hint

Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2012-08-30 22:17

I didn't even buy her book, but just read the little that was available free on Amazon in their take a peek inside feature. One of the hints in her 100 clarinet secrets was that people sometimes have trouble with the altissimo because they don't realize that that range requires a different embrasure. Usually my altissimo D two lines above the staff sounds horrible, flat, pinched and abrasive. Her suggestion is to move the lower lip contact point almost 1/4 inch lower towards the bell. Well today I tried it and amazingly the note was downright easy, open and not flat at all.

This is startling because my understanding was that you apply more pressure to the reed in order to bring up the pitch. With a lower contact point of the lower lip, the pressure is reduced and yet the pitch comes up. You can then feel the reed vibrating freely against the lip and the tone sounds like music instead of the note I'm trying to be done with so as not to offend my own ears (and others). I will be climbing the scale now with my new approach.

Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com

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