 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: dilettante
Date: 2013-03-21 23:10
Hi,
I played clarinet when I was younger, and had to stop when I got out of college and had no place to play anymore. I took it up again last year (after a 17 year break), with a private instructor, and now also play in a local community band. With the instructor, I've been working on Wilson Osborne's Rhapsody for clarinet (slowly on this one), which I don't much care for musically but has almost certainly helped rebuild (and improve) my playing, the Rose Etudes, and a few pieces from the Benny Goodman clarinet book. My instructor thinks we should probably start looking for the next things to work on, but neither of us really knows what to try. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've enjoyed the Goodman, although I'm not much of a jazz person in general and I tend to avoid the pieces that go into the stratosphere in the altissimo.
Also, I'm wondering about switching mouthpieces to see if I would like a different one better, although I don't have any real problems with the one I have now. I have an HS* with a Rovner dark ligature on a Selmer Signet horn (I actually have several a resonite, a 100, and a Soloist, for stupid reasons). I prefer a kind of textured, dark sound to the slick bright sound you sometimes hear, but I don't know what to do to improve my chances of developing that. I've been thinking of trying a Ridenour Encore mouthpiece or a Vandoren M13, but am not sure how much difference either of those would actually make.
Thanks in advance for any pointers or suggestions, and thanks for all the discussions you've had before. I've been lurking here and searching old questions as I've needed information in the past, and have found it tremendously useful.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2013-03-21 23:46
When trying out mouthpieces, there are WAAAAY too many choices for us to give you a definitive answer. If the HS* feels comfortable to you, I would look up the dimensions of the HS* (should be able to find a mouthpiece chart) and think about trying mouthpieces with similar dimensions. Then the comfort won't change that much and it'll feel similar.
When trying out mouthpieces as well, set a lesson up with your instructor to listen to you on those mouthpieces. If you can find a store that lends mouthpieces on trial for a fee, get a bunch and play them a bit, pick your favorites, then play them for your instructor and get his/her opinion.
Lastly, record yourself if possible and listen back to a recording. What you hear in the recording is a truer representation of what you ACTUALLY sound like rather than what you hear while you're playing. The vibrations going through your teeth and skull and any fuzziness or slight air leakage may not translate out to an audience.
As for pieces to work on, work with your instructor on some duets. Playing with people is always more fun than working alone (IMO). Personally, I enjoy the Rubank Duet books, and I have a book called "Classical Studies" that is a bunch of violin and cello transcriptions. VERY challenging, but sounds very nice.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-03-22 01:21
I prefer a slightly open mouthpiece, so the Selmer HS* is too close and stuffy for me. I prefer the HS**. Your results will certainly vary.
However, Selmer mouthpieces are very inconsistent. I suggest that you try the Fobes Debut or the Vandoren 5RV Lyre. The Ridenour should also be good, and is an entirely different concept -- very even with rather high resistance.
Rose wrote (transcribed, actually) a large number of etudes, all of which are excellent music. There's a complete book of 118 available from TCW Music, http://the-complete-works.com/completeworks/products.php. The layout is a bit tight, but it's bound in a very convenient heavy spiral wire format, which means that the pages stay open and flat.
A selection from the 32 Studies with Danie Bonade's markup is at http://www.conn-selmer.com/index.php/download_file/943/1948/.
Gary Van Cott http://www.vcisinc.com/ has more than you can possibly need, and he really knows his stuff. An email to him will get a quick and sympathetic response.
If you're up to the Wilson, you might try the Sutermeister Capriccio. http://www.vcisinc.com/clarinetmusicsolo.htm item C253. It's moderately difficult and good, witty music. Don't worry that it's for Clarinet in A. No one will notice if you play it on the Bb.
There are any number of good etudes in the Rose, Lazarus and Langenus methods, available free at ISMLP. They're collected in http://www.vcisinc.com/clarinetmusicmethods.htm item C1574.
Have fun. That's what clarinet playing is about.
Ken Shaw
Post Edited (2013-03-22 01:42)
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2013-03-22 16:40
I just clicked on Ken's Links and noticed that several great pieces for clarinet are offered there separately, so I came back here to recommend a book:
Masterworks For Clarinet and Piano. For a very low price, you get some of the best stuff anyone could aspire to being able to play --and all of the pieces (maybe not a good thing) are completely inclusive of the pianist. S/he is not just an accompanist but an equal participant (except for the Brahms Sonatas, where the clarinet is probably the accompanist).
Shirmer's Library of Musical Classics
Volume 1747
It's got pieces by Weber, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms and will provide years of rewarding work. It will also provide the challenge of getting someone to play with you. You'll probably want to get some good recordings of these and keep a few in your car if you commute.
Look at <http://www.clariperu.org/Biblioteca.html> for a whole bunch of downloadable clarinet music.
As far as mouthpieces go: I think that the H* has a well-deserved bad reputation, and I encourage you to test others. Alexi has great suggestions in his post. I think that the mouthpiece advertisers here on the BB deserve our support; and I've sampled a lot of their work. Why not give them a call and audition a few new ones?
Bob Phillips
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