 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Probe
Date: 2013-05-13 00:44
I've been noticing my playing typically becomes worse after I play in my school band- my teachers and I noticed that after I'm on break, or even after weekends, I play better in general. It doesn't seem to be that I have more time to practice out of school- I feel like I'm hitting a wall when trying to practice when I've playing with my band earlier in the day. Is it a psychological thing, that maybe I get into a habit of playing sloppily because I'm with other people and I can't hear myself well, or is it just me being paranoid?
Post Edited (2013-05-13 00:51)
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-05-13 01:23
It may be that when you play with the band you feel you have to play louder to be heard, whereas when you play by yourself you play to make the most perfect sound that you can. As a rule of thumb, I think that when playing with the band, if you can hear yourself over the other clarinets then you are playing too loud.
What aspect of your playing is it that you think is most affected? Is it tone, phrasing, breath control, speed, reading or what?
Tony F.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2013-05-13 01:44
Probe wrote:
> Is it a
> psychological thing, that maybe I get into a habit of playing
> sloppily because I'm with other people and I can't hear myself
> well, or is it just me being paranoid?
>
This may very well be. As a clarinetist you can tend to play louder and with less control and finger precision in a band setting where you can't hear yourself as clearly. This is why you need to put in individual practice time on your own even when you play in band rehearsals every day. You really can't find and fix problems when you can't hear your own playing.
> I feel like I'm hitting a wall when trying to practice when I've playing with
> my band earlier in the day.
Assuming you've rested in between so you aren't just tired, this part is probably psychological, although part of the difference may be in your reed choices. You may be choosing reeds for band rehearsal that are not optimal and then trying to practice on the rehearsal reeds. You may be choosing better-performing ones when you are away from band on break or over weekends and playing more comfortably as a result.
Or you may just be so drained after a full school day that you don't have the energy to play well. Find the part of your after-school day when your energy level is highest (he says naively) and try to practice then with a good reed and see what happens.
Karl
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-05-13 02:35
When I was in the West Point Band, I studied with Alexander Williams. He said that almost all of his pupils who played in bands made a dull tone to blend in with the section. He worked hard with me to add resonance and color.
I also found that section playing led to sloppiness, since I would never be heard.
I read a Toscanini story that in a rehearsal, he worked a on movement with muted strings. One second violinist forgot to remove his mute for the next movement. Toscanini stopped the NBC Symphony and said "My ear is no longer so good, but one of you on the 5th stand second violins still has the mute on." Alas, few band directors have that kind of ear. The best they can do is say "Third clarinets, you're not cutting off with me."
Ken Shaw
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2013-05-13 02:44
If they do that well. Many, the really gifted ones excepted, can do little better than to stop and complain that everything is too loud or that "it isn't together. Try it again."
Come to think of it, a lot of orchestra conductors I've played for are equally perceptive.
Of course, all Toscanini had to do was look at the violinists and see that a mute was still in place, although I've read that his eyesight wasn't good. Or at least that he couldn't read a score without glasses. But maybe his distance vision was better than anyone knew. ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
Karl
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Author: Maruja
Date: 2013-05-13 12:56
I play in my band to acquire different skills - like playing jazzy numbers with syncopated rhythms, coming in at the right time and so on, listening to the other instruments.
At home, I work on different skills - much better tone, much more accuracy.
I think you need to do both.
Also, as a 3rd, if I am doing something boring at the bottom, I try to work on another skill which I need to practice - better embouchure, sitting up nice and straight, keeping good support.
Keep going to your band though - it's great fun!
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2013-05-13 14:54
Maruja wrote:
> I play in my band to acquire different skills - like playing
> jazzy numbers with syncopated rhythms, coming in at the right
> time and so on, listening to the other instruments.
>
> At home, I work on different skills - much better tone, much
> more accuracy.
> I think you need to do both.
Yes, I want to make sure that my earlier post didn't leave a mis-impression that I think playing in band is in itself a bad or destructive thing. Ensemble skills can't be learned in any other way than by playing in an ensemble. But technical issues of sound quality, precise fingerings and articulation control need to be monitored and adjusted during individual practice.
Karl
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Author: curlyev
Date: 2013-05-13 18:54
I think playing in Band helped me BIG TIME!! I learned how to blend well, and I performed in ensembles on the side that gave me a chance to "shine" more.
Of course my school and band were small, so that may have made a difference.
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Author: Probe
Date: 2013-05-14 02:43
"What aspect of your playing is it that you think is most affected? Is it tone, phrasing, breath control, speed, reading or what?"
Phrasing, tone, and breath control- the rest usually have more to do with my amount of practice
"When I was in the West Point Band, I studied with Alexander Williams. He said that almost all of his pupils who played in bands made a dull tone to blend in with the section. He worked hard with me to add resonance and color.
I also found that section playing led to sloppiness, since I would never be heard."
I really agree with you- I feel like that's exactly what's happens
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-05-14 08:48
"What aspect of your playing is it that you think is most affected? Is it tone, phrasing, breath control, speed, reading or what?"
Phrasing, tone, and breath control- the rest usually have more to do with my amount of practice.
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This makes the cure fairly easy, since these are all things that are under your direct control. Indeed, they are all intimately related and improvement in any one of them will help correct problems with the rest.
If you feel that your phrasing and tone are suffering, try getting together with the other members of your clarinet section in playing together. Just the clarinet parts of some of your band pieces will do for a start. The aim is to make the phrasing work so that the music sings. If the section is not in agreement on the phrasing then this can not happen, but when it does it will transform the whole section.
While sorting out the phrasing issue, get some agreement within the section as to where you are going to breathe. Sometimes it helps, if you have the numbers, to split the breathing points so that the whole section does not breathe at the same time. This avoids gaps in the music.
Tone is something you can work on yourself. The object should always be to make the most perfect sound that you can. The fact that you are playing as part of a section is no reason for your tone to suffer. Anyway, good luck. Hope this helps.
Tony F.
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