 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: pmuch
Date: 2013-07-18 00:22
Hi Everyone,
This is my first post here, so please forgive me if this is not the right forum or I commit some horrible internet faux pas. Also, sorry that this post seems to have gotten quite long - I have a lot of questions!
First some context for this flurry of questions:
I played consistently for about 10 years (age 7-17). I'm 23 now and haven't touched my clarinet in over 5 years; I've recently started getting back into playing, and have found that I'm enjoying it much more than I remember as a teenager. I'm looking to improve - my finger dexterity has fallen off greatly and my lung capacity/embouchure are lacking to say the least. At this point, getting a private teacher isn't really in the cards for me - I have far too much going on but I can muster a few hours every other day or so at odd hours to practice; any tips or resources you all can point me to would be much appreciated.
I've been slowly working on improving my breathing/embouchure - I can still produce a full and warm tone in the lower register, but in the higher register I find that I'm working extremely hard to get a passable, if not somewhat tinny sounding, tone. I've tried softer reeds, but those just exacerbate the problem. Any suggestions on specific exercises or methods I should be using to improve? I know practice practice practice is always the best solution, but as my time is somewhat limited I'd like to get the most out of it.
To improve my finger dexterity I've been doing basic things like playing scales and arpeggios to warm up, but beyond that I'm completely lost. Could someone recommend me a good book or resource of music to play (free would be the best, but there are lots of local music shops around here I can go to!). Maybe some etudes? I'd rather start with something that's too hard and play through it slowly than something that's mindlessly easy.
One thing that I struggled with ALOT and still do was articulation, particularly when playing a string of fast staccato notes. From reading a few things I think the source of my problem was that I was doing it wrong all along! I wasn't using the tip of my tongue to make contact with the reed, rather I was using a spot farther back and kind of making contact with the reed using about a quarter inch of flat of the tongue. Are there any resources to help me on this? I don't even know where to begin.
Hopefully this message isn't too long and thank you in advance for any advice you might be able to give me!
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Author: gemini-clarinet
Date: 2013-07-18 00:41
I went through the same thing several years ago. I had a serious illness which required brain surgery and I was unable to play for about 8 years. When I picked up the clarinet again, I was quite discouraged. I remembered all of the fingerings and how to play but was not able to play anything remotely resembling music. It took determination and a lot of practice for me to finally get beyond the level I used to be at.
Here is a link for plenty of free clarinet music:
http://www.clarinetinstitute.com/pdf%20archive.htm
There are plenty of etudes which is what I stared with (along with long tones and scales.)
When I got back up to speed on my own, I sought out some local community groups to play with.
For your articulation difficulties, start off slow. If you do not own a metronome, do a search for "online metronome" and you should not have any trouble finding it. As far as your tonguing, it sounds like you "anchor tongue". I play that way too and always have. That is a whole separate thread, so I will not go into it. All I can say is that I have had 3 instructors who were symphony players and they never took issue with it and they always completely satisfied with the way I sounded.
I hope my REPLY was not too long - and I hope it will help you.
Barry
Tucson, AZ
Post Edited (2013-07-18 00:51)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-07-18 01:50
For rebuilding general skills, don't overlook the usefulness of going back to some of the material you played before you stopped. It's better to work on tone-building with something that isn't at the edge of your present technical level - you can concentrate on embouchure and breath much more easily if you aren't worrying so much about what your fingers and tongue are doing at the same same time.
Tonguing is a personal technique. A lot depends on your physical characteristics - your tongue needs to hit the reed at a place on its surface that reaches the reed comfortably without contorting or tensing. Anchor tonguing, by the way, involves actually anchoring the tip of your tongue to the back of your lower teeth and contacting the reed with whatever part of the surface reaches it. There are excellent players who tongue quite nicely that way, but most modern player/teachers I've come into contact with discourage it (if they hear that you're doing it). You may just be contacting the reed with some other part of the tongue surface than the actual tip, which isn't unorthodox as long as it feels comfortable. Lightness of contact is more important and, for me, contacting the reed at the tip of the reed's front surface gives a crisper, cleaner articulation than contacting down away from the tip tends to do.
Rose studies are good general purpose etudes. There's some very dry but exhaustive material in Klose (Book 2) and in Baermann Volume 3. Or, pick a concerto you're attracted to and work on it. There's lots of basic technique in the Weber concertos (or the Concertino). You can get copies of the Bach Cello Suites written out in treble clef or his 3 violin concertos (the D Minor for 2 violins, the E Major and the A minor) and there are plenty of Vivaldi concerti for violin or flute or oboe that can serve as practice music for a clarinet - they just don't use the extreme lower end of the chalumeau register.
Your problems with sound and response in the upper register could be so many things, it's not likely that you'll get very useful help from anyone who can't hear the problem first-hand. You might consider committing just one of those hours you are able to find for practice to a lesson with a competent clarinet player to get some input. It doesn't need to be an ongoing relationship, but it's easier for someone who is actually listening to you to separate out what is embouchure, what is reeds, what is use or misuse of air and what other cause may be involved. At least you can narrow the problems down even in a single lesson so that you know what to focus on and what to leave alone.
Karl
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Author: gkern
Date: 2013-07-18 02:13
pmuch - after not playing for over 53 years, I can identify several things that have helped me improve.
Working on scales until I can play all the right notes at a decent speed. I have only worked on the major scales, but this has been a noticeable help.
Practicing on long tones - boring but worth the time spent.
Joining a community band - the camaraderie of other members and striving to improve my skills in order to keep up and fit in. I am probably the least skilled player in two bands, but I am improving, and am supported by the other band members as well as the conductors.
I also enjoy just noodling around, and playing along with either a midi file or a CD. I think the key is to do all these things, practice every day, and tackle tougher pieces as you improve. I notice that I can easily play tunes now that gave me a really hard time or were impossible for me just a year ago.
Gary K
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Author: Wes
Date: 2013-07-18 04:59
Try playing a low E1 for 8 slow counts, touch the register key, and continue playing the C2 for 8 slow counts, all on one breath. Then do the same for several more notes in the bottom of the range. The sound should be even and unvarying through the whole exercise. Air pressure is the answer for playing the clarinet including articulation, but there should be no biting of the reed. Good luck!
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Author: curlyev
Date: 2013-07-18 07:03
I took a 5 year "hiatus" myself and started playing again earlier this year. One thing I can say is scales scales and more scales (which was mentioned above, but it is so true). I worked on them every single day. My embouchure was incapable of lasting as long as it used to as well, but I just continued to work on it and the time it lasted just increased. I can play for several hours now without any trouble.
Your fingers will move faster the more you practice and "feel" the music. When I concentrate too hard on certain passages, I get frustrated, but before I know it, my fingers just know what to do. I sometimes play a passage tons and tons of times, first slowly then increasing in speed. It's amazing what your fingers can feel. I have also learned that when I get really frustrated, it helps me to just put it away and come back to it later, and that always makes a difference the next time I play it.
As far as reeds, just keep experimenting. A reed that is too soft will certainly not help you with the high notes. I'd go up half a strength from the reed that you think is too soft. Some reeds even have quarter strengths. What reeds are you using now?
I got one of the Hal Leonard Advanced Clarinet Books and one of the Rubank Band Books when I started back. It contained scales, etudes, etc. Of course I ordered other music too, but seriously those scales and etudes helped me so much. I even joined a band in my area, and I am SO thankful I worked on those scales, because it has helped me so much with the music. I'm not the best player in the world, but I love playing and continually improve. It made me happier, and I hope it will make you happier too!
Happy playing!!! Glad you are back into it!
Clarinet: Wooden Bundy 1950s
Mthpc: WW Co. B6 refaced by Kurtzweil
Lig: Various Rovners
Barrel/Bell: Backun
Reeds: Legere 3.75
OKC Symphonic Band (just started this summer)
*playing 22 years (with a 5 year hiatus) and counting*
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Author: JonTheReeds
Date: 2013-07-18 19:13
Seems like you have a good amount of time to practise (a few hours every other day), more enthusiasm than before, and perhaps a more mature attitude to playing and practising
You said that getting a teacher wasn't an option, but that seems a shame as it seems an ideal time to start from zero again, get rid of all your bad habits and build an ultra-solid technique before taking it further
Anyways, good luck, and have fun!
--------------------------------------
The older I get, the better I was
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Author: Chris_C ★2017
Date: 2013-07-18 21:46
I support Gary K's suggestion - join a band. The band I'm chair of actively recruits adult returners and encourages them to get back into playing (often after children, or after retiring) - we have a very keen membership. There's nothing like playing in an ensemble to get back up to standard.
Chris
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2013-07-21 15:55
I'd also encourage you to spend some time with a teacher. Your list of things that you recognized as needs are things that you can really get wrong if you "solve" them on your own.
Getting good seems to me to be a matter of building muscle memory --where the tone hole is under that finger, where your tongue strikes the reed, how your belly supports your air, ...
Muscle memories build with practice, get "grooved in," and are terribly difficult to undo. Really, it's been about 8-years since I gave up my Full Boehm clarinet, and I STILL (6,000 hours of practice?) reach for the left pinky Eb key...
Bob Phillips
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-07-21 17:15
I also returned after a 45 year hiatus. I found the muscle memory was still there, and the mechanics of playing soon came back. The speed I once had has not returned yet and it took a couple of months of steady practice before I was comfortable with more than half an hour of playing. The best thing I did was to join a community band, it improved every aspect of my playing.
Tony F.
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