 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: runner
Date: 2013-10-03 15:17
I am introducing the third register notes to a 7th grader. I have her play low b, slur to f # , then proceed to high d #. Half the time she gets the d # to respond, the other half a higher overtone (shrill squeak) comes out.
Question: what should I have her do to get the desired result? I mention that the vowel shape changes and the sides of the tongue raise. I am embarrassed to admit I don't know what else to have her do. Perhaps her position on the mouthpiece is basically wrong. Is she too far down? Help.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-10-03 15:49
A couple of thoughts - not a comprehensive list of possibilities:
(1) Have you tried her equipment to make sure there's not an easy explanation in an unresponsive reed?
(2) Which fingering are you having her use? On most Boehm clarinets I've played, the harmonic of "regular" B and F# (RH 2nd finger) is a little flat and duller than the surrounding notes. It could also be less responsive in an exaggerated case. If she isn't already, have her try the fork (sliver key) fingerings and see if the D# is any better.
(3) She may have too much reed in her mouth. All you can do is have her experiment with both less and more.
(4) Try having her keep the LH index finger half closed (keep the bottom half covered) to create a smaller vent. There are players on this BB who play with this half-hole vent as a normal practice in the altissimo. You could even cover the LH index finger hole for while she handles the rest and open it half-way without her knowing when you're going to do it to avoid any clinching up she may be doing reflexively.
(5) As an alternative introduction, try some other series of harmonics - Bb-F-D (D6 may be more stable than D#6), C-G-E (perhaps, for introductory purposes, using closed E6 - finger G5 and open the throat G# with the side of the LH index finger) or A-E-C#. It something is stuffy about D#, one of these other combinations may be an easier entree - then she can work up or down from whichever one works best..
(6) Check to make sure the top pad on the bottom section (above RH index finger) is closing firmly. A poorly adjusted bridge key or RH ring stack could be holding it slightly open - not enough to keep B or F# from playing (though they could be a little stuffy and she's just learned to accommodate) but enough to make D# unstable.
I'm sure there are other possibilities. If I could hear her, something in the sound might jog other ideas.
Karl
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Author: runner
Date: 2013-10-03 16:53
Thanks for the excellent suggestions. I habitally half hole a leap to altisimmo. Recently, however, a watched a You Tube video of a clarinetist (some major orchestra I think) who had that first finger fly almost straight up on the high e near then end of the opening of "Rhapsody In Blue."
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2013-10-03 16:58
try other groupings......low a, mid e, high c#, etc.
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: acermak
Date: 2013-10-03 17:07
My instructor has me sing the note in order to figure out how the throat is positioned. If she's hitting a shrill overtone, her throat may be too high for the note.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-10-03 17:26
That particular leap isn't supposed to be especially smooth or subtle - it's meant to jump out a little. Besides, he (or she) is an accomplished player who has already solved the basics of getting those notes to speak.
Karl
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-10-03 17:40
Although I understand and use the concept of changing oral shapes to do certain things, produce clean altissimo notes among them, I'm not a fan of giving a lot of instructions to a student to lower this or raise that or actively try to control tongue, soft palate and "throat" positions. I do suggest to students thinking of producing a long "e" sound ("eee") when there's a problem with producing a controlled altissimo or even high clarion note (often these are flat as well because the mouth shape is wrong for them). But if it doesn't work, I try to avoid going on to "raise the back of your tongue" or "raise the sides of your tongue." So much of the time we think we're doing one thing when it turns out (shown with modern imaging techniques) that we're really doing something else, and the same thing can happen to the student. Better to stick to things that are within the student's experience, like actual vowel sounds, and if they don't provide success, move on.
Karl
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2013-10-04 00:41
Sounds to me that she is voicing it too high. The more you ask her to say ee the more she will voice high, getting a high G# or a squeak. I'd suggest trying these things. Let her pay the F# using the "fork" fingering, it's more stable than the middle finger. Let her do the blowing while you fingering it. Than depress the register key and see what happens without letting her know when you're doing it. Try to get her to think blowing lower not higher, even thinking playing a bit flat to relax her voicing. She's voicing too high and or closing her throat out of fear. Another thing I use to do was to have her play the high C, then C to C#, then C to C# to D and then C to C# to D to D# and sustain that D# and concentrate how her throat feels and then try to get her to copy the feeling. It may take many times for her to get it but it will work if her clarinet does not leak and she has a decent reed and mouthpiece.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: TAS
Date: 2013-10-07 00:21
Make sure your student is taking sufficient mouthpiece in her mouth, and that her air flow is pushed rather than choked.
She is probably apprehensive about the high notes and constricts her air flow.
Reed.mouthpiece are also impediments if poorly chosen. I recommend a Theodore Johnson TJ1 mouthpiece and a sufficient Gonzalez FOF reed. Or get a B45 Vandoren mouthpiece. Both are suitable intermediate mouthpieces at a reasonable price.
Nasty observation: I think folks who recommend the B45 as a professional grade mouthpiece are nuts.
TAS
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