 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2013-11-28 10:05
I've been a soloist on tour for a few months now and when standing at the front of the stage with an audience of over 600, I often feel awkward during rests because I don't know what to do with myself, and when playing I don't know where to look.
I usually can't see anything, as there are spotlights in my eyes, which I suppose helps. And during rests, a knowing glance and a smile at the conductor can really only be done once.
Any suggestions? What do you do?
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2013-11-28 12:16
Do something unexpected. Pick your nose. Then blush. ![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif)
Now seriously...just holding the instrument, closing your eyes and concentrating on the piece seems like a natural way to get over a rest. Same when playing (assuming you have no music stand in front of you). For longer rests, you can still casually wipe down the keywork or take care of an (imaginary) waterlogged key.
(I just report what I have seen other people do (except the nose thing). I'd probably wet my pants or faint if I had to do an exposed solo. I'm not the stage type)
--
Ben
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-11-28 13:58
Stay engaged with the music. You're performing even when you're not playing. Keep the conductor in the corner of your eye and breathe with the beat -- whatever you need to do to keep yourself awake and listening, and let the audience know it.
Pick out the most beautiful girl in the audience and play directly to her, trying to move her to tears and seduce her. Or pick out the most grandmotherly looking woman and cuddle up. In other words, do whatever it takes to send your personality out over the footlights and into someone's ear and heart.
Ken Shaw
Post Edited (2013-11-28 14:44)
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Author: donald
Date: 2013-12-01 18:17
I was at a performance of the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto a month or so back where the soloist (a very fine player from Germany who unfortunately seemed to think that the concerto should be played as fast as possible, and whose sound did not project over the orchestra) dealt with the rests by making facial expressions that reflected the expressive qualities of the tutti. There was "serene face" and "angry face", and one or two variations in between. Some people were very impressed by this, others found it comical. It might have made the soloist feel more involved in the piece, so maybe it had some positive spin-off. I'd say "avoid".
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-12-01 22:13
donald -
You're absolutely right. What I recommended was different. I think it's just as bad to slump and go blank when you're not playing. You need to stay awake, following the line and breathing with the phrases but not attracting attention to yourself -- and as the tutti ends, preparing for your next entrance.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-12-15 23:56
Johnny -
A poker face conceals what you're thinking and feeling. I want exactly the opposite.
Keep still, but breathe with the music. What goes on when you're not playing (and underneath you when you are playing) is just as important as your solo passages. Of course you don't mug and distract attention to yourself, but you must stay engaged, listening to the other parts, because your solo passages build on and mesh with the other parts.
Poker players look for subtle "tells" in their opponents - a raised eyebrow, a contraction of the pupils of the eyes. I suggest that you want to give these tells to the audience.
Ken Shaw
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