 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sarawashere
Date: 2015-09-30 18:20
So I'm having a lot of issues in pieces with air, staccato, fingers, etc. And it dawned on me that maybe I need to spend some more time on pure technique. What are y'all's favorite technique improving exercises?
Thanks,
Sara
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Author: ClarinetRobt
Date: 2015-09-30 18:49
Baermann 3...All Day Long, beginning to end...for the rest of your life...
~Robt L Schwebel
Mthpc: Behn Vintage
Lig: Ishimori, Behn Delrin
Reed: Legere French Cut 3.75/4, Behn Brio 4
Horns: Uebel Superior (Bb,A), Ridenour Lyrique, Buffet R13 (Eb)
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Author: pewd
Date: 2015-09-30 18:52
Yup, what Robert said.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-09-30 18:52
BASICS: Baerman Scale Book (run the gamut); Stark Arpeggios (first two pages and last two exercises as a minimum); Kroepsch 416 exercises (start at the back - 6 flats/5 sharps).
Long tone exercise: Grab a low E out of nowhere, that is, start with a loose embouchure and gradually bring it "in" until the note just comes out of silence. Then start to crescendo to a louder level on each of eight counts (4 being your mezzo forte and 8 being as loud as you can get). Still not letting go of that E, count backwards decrescendoing back down to niente at 1. So in 15 slow counts (about a quarter note equalling 54 on the metronome) you cresc. from nothing back to nothing. Do that twice on Low E, twice on F, twice on F# and twice on G. When done you should feel like you've run around the block four times!
Finally, whatever techical material you practice, DRILL it so that it is slow enough that it is PERFECT EVERY TIME. I say this because any time you play something incorrectly, you reinforce playing it wrong, so........... practice slowly.
..................Paul Aviles
P.S. Air is a WHOLE other topic
Post Edited (2015-09-30 20:52)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-09-30 21:15
The suggestions so far are good ones, if they're appropriate at your current level. You might give us an idea of what you're trying to play and what specific kinds of problems you're having. "Pieces with air, staccato, fingers, etc." covers pretty much anything and books like the Stark arpeggios and Baermann 3 assume a certain level of technical development and control to begin with. You may need to start more basic - or not.
My other reaction to your question is to suggest that you can practice until you're blue in the face and the cows have come home and gone to sleep, but if your technical approach is fundamentally flawed, you'll only become frustrated instead of better. So if whatever material you use for practice doesn't result in improvement, you need to look for help from a teacher who can evaluate your fundamentals and suggest changes if needed.
Karl
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2015-10-01 00:57
To me, and I agree with Karl, it is more about about HOW you practice exercises than it is about WHICH exercises you practice.
One can read Baermann 3 top to bottom every day and make little progress with technique.
The first step is to identify *specific* problems in your technique, and try to address them. These things are rarely solved on your own unless you are already quite experienced and can "self-diagnose".
That being said if you're looking for a good warmup routine that covers most of the basics. Look up Robert Spring warmup as well Sean Osborn's site.
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-10-01 06:54
Wow, if I had a dog it would be beating me over the head with its dish listening to the Spring video. Does anyone ever use those notes (up to a fourth past the top C) ?!!!?
...........Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2015-10-01 07:01)
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Author: sarawashere
Date: 2015-10-01 07:19
Hi again,
Thank you guys so much for all the advice! For Karl, who asked what I was learning, I'm currently working on the first Weber Concerto, so it's pretty technical. Basically, my two main issues in life are overall tone, especially when playing something piano and/or upper altissimo, and staccato... Oh dear God staccato... :(
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-10-01 07:59
Staccato is hard only if you don't practice it much. Ricardo Morales tells students to practice the Baermann scales and arpeggios with staccato articulation. If you get David Hite's extension of the Baermann Method, book 3, ("Foundation Studies for Clarinet" published by Southern Music) and practice all those scales in intervals of 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths, and octaves at relatively slow tempi in metronome settings of a quarter note equals 80 through 100 using staccato articulation, faster tonguing will eventually become second nature to you (if of course, you are physically doing it right with a continuous air stream, relatively relaxed tongue, and efficient tongue position). It's virtually guaranteed.
Also, some setups make articulation easier. For me, a Vandoren M13 mouthpiece with its close facing of 1.005 mm. is way easier for staccato than more open facings. You have to try to find a set-up that works for you.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2015-10-01 08:36
My first post in about 2 years or so. I kind of missed this cool place! Had 5 surgeries, 2 elbow and 3 sinus surgeries, then I started a music company. Well I'm back!
I was chatting with Ricardo Morales a few months ago in Philly (on the phone, I live in California) and he said something kind of interesting and it made a whole lot of sense.
If he's preparing a piece and it's in the key of B, or C#, any key for that matter he practices all sorts of scales in that key to get his fingers, tonguing, arpeggios everything in sync. So if he gets the scales down smoothly playing the actual piece is a lot easier. I really liked that conversation! I need to call him again and say hello. Fun to talk to. He's so easy to talk with. Conversations can go anywhere, not just music, but this idea of his I feel was a really great trick, that really makes total sense. I think I've known him now since he was 21.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2015-10-01 08:43)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-10-01 19:38
Ok so I feel a need to address the "air thing" since that is THE place where you create your sound. It has been said by many (and me) that you need to "push from your gut," "engage your abdominal muscles." But I want to try a new way to address this.
But first, back to the embouchure
It should be pretty clear that you have two extremes of sound you can promote with the amount of energy you use surrounding the mouthpiece. You can squeeze the mouthpiece/reed and get a whiney, thin, buzzy sound; OR you can over relax and achieve a flabby, uncentered, fuzzy sound (as you hear from "jazz" players).
What you need to do is stay in the middle of those extremes to expose the core sound at any dynamic. I add the dynamic part because you are always tempering the energy of the embouchure with the amount of air (based on whether you are loud or soft or in between). The louder you play, the more you need to dial in more embouchure control (and vice versa). Only your ears will ultimately tell you exactly how much that is.
The other part of "Air," is that you DO need to feel the abdominals working all the time. It is necessary to have the isometric engagement of the diaphragm while actively pushing the air out on SOFT passages. This is the only way to ensure a steady flow rate which is so necessary for a solid, big sound at low dynamic levels. The trick here is that you don't feel your diaphragm working against, you only feel how hard you are working you abdominals. So it must feel as though you are really pushing ALL THE TIME (which you are).
................Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2015-10-01 20:51)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-10-01 23:33
Bob Bernardo wrote:
> My first post in about 2 years or so. I kind of missed this
> cool place! Had 5 surgeries, 2 elbow and 3 sinus surgeries,
> then I started a music company. Well I'm back!
>
Welcome back!
> I was chatting with Ricardo Morales a few months ago ...
> If he's preparing a piece and it's in the key of B, or C#, any
> key for that matter he practices all sorts of scales in that
> key to get his fingers, tonguing, arpeggios everything in sync.
> So if he gets the scales down smoothly playing the actual piece
> is a lot easier. I really liked that conversation!
Again, Morales is starting from a level that few of us will ever attain. The principal can be useful. The practice may or may not require easier materials than the Baermann scales and interval studies.
seabreeze wrote:
> Staccato is hard only if you don't practice it much. Ricardo
> Morales tells students to practice the Baermann scales and
> arpeggios with staccato articulation.
Morales does some amazing things - I've heard him play the coda section of the Weber Concertino completely articulated - no slurs that I caught anywhere and with no compromise in the tempo. His playing level is certainly worth aspiring to, but most of us will never reach it.
> faster tonguing will eventually become second nature to you
> (if of course, you are physically doing it right with a
> continuous air stream, relatively relaxed tongue, and efficient
> tongue position). It's virtually guaranteed.
I don't think any book will make faster tonguing second-nature. Realistically, some us are more naturally gifted than others with dexterity in specific muscles. And your parenthetical caveat is on target - if the execution is flawed, practicing incorrectly won't improve things much.
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Author: Christopher Bush
Date: 2015-10-02 06:45
Hi Sara!
Fancy meeting another NYU person here. My office is over in Steinhardt on W. 4th and I'd be happy to get together with you and suggest some technical exercises. I have quite a few that I use to keep myself in shape and moving forward. Shoot me an email and we'll set something up.
Christopher Bush
Prof. of Clarinet - NYU
Princ. Clarinet - Glens Falls Symphony, Metro Chamber Orchestra
Director - NYU Composers Ensemble
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Author: Slowoldman
Date: 2015-10-02 22:59
How do you all recommend using the Baermann 3?
What format works for you? All the exercises of one key in a practice session, or what other methods?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-10-03 02:58
I used to use the "one key" method (or tone center), but I don't find that very realistic because even Mozartian music very quickly develops through various key centers in short order.
I would recommend picking two or three scale types per sitting and running through all the keys. I find it helpful to start at the back of each type and work toward C/amin. And finally I find the thirds and the interrupted scales to be the most important followed by the sixths and both versions of the arpeggios, and then the rest.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-10-03 04:54
Bob Bernardo wrote:
> I was chatting with Ricardo Morales a few months ago in Philly....
>
> If he's preparing a piece and it's in the key of B, or C#, any
> key for that matter he practices all sorts of scales in that
> key to get his fingers, tonguing, arpeggios everything in sync.
> So if he gets the scales down smoothly playing the actual piece
> is a lot easier.
Even Morales may find this useful when he needs to play something in keys that involve larger key signatures with lots of awkward intervals. But by the time someone's level is up to tackling Weber's 1st concerto, he or she is probably already fluent in the scales and arpeggios that are needed to play most of it.
I think there's definitely a place for practicing rudiments - scales and their variants, arpeggios, etc. and Baermann 3 or Klose Daily Studies or Kroepsch are all valid sources of exercise material. I am not minimizing or denying their value.
But I also think that, if you want to learn to play the Weber 1st concerto, there is no better music to practice than the Weber 1st concerto. But to play it, your execution needs to be secure. You can learn to tongue, learn to play the scale and arpeggio passages, learn to increase breath span and learn to produce a clear, controlled tone using the music you're trying to learn. And at the same time you're dealing with the musical problems that are unique to the piece.
I once went to an orthopedist for a diagnosis and treatment of some severe shoulder pain. In response to a question I told him I worked out in the hospital's gym three times a week. When he asked further, I told him what exercises I was doing - a lot of it involving fairly heavy weights. His response was that, unless my goal was to develop a beach body, I was wasting my energy and probably risking injury. In his view, I wasn't building what I needed to deal with daily life, unless that life was going to be spent on a beach without a shirt (believe me - that isn't and wasn't ever gonna happen). He prescribed exercises that were easier, involved less stress, but gradually strengthened my rotator cuff muscles in ways that better supported my shoulder.
The parallel to instrumental technique isn't exact, but IMO it's close enough to be worth considering. The techniques you need to play the Weber 1st are there in the music. What's needed is to improve your ability to execute those techniques as Weber demands.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-10-03 08:45
Yeah, see, I've always gone the opposite route. If time is limited, I prefer to emphasize fundamentals. They get you were you need to be pretty much most of the time (particularly in tonal music). Of course if the material is more modal or just atonal or spectacularly articulated, then of course you need to emphasize rudiments that reflect those things.
I was torn about being critical of a the Robert Spring video but here goes: I find his daily warm-up a bit over the top (if that's what he really does every day). What material is he preparing to play? If it's the Mozart or a Weber, he must REALLY dial it down to play the piece for which he is "warming up." The only material that calls for that sort of "readiness" would be some such piece as the Nielsen clarinet concerto or the Corigliano clarinet concerto.
But I digress.
For me, you cannot go wrong sticking with the fundamentals.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2015-10-03 22:12
Karl, thanks for the Welcome Back comment! Good to see you and some many other friendly folks!
Bob
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2015-10-04 07:59)
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2015-10-04 02:50
Returning to Sara's original post that expresses the desire to "spend some more time on pure techniqe," it may be interesting to note that there are books that isolate finger technique even more than the Klose, Langenus, Baermann "basic stuides" works we have discussed with reference to the recommendations of Spring and Morales.
One of these approaches technique quite apart from its musical connection to scales, arpeggios, intervals or the tonal system: Jost Michaels' "Methodische Schule der klarinettinstischen Grifftechnik: Systematic Approach to Clarinet Finger Technique" (avaliable from Van Cott.) In some ways this is a vast extension of the "Practical Exercises" on pages 44-48 of the Klose method or the similar exercises in the second volume of the Baerman Method in which technique is presented as finger movements in many possible combinations from one fingering postion to another. Just do the math and see how many permutations and combinations you can find, and Michaels probably has a good many of them in his book (with the exception of very wide intervals, which for some reason he avoids).
Practicing this sort of thing requires extreme motivation and concentration (as Baermann says, it is tedious and "dry") but there is no doubt that it will increase security, consistency, and confidence in performing passages that could scarcely be sight-read--especially those across the throat to clarion registers and the clarion to altissimo reqisters. Technique gained in this way will apply to anything that can be written using the chromatic tone set, whether it is arranged by serial atonal formulas, based on exotic scales, or a scattering of random. aleatory notes.
Michaels' book is not for the faint of heart but for those willing to leave their comfort zone of just scales, arpeggios, and scales in intervals, it is a worthy challenge.
By the way, going back to the Baermann again, I recently attended a master class by Jose Franch Ballester (he was in town to play "Perriot Lunaire") and he said he is spending more and more time practicing scales in intervals and just intervals themselves at various speeds to achieve equality of finger motion, perfect legato, and smoothness of tone. He emphasized that the motion of the fingers moving from one set of holes and keys on the instrument to another was absolutely fundamental in determining the quality of tone (somethng we may be inclined to forget). I asked him if the Baermann was a good place to start with this, and he said "absolutely." I got the impression that he would also endorse the methods Morales recommends and uses to build technique that have been mentioned in this thread.
Post Edited (2018-08-10 07:04)
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