 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Justin
Date: 2016-03-24 05:23
Hi! I'm not a very good clarinet player and recently I've been trying to get better as I always get the second parts in each song. I can play the three octave chromatic scale slowly but I'm wondering,
How can I play it fast, smoothly and clean? Whenever I try to do it I stumble no matter what! Are there exercises that you guys can recommend me or some neat tricks?
[DISCLAIMER: I DON'T PRACTICE OFTEN WINK*]
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Author: concertmaster3
Date: 2016-03-24 05:41
SLOW PRACTICE
Outside of that, taking 5 note groups and repeating them. Start slowly and then build up speed using a metronome. If each note of the chromatic scale is numbered, the pattern I teach my students to practice is:
1,2,3,4,5... Then, 5,6,7,8,9... Then 9,10,11,12,13...etc
Start at 60 bpm on the metronome, play each group as a quarter note, then as an eighth note, then as a 16th note. Then move the metronome up to 64 and repeat. Then 68...then 72...etc. Make sure that each time it's PERFECT! If you make a mistake, play that grouping 10 times in a row perfectly...that means if you get to #9 and you make a mistake, start back at 1.
Ron Ford
Woodwind Specialist
Performer/Teacher/Arranger
http://www.RonFordMusic.com
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Author: JonTheReeds
Date: 2016-03-24 11:33
If your disclaimer is true, and you don't practise often, then I shouldn't think you will learn how to play it "fast, smoothly and clean"
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The older I get, the better I was
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Author: Nessie1
Date: 2016-03-24 13:05
You might want to analyse slightly which parts of the scale trip you up - For example over the break may well be one - and give those groupings a little more attention.
Vanessa.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-03-24 13:35
But when you play it SLOWLY, is it absolutely rock solid clean. There is really the secret. If it is perfectly steady and clean note to note, playing faster comes naturally.
And just to give you a general sense of commitment, if you are past "beginner," you could be putting in at least an hour and a half every day (EVERY DAY).
.................Paul Aviies
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Author: kdk
Date: 2016-03-24 17:17
One of the problems some of my students have had over the years is that they're more or less guessing at the notes as they play. As a result, they never play the scale the same way twice and have trouble self-correcting when (if) their ears tell them they've made a mistake.
You need to know what notes you're playing as you play through slowly. Once the notes have begun to be habit, you can begin to internalize the whole thing as a sequence of finger motions, but if you're regularly skipping notes and then guessing at what you left out (as too many of my students do at first), you can't internalize a sequence that doesn't yet exist.
You can do this by playing Ron's 5-note sequences, then expanding to octaves, but always knowing what notes you're playing. It helps a lot to understand the structure as it looks on a keyboard - each pair of white keys (naturals) has a black key (sharp or flat) in between except B-C and E-F. Black (chromatic) keys are dually named the sharp of the lower white key and the flat of the upper white key. Most written-out chromatic passages (in exercises or in literature) name the chromatic notes as sharps going up and flats going down. A related stumbling block for some of my students is that they insist on calling the note between D and E E-flat, so that going up they invariably play E first and only then realize they skipped "Eb," which they'd be less likely to do if they spelled it D-D#-E. Similarly for F#-Gb, and A#-Bb.
Karl
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2016-03-24 17:38
You have received some useful thoughts about the matter you brought up. Slow, careful practice makes fast playing possible. Another idea is to "pause on the last easy note and think about what comes next". This is a method of learning difficult passages suggested by Fernand Gillet, a fine oboe player and teacher in the last century. What you do is play the passage (chromatic scale in this case) at a faster speed than normal and pause a bit on the note just before the place you falter. At that point think about what your fingers need to do next and then continue on at the same faster speed. I use this method extensively myself and it is a good way to achieve mastery of difficult passages for everyone who has limited practice time. Use that limited time efficiently and you can still have progress.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2016-03-24 18:26
Some very good advice above. Also , use the correct chromatic fingering for D#/Eb and A#/Bb . You'll have to decide which of the two fingerings you are going to use for these notes. Either the right hand lowest side key or the left hand 'slither' key (3rd finger). I prefer the slither key as it keeps all the action in that part of the chromatic scale in the left hand. And always use the correct chromatic fingering for the low B natural and F#/ Gb (Top stave line) This is the right hand first finger plus the 'slither' key. Likewise for the F#/Gb (lower line/ space of the stave) This is the F natural fingering plus the right hand side key These are the standard fingerings for these notes in the chromatic scale.
Skyfacer
Post Edited (2016-03-24 18:47)
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Author: Justin
Date: 2016-03-24 21:34
THANK YOU ALL SO SO MUCH, SPRING BREAK IS TOMMOROW AND I'LL TRY EVERYTHING YOU GUYS RECCOMENDED!
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