Author: seabreeze
Date: 2016-04-20 20:52
Philip,
You may enjoy reading this opinion from David Hattner:
http://chnani.perso.neuf.fr/ejma/tonemails.html.
Hattner makes the valid point that the busy schedule of many pros precludes their having the time to practice long tones. Better to spend time practicing scales and arpeggios and actual passages from the music they have to perform. Who can argue with that? He also thinks that clarinetists are too sensitive to concepts like "color" in the tone and that their minute distinctions do not carry over to anything that audiences can perceive especially in orchestral performance. That may also be true.
But notice he does not make a case for practicing in a distracted, non-caring way. If a player need not listen for suble tone color shadings, they still must listen very carefully for rhythmic accuracy, tuning, and blend. But that, also, involves long tones (as well as short tones and everything inbetween). Music is everything that goes into it, not just beautifully shaded long tones. Who can argue with that? He also says listen to Wright and Marcellus, who incidentally happen to be masters of long tones and beautiful shading, in single tones, bridging interval tones, and in connected musical phrases. Ha, Ha. So the more we try to escape long tones, the more they return to haunt us?
Personally I prefer to practice intervals for flexibility. Like the Expanding interval study No 25 on page 166 of the old Lebanchi method. I do these as slow quarter tones first and then gradually increase the speed, trying for the best legato I can get. My main principle is always to listen to what I am playing and take a personal interest in it rather than playing it in a distracted, ho-hum, chewing gum way. But like many other players, I will ride the rainbow of tonal coloration when I can. That just means, can I make this passage with more or with fewer overtones, more pointed, more blunt, more focused, more cloudy. Everyone can do this. If you think "buzz" the tone brightens; if you think "woo," the tone darkens and deepens. Babies can do this when they're born. They can google, and boodle, and coo, and rasp, and razz. The human animal, clarinetist or not, is a creature of a thousand sounds.
Post Edited (2016-04-20 21:34)
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