 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: LC007
Date: 2017-09-28 19:31
Hello all,
New member here. My name is Luc. I'm in Ottawa Canada. Just bought my first wooden clarinet - a Selmer USA CL201 and thoroughly enjoying it. I've had a plastic one for 15 years but hardly ever played it and I'm still at the very beginner stage. I'm hoping this new CL201 will inspire me to play more often.
I have been playing guitar for almost 50 years and I have learned quite a bit about music in a general sense but I'm not any good at reading the notes. Learning clarinet will help me in this regard I'm sure, but the challenge I have is this:
I am using the "Complete Clarinet Player" books 1 and 2 by Paul Harvey. This book has plenty of simple familiar songs and suits my level perfectly for now. I'm looking for tips that could help me keep my eyes on the music. I want to learn to associate the fingerings with visual notes on the page. But when I play a familiar piece, it seems I end up playing by memory because I know how the tune goes. My eyes look away and I continue to play. And when I look back to the music, I get lost and my eyes get all confused - sort of "where am I ????" on the page. Then when I try to play songs I don't know, I'm now forced to keep my eyes on the page. But what I end up playing sounds so unmusical and mechanical because I have no reference to how it's supposed to sound. I then lose interest in that tune and return to a familiar song.
I suppose it all boils down to more practice and time and lessons (which I will start soon - hopefully if I can get off my keester !). But I'm in my sixties and I want short cuts. Any hints/tips?
Many thanks.
Luc
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Author: Merlin_Williams
Date: 2017-09-28 20:01
Your best shortcut would be to get a good teacher.
Jupiter Canada Artist/Clinician
Stratford Shakespeare Festival musician
Woodwind Doubling Channel Creator on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodwindDoubling
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-09-28 23:01
LC007 wrote:
> Then when I try to play songs I don't know, I'm
> now forced to keep my eyes on the page. But what I end up
> playing sounds so unmusical and mechanical because I have no
> reference to how it's supposed to sound. I then lose interest
> in that tune and return to a familiar song.
>
Merlin_Williams wrote:
> Your best shortcut would be to get a good teacher.
>
A good teacher - one who is used to dealing with adult learners and is sensitive to your general goals - is never a bad thing. A teacher can provide shortcuts mostly in helping you avoid non-productive experiments and tangents. But there's no shortcut to learning to read music. Rhythmic notation is more complicated than pitch notation. There are techniques to apply in "counting" rhythms, but it takes practice building from simple to more complex.
It also takes discipline in the sense that, if you want to read music, you have to make yourself do it. You can't just take the easy way of avoidance and run back to the familiar tunes and playing by ear as soon as you get frustrated. At 60, you've already learned that, although probably in some other area that may have been more essential to your well-being and less recreational. You can certainly learn to play clarinet to a reasonable level playing by ear, imitating recordings, maybe using sheet music as a rough guide. But if you really want to learn to read unfamiliar music that you can't play by ear, you need to make yourself stay with the process despite the frustration. It will get easier.
In a way you're facing the same difficulty young students brought up with Suzuki-style study face - they learn fairly advanced literature purely by rote imitation and memorization. Then when asked to begin to read by working with very simple tunes that are well beneath their playing level, they balk at the chore. It takes a very good teacher to know how to move them beyond that awkward stage when their playing is far better than their reading level.
In the end, you just have to put up with the pace of learning to read and make yourself stay with it. Your ear will always be an asset and you'll be a stronger player able to enjoy a wider range of music once your reading and your ear can work together.
Karl
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Author: LC007
Date: 2017-09-29 01:18
Thank you for the comments Karl and Merlin.
Indeed my playing skills (albeit still very basic) are more advanced than my reading level is, and I know I need a teacher. But I think my desire/push to progress quickly is really the culprit here. When I get frustrated and return to a familiar piece, I am practicing my playing - which is a good thing too - but sabotaging my reading. I guess I just need to stick to the notes on the page no matter how choppy the playing gets. Maybe I should do more scales? Then once I get the visual notes / fingerings association to a better level, I could add the time signatures and rhythms of songs later. It just seems like I need to learn too many things all at the same time.
Oh well, I guess I just have to remind myself I'm in this for the sheer fun of it. But alas I am my worst critic and most determined competitor!
Thanks.
Luc
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2017-09-29 04:28
Luc,
Welcome to the bboard!
Even many decent readers can lend themselves to sounding "unmusical and mechanical" when playing a style of music they aren't accustomed to. So don't let that bother you too much.
With your musical background, and some practice on the ol' "misery stick" (as Ray Moore calls it) - I'm sure you're going to end up enjoying the best of both worlds.
Patience is tough when you know where you want to be. Hang in there! The others have offered great advice.
What type of music are you hoping to pursue?! (Some of my favorite jazz players didn't/don't read at all.)
Fuzzy
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Author: LC007
Date: 2017-09-29 15:20
Thanks for the encouragement Fuzz. I don't have a specific goal or music type in mind. I just want to become a better more versatile musician. I've been playing guitar for a while and have become pretty good - without ever learning much about music or taking lessons. And I could - and do - pursue the clarinet the same way. But being alone, I rely on books and everything seems to revolve around learning music. And being a lead/melody instrument (as opposed to a rhythm instrument like the guitar) I need to learn my stave and notes and fingerings and keys and scales and time signatures etc... while battling with breath control and embouchure and biting and rotating reeds and metronomes....
OK I guess I'm venting now so I'll stop. Despite it's difficulty, I am having a lot of fun with it. And like my wife used to say "It'll be OK in the end. If it's not OK yet... then it's not the end yet". She had wisdom (and patience).
All smiles... and thanks for listening !
Luc
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2017-09-29 15:45
Luc,
I'll be brief.
Your comment "But I'm in my sixties and I want short cuts" is the key point. There are no short cuts to learn what you need to know, just dedication, hard work, and sacrifice no matter what age you begin. A teacher who will take you through the pedagogy is a must.
Good luck.
HRL
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Author: JonTheReeds
Date: 2017-10-03 20:24
Best shortcut = great teacher
But also a teacher who has some experience of teaching adults
I'm a late starter and have been lucky enough to find a teacher who at least is understanding that teaching an adult can be a bit different to teaching a child
Adults' brains are much less plastic than those of children and, although we can always learn new things and improve on our skills, it may take longer for us than for children. In effect adults have to fight against learnt, ingrained patterns. But it's not all bad news as adults typically know how they best learn things and may be more focused, efficient and determined, as well as being able to use a wide range of resources to achieve their goals
I've recently been to a workshop where this very point was addressed. The tutor asked us how often we sit next to a small dot of a child who just blows us away with their musical talent. We all raised our hands. The tutor explained why that was the case, told us there was nothing we could do about it, and then asked us not to be too hard on ourselves, but to just give ourselves time
I also play with an ex-professional wind player who is learning the drums and says that she has never found anything so hard. Learning wind instruments as a child was easy for her (you know the type, mastery of one instrument as a young child, then a string of instruments to grade 8 standard within a couple of years). Now she teaches she has a much better understanding of why adults sometimes struggle
So, get a teacher who is sympathetic to adult learners (but sympathetic does not mean they let you get away with errors)
Good luck
--------------------------------------
The older I get, the better I was
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