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reading music

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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