The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Re: Squeaking student

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2018-03-31 21:18

Exiawolf wrote:

> The problem got worse and worse because I
> would tense up more and more thinking that E “was a hard note
> to play”.

The thing about persistent squeaks, from my own personal experience, is that they always provoke a reflexive response in the player ("E is a hard note to play"), which adds tension to the underlying problem and makes it worse. You have to find some way, like Exiawolf's voicing exercise or a way around the squeak with different fingerings or (as in my case decades ago) testing double lip, to change the instrument's response and produce a clean sensation of the note. Then you can start to build on the confidence that comes from the clean response.

Still, make sure there's no mechanical explanation before starting on a road toward a technical solution. If it turns out to be a leak or a quirky mouthpiece or mismatch between mouthpiece and reed, the technical changes may not produce any better response, and the anxiety problem will just get worse. And remember that if the student gets the same squeaks on your equipment but you don't, he's approaching it with a very different level of anxiety and tension than you are. He may be perfectly able at this point to make *anything* squeak on E6. You as the teacher need to check every part of his instrument to make sure there's no instability coming from there.

Karl

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics