Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-05-12 15:36
Hey JasonR,
I second the comment above pointing to your fearlessness. Picking a work that is clearly a challenge and seeing it through has merit. Also, as pointed out above, posting to the internet seeking all commentary is yet another level of grit that I never had as a youth........would've come in handy at auditions!
Firstly I'd say you'd be able to improve things quite a bit if you and your instructor could explore trying to use softer reeds (or a more closed mouthpiece). There is a bit too much air in the sound rather than sound and a more responsive set up would go a long way to turning that around.
You must be aware that there are so many points along the way where your current accompanist went to great lengths to stay with you despite irregularities in rhythm. That is what I think is what your former accompanist was referring to.
So this gets to a very fundamental way one approaches learning how to play and how to practice.
I fully admit that my tendency for much of my fundamental years was based upon, "moving on." That is, I would say to myself, "I'll get that next time," or "I could play that better if if were slower, but it's not bad closer to tempo."
Larry Combs (a former principal clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony) is (or at least was) a proponent of S-L-O-W practice. That is, going over things so that EVERYTHING you practice is one hundred percent under your fingers and perfect. The point of that is the you not only train your fingers to hit the right sequence (no matter what), but the you HEAR the right sequence (and rhythm) ALL THE TIME. That sort of practice trains your inner ear (your brain) to hear things correctly. Speed will come later.
This makes accuracy KING.
I would say in addition to the softer set up, a good six months or so of the accurate, slow practice would go a long way to bringing you to the next level.
....................Paul Aviles
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The Clarinet BBoard
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