 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ashley
Date: 2001-08-08 04:37
I was thinking about my practicing and playing habits and stuff today, and I realized something that could end up being very detrimental to me in the next year, starting at a college clarinet studio. About how I learn pieces...all through high school, instead of sightreading pieces myself, my teacher would play them, and I would imitate. I didnt realize that's what I was doing until i noticed how often I played pieces of the 3rd movement of the Mozart on WinAmp while I'm practicing...to hear how it's supposed to go, so that I can mimic it. I play by ear. This was really obvious today, when after 2 weeks working on this piece, I noticed a misprint in my music. What was supposed to be a low Bb was written as an A. I had been playing a Bb the whole time...because thats what it sounded like in the recording. (I verified this misprint with someone else's copy of the piece - it is supposed to be a Bb)
This can't be good. I can sightread ok, its not my strongest point, but its not my weakest either. Any thoughts??
~Ashley~
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Author: Keil
Date: 2001-08-08 04:54
Rest easy sweety... what you're doing is actually really good if the tone is good, the technique is good, and the musical interpretation is good... now it's time to start adding your own flavor to the pieces you play. I mean the best way to be good at something is to mimic someone who is already good at it especially where tone is concerned. When you're first starting out that's the best way to play things, hearing something then going back and playing it. My question though is are you playing it strictly by ear or do you have the music to the piece and playing it the way you heard it? Every now and then you'll find misprints in music and having that prior knowledge of what it's supposed to sound like helps to eliminate the need to relearn the piece. Don't get worried just start playing pieces that you've never heard first then go back and listen to a recording.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-08-08 13:05
Ashley -
Imitation is a great skill, and everyone needs to learn it. Knowing how to match what other players are doing is something very few people do really well. Listen to the great musicians together -- for example, Louis Armstrong with Ella Fitzgerald -- and you'll hear each of them matching and working off of what the other does.
Sight reading is also a great skill. You need it just as much as imitation. Since you've learned most music by matching what your teacher plays, it will be hard at first to do it another way, but you have to keep after it to be a complete player, and, as you say, in college you will certainly need to learn new music on your own.
When I was in high school, my teacher was also the orchestra director, so he was always around. He used to pull out the Bandsman Folios, which were 5 books with all the 1st clarinet parts from orchestral transcriptions -- basically, the 1st violin parts, transposed for clarinet. He would play through them, page after page of 16th notes, while I would jump in, get lost, jump back in, and so forth. After a while, I got to where I could get myself back in without him being there.
Go into the band library and get out several 1st clarinet parts to music you haven't played before and run through them with another good player from your band, or take them to your teacher and play through. You could also do it with etudes.
This will give you a transition from imitation to reading. You don't stop, don't go back and don't repeat anything. The object is not for you to learn the particular music, but to learn to read any kind of music.
It's really frustrating at first, but you get the hang of it. I think it's mostly getting to know scales and arpeggios, so that you can read groups of notes instead of reading them one at a time. For example, when you see a group of 8 notes that are an ascending C major scale, you recognize them as a single "shape." Since you've played that scale so many times, you don't have to think about it, but start your fingers going on the scale, while your eyes look ahead to recognize the next group.
That's why it's so important to learn scales and arpeggios until you can do them in your sleep. When they're "in your fingers," you can just set them running when you come to them in new music.
You've already got an important skill in your repertoire -- imitation. It's time to take the next step toward becoming a complete player. It's a great feeling to learn something new, to create a new tool for yourself. When you do, you'll feel the satisfaction of joining the community of clarinetists who have all been through exactly what you're going through and have really accomplished something.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Azzacca
Date: 2001-08-08 19:01
I am just starting up on the clarinet again after some time, and because there isn't anyone but me while I'm playing, I am working quite a lot on this sight reading thing.
I remember back when I discovered I didn't really do sight reading either. When I picked up Eb... I was the only one in the band and most of my music was not the same as the other clarinets and I discovered I had become dependant on hearing others play the music for me. So much so, that on very difficult pieces, I needed the basson player next to me to play my part enough for me to get the idea.
I know that I improved in general, because my sight reading test scores got better and I wasn't as afraid to do them, but I still depended on hearing it to know how to play it.
Now, I'm playing just simple songs, and I try to sound it out in my head a little before playing. I think I'm getting better. At least I have a metronome to help me now (got it Monday for my birthday), so that when I tap my foot for eighth notes, I don't tap 8x/measure! That should help me considerably.
Good luck!
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-08-09 06:55
This may be good.
http://users.uniserve.com/~lwk/audprep.htm
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2001-08-09 15:21
Ah, you have the Breikopf edition of the Mozart? I hate that misprint.
At music camp this summer, I took a great class called Sight Reading For Strings (I also play violin). We would have big piles of music- solo works, chamber music, orchestral pieces- and we'd take some and play through it. We only stopped if we got very separated, if we made mistakes we just kept going. I really learned a lot about sight-reading and got a lot of practice. Unfortunately, there wasn't an equivalent class for wind players. So find an old book of music (for any instrument in your clef, you can even read the top line of piano music) and practice sight-reading. It really helps. I was always a pretty lousy sight-reader until I took this class, sight-reading for an hour a day for two weeks. I doubt that you would want to do this much (or have enough music to) but with time, practice does help.
Good luck!
Micaela
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Author: Kirk
Date: 2001-08-11 00:43
We learn by imitating and repeating what we see or hear. I have the sheet music for my favorite pieces and it's sometimes I play more with listening and matching while I see the notes that correspond to sound. It helps a lot to listen and try to play then later look at the score just listening when not practicing. This helps me alot and from what I read, you too.
Keep up the good work !
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