 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Cheetah88
Date: 1999-06-17 00:48
Can someone tell me how to get the squeaking away? I can get nice sounds, but sometimes the squeaking gets in the way. I'll be playing perfectly then all of a sudden, when I'm about to complete what I was playing, SSSQQQUUUEEEAAAKKK!!! I'm not sure how to keep that perfect tone! Help! E-mail please, I don't come here everyday...
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-06-17 01:31
If I remember right - you just started! There's lots to learn. Sqeaking (actually, playing one of the overtones) is a normal thing. It's going to take a while before you can consistently get a reasonably nice tone.
There's a lot to check for; next lesson have your teacher check the clarinet out for reed placement, leaks, your embouchure (which will need quite a while to develop), etc. It'll get better :^)
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Author: Frank
Date: 1999-06-17 11:27
In my experience, there are two principal causes for the
squeak:
1 the reed is not laying flat on the mouthpiece when you have it in your gob - or the reed has a split. As you spend more time with the clarinet, you will [or should] learn the care and feeding of reeds.
2 your embouchure is weak, or gets weak as you play along. This is a consequence of your mouth/face muscles not being fully strong in so far as your embouchure is concerned. This will go away with practise; it may take a while, so don't fret. If I have been play for an hour or so, I manage a strange sound now and then, and I know my embouchure is weakened.
Ask your teacherfor tips or exercises on how to strengthen your embouchure. Ask also about the care and feeding of reeds.
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-06-17 12:03
Besides the items mentioned by the other posters, beginners commonly have problems with the following two items for many months. Even after they solve them, they may re-surface from time to time.
1. You may occasionally be bumping one of the side keys on the right side of the upper joint or bumping the throat G# key.
2. Sometimes you may not be getting the holes completely covered or may accidently uncover a small amount of one of the holes as you move from note to note.
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-06-17 19:37
I personally vote for all of the above, with a weak embouchure and sloppy fingerings being the main culprits.
Also, add the problem of clamping down on the reed or applying teeth to the reed, or taking in too much mp and reed. All of these can kick the reed into overdrive and create a squeak.
...or look on the bright side. You are already playing in the high altissimo register of the clarinet, with only a few day's experience. Never mind that it was unintentional. All kidding aside, occasional squeaks are a fact of life for the clarinet. The trick is to learn how to control all of the factors (especially embouchure and fingerings) to minimize the unintentional squeak.
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Author: simon
Date: 1999-06-17 22:34
All good pionts above, but are you plowing out your cheeks? The other thing many of my students do is use too much of the mouthpiece.
My advice is try to work out how you ssssssskkkkkkqqqueak and work out how you stop the squeak when it haapens. This may sound obvious but with a lillte thought you could solve your problem.
As you ahve only just started playing, don't worry too much they soon go away.
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Author: Arun
Date: 1999-06-21 01:20
Another, possibility is that your clarinet might be worn on some pads, in my experience, all of the former messages are quite true and you should take them to heart, but you might as well also take a cautious look at the pads near the bottom of your horn, namely the pads responsible for the REAL LOW tones and the B & C keys.
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