 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ashley
Date: 2001-12-17 03:23
Hi..me again. One quick question (although I bet there are going to be some very different responses). I'm a clarinet music ed major, I play alto sax in marching band. I'd really like to be in pep band next year (my sophomore year), but they take VERY few woodwinds. I auditioned on clarinet this year, and I didn't get in. One of my friends (a trumpet performance major) suggested I learn trumpet for pep band (or learn it and have them put me on melly) because it'd be really easy for me to get in on that, if i can play it decently. He said he's sure he's got an old horn around somewhere that I can use, and he'd teach me the basics.
What i'm wondering is...would this have an incredibly adverse effect on my clarinet playing? Especially my embouchure? I can only imagine that it would help my breathing and air support. I just wonder about my embouchure and any other things...(its a given that having to practice it would take away from my clarinet time, but I'm sure I can make the time to practice clarinet as much as I need). thanks........
ashley
(who's jury is tomorrow morning, 8:30....)
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Author: Peter
Date: 2001-12-17 14:22
Ashley,
If you'd rather stick with a woodwind, have you thought about the soprano sax? That puppy could, conceivably, come close to competing with some of the brasswinds for sheer volume and it's a Bb instrument.
You might try inquiring about it, some such bands as you describe will often accept (and/or can be talked into) a sop-sax easier than a clarinet.
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Author: William
Date: 2001-12-17 14:57
Speaking from personal experiance, as a clarinetist who has played principal or first chair clarinet in almost every band or orchestra I have ever played in, and, as a clarinetist who doubles on saxophone, flute and trumpet--good enough to accept union theater pit gigs on the third trumpet book-- playing the trumpet--or any other wind instrument--will not harm your clarrinet embouchure or adversly affect your sound. I learned to play brass instruments when I joined our local high school drum and bugle corps as a freshman. All through high school I took private clarinet lessons and practiced up to four hours a day during my summer vacations. During the same time, I was playing solo soprano bugle in the award-winning D&B corps (up to high Gs), marching in parades and competions all over the mid-west. In music school, I majored in clarinet and chose french horn as my minor. Throughout my teaching career, I continued to play clarinet, sax and flute in professional gigs, but used the trumpet as my "demonstration" instrument during band rehearsals simply because it didn't have a reed that needed to be wet each time I wanted to pick it up and show the students, "This is how that goes!" I learned to transpose all of the instruments to trumpet from the score--bass and treble--and it proved to be a great teaching aid for me, as my singing voice was not that strong. To make a "too long already" story a bit shorter, I have always recieved compliments on the quality of my clarinet sound--even when I did not think it was that great--and I can still hit high Ds on my trumpet and play jazz licks when I want to. My theroy is that playing any wind instrument strengthens the same face and lip muscles and, if you faithfully practice the instrument that you are most serious about, playing another instrument can only help, not harm, your principal instrument embouchure. So, my advice is go ahead and have fun with the trumpet (only three valves and eight possible fingerings and no reeds--Hey, What Can Be Easier?????) but CONTINUE PRACTICING your clarinet(s). Good luck with your finals, and Good Clarineting (& trumpeting)
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Author: donald nicholls
Date: 2001-12-18 09:11
actually i've heard (from good US college level teachers) that blowing the trumpet can improve your clarinet embochure in some cases..... as i understand it (please forgive me if i'm wrong) when you blow the trumpet you need to "open your teeth" while forming an O with your lips. For students that have a problem with the "bite" syndrome on clarinet, learning this concept on the trumpet can be helpful- if you translate it back to the clarinet and replace the "bite" with "leverage" (the embrochure does not move toward the clarinet, but rather you bring the clarinet down on to the lover lip- pressure on the reed is created by the leverage).
somewhere in an old US music teachers magazine (the Woodwind or something like that) there is an article on this by Dr David Etheridge.
nzdonald
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Author: William
Date: 2001-12-18 14:45
David:
Clarinetists are prone to have "lazy" upper lips in that they rely exclusively on the upper teeth placement on the mouthpiece for support. This leads to the "bite" effect with those deep grooves left in the mpc beaks. That is why it is "theraputic" for all clarinetists to practice double lip embouchure from time to time wheither they actually use it exclusively or not, to help get the upper lip more envolved in supporting the sound. This can also be realized, to a lesser but still valid extent, by learning to produce a good sound on a brass instrument which requires equal support by both the upper and lower lips in making the all-important "buzz." The teeth must remain open to allow a constant and controlled stream of air necessary for the lip vibration to occur evenly and to provide a uniform cushion for the pressure of the mouthpiece against the lips. All of these principals are not that unlike what is necessary for a good clarinet embouchure and envolve the use and development of the same sets of muscles and oral cavity parts. Therefore (again), I have always concluded that learning to play another wind instrument, especially the trumpet, will not be detremental to any instrumentalists embouchure, particularily the clarinetists, as long as you faithfully stick to your main instruments practice schedule. Playing the trumpet will certainly help cure that "lazy upper lip" syndrome clarinetists are prone to have. So, get a "buzz" on, and Good Clarineting!!!!!!!!! (note for the Holidays--standing under mistletoe may also prove helpful to your embouchures, and a lot more enjoyable than long tones) Merry Everything, Everyone!!!!!!!!!
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2001-12-18 16:26
On this one, I agree with everybody so far. But there is another consideration: if you are a Music Ed major intending to teach instrumental music, it would do you an enormous amount of good to learn to play ("fluently," shall we say?) one or more brass instruments.
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Author: William
Date: 2001-12-18 17:21
YES!!!!!!!!!! If you are a Mus Ed Major intending to be a public school instrumental teacher, the more playing ability you have on each instrument (wind, stringed and percussive), that much more effective a teacher you will be. The ability to demonstrate is GOLDEN for, as we all know, a picture is often worth a whole lot of "hot air." Learn to play: the drum set and family of other percussive toys; make oboe and bassoon reeds (that play); learn to use vibrato on violin and cello and what the "positions" are for the bass; study the harmonic series and how it relates to trombone positions and brass fingerings in general; learn four-mallet xylophone and mirimba; electric bass and use of electronic gear for jazz ensemble; develop some basic piano keyboard proficiency for accompaning students and demonstrating chordal progressions--the list seems endless to me this AM!!!! Lots for you to learn in Music School, Ashley--do the best that you can (and you can start by learning the trumpet or "melly" for marchin' bnd) And, bye the way, practice your clarinet 2 hrs a day. LOL (been there, tried that) Good Clarineting!!!!!!!!!!!! BTW, how did your jury go????
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-12-19 06:20
There was a famous band Director in US. Mr.Moor, I guess. He could play all band instruments, I heard.
When I worked as an engineer at a US/Japan joint venture company in Connecticut, I received a letter of recall as a jury. I am a Japanese and do not have US citizenship. What a country! I requested a manager of General Affairs, a US citizen, to tell the justice department I am a Japanese and not eligible to become a jury although I felt like responding to that recall. Henry Fonda's famous movie I had watched in Japan.
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