 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: tthez
Date: 2020-06-14 22:30
I have been playing clarinet for two years and I can't bend notes. I've watched the videos and I do what they say and there is no bending. Is this a common problem?
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2020-06-14 22:41
Don't know what the videos say. I bend notes by either relaxing embouchure, covering some of the hole (if it's a "hole" note and not a key note), and maybe less air to lower pitch. I can get it to go quite low and back up again.
Won't be of help, but try taking a drink of beer, burping while you blow.....found that out by accident years ago--none of what I above is required, but you have to keep drinking.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2020-06-14 22:44
You might either post links to two or three of the videos you've watched or describe in your own words what they say to do so we know how you're trying to do it.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-06-14 23:18
The notes in the altissimo are easier to bend. I'd start by playing the "C" two ledgers above the staff, while playing a long tone try executing tongue/jaw/lip movement associated with saying "YAWW." Your tongue drops, jaw drops and you loosen your lips.
You should be able to achieve as much as a third lower than the "C."
Bending is really going down in pitch. If you want to bend up, you have to start from a note that has been bent downward first.
Hope that makes sense.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2020-06-14 23:29
A open, long facing mouthpiece makes 'bending' easier, and a close facing makes it harder. Clipping and sanding the reed tip also makes bending easier.
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Author: tthez
Date: 2020-06-17 19:55
Just tried it. I can lower the pitch with the mouthpiece. Starts at C and lowers to B. What does this mean?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-06-17 20:59
I liked the suggestion above to use the mouthpiece alone and it seems to have worked for you.....as a good start. The mouthpiece alone strips bare all the other stuff and allows you to experience the feeling vs sound that is involved.
When I referred to the "C" two ledger lines above the staff, it was perhaps a step or two beyond the mouthpiece alone experiment. Now that you know what that feels like (if you have a good, stable high "C"), the next step would be to try a note that is really easy to bend (notes in the lower register, chalumeau are not). Using the feeling/sound of the mouthpiece alone, you should be able to dip down as much as a minor third from the high "C" (maintaining the high C fingering). Of course that is a more advanced step and may take some time.
................Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2020-06-17 21:01)
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2020-06-17 23:20
So, when you have the whole clarinet together, are you trying to bend the pitch with your fingers (partially covering a tone hole), with your embouchure, by changing the inside of your mouth, or some combination?
Karl
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Author: tthez
Date: 2020-06-18 00:47
By changing tongue position. I start with "Y" position and change to "AHH" position while keeping the embouchure the same.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-06-18 01:34
I see it a total package. The tongue position is (for me) just a way to get you to relax the embouchure correctly. I guess if I were to be honest about it I think it is the opposite of your attempt with the embouchure being the key ingredient.
BUT...........
If you are getting some results, that's great!l Just start adding the relaxation of the embouchure and lowing of the jaw (also helps relax embouchure).
I agree with Karl regarding adding (subtracting fingers) when you start talking about octave glissandos. However, for me, it is mostly embouchure in either situation.
...............Paul Aviles
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