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Re: Most often repeated 'lesson'

Author: Brenda
Date: 2005-05-21 13:48

I'm always mentioning "breath from below", "think of a barrel", "lots of air" to get the lungs expanding from below instead of the upper chest. Also I'm always talking about pushing from below the waist and opening wide the throat and nasal cavity, to avoid painful constriction of the air column in the throat and nose.

Somehow when the student "breathes and sets the muscles from below" they find it a breeze to "play out to that person on the street".

I agree with SueSmith above who says that some people find it far more difficult than others to have a strong abdominal core. There are those of us who really have to work hard at strengthening the whole mid-body area and also work at aerobic exercise. For me this has been the key (or lack of it) to having success or not in the ability to controlled playing.

Also a big key for some, including myself, is diet. I cannot tolerate certain common foods well and neither can my kids. For us, certain foods have to be eliminated from our diets in order to have optimum strength and mental capacity. I think the media is finally catching on to these things - even some children's programming is featuring diet changes!

We need to at least be aware of these things while teaching since our students have individual needs. Clarinet playing is a physically demanding exercise, we can't fool ourselves into thinking otherwise. Our students may need to become aware of the benefits of following through on their school's phys ed classes, etc., not only for clarinet playing but for all of life's activities.

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Most often repeated 'lesson' new

Slippy Bal-dog

2005-05-20 17:39