 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2019-04-17 17:10
Hi,
I wondered if I could ask another question about technique?
I'm trying to learn to cross the break legato at the moment for my grade 3 pieces. The main difficult one is Georgie, by Emma Johnson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cjDWeFHHlI
I'm having trouble because when I cross the break from crotchet E to a crotchet high C, or anything like that, the reed starts to shriek.
It was worst with a Vandoren classic 1.5, and I moved to a Vandoren V12 2.5 which really helped. With a Vandoren V12 no3 the shriek goes away entirely, but I am not strong enough to play such a hard reed yet.
The middle ground that I have found is that if I use the 2.5 reed and stablise the tip of the reed very very lightly with the tip of my tongue as I cross the break then the shrieking doesn't happen and then there is no silence between the E and the C as I cross over. It works a treat actually.
However, later in the piece I have to do the same but going from a crotchet E to a quaver high C, and I have to stop the note clearly after the quaver C. I'm not nimble enough to tongue the reed very gently to cross the break and then more definitely after the high C, so my technique doesn't work there.
I just wondered if you think I have the right idea or if I should be doing something entirely different?
I'm playing a J&D Hite D mouthpiece on a Yamaha Custom CX clarinet.
Thanks!
Sunny
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2019-04-17 17:55
Many things may be causing this - and students start to disguise it by not blowing through the break to prevent the squeak. BAD!
It can be caused by sloppy finger covering, poor embouchure, or other causes.
By the way, there are no squeaks on a clarinet, they are overtones playing when you don't them.
I would suggest starting and perfecting A to B slurs, G to B etc.
And, by the way, the lower register is called chalameau after the oldest ancestor of the clarinet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalumeau
When a register key was added around 1700 by Denner allowed playing a higher register, (actually the second overtone in the overtone series), it was called the clarion register. Above the C above the staff, the higher notes are called the altissimo register which goes to the 'real' high 'C' and and even above that C. These notes are what sometimes sound when something in the sound production is awry.
So the real high C is really an octave and a half above the staff.
If I was sitting beside you I would show you my REALM sound production method. It helps to find the best Reed-Embouchure-Air-Ligature-Mouthpiece combination to make a proper clarinet sound. And then, only get those high notes when you want to!
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2019-04-17 17:58
Hi,
Thanks for that. Your REALM sound production method sounds good. I will keep working on it here and see if I can figure it out.
Sunny
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2019-04-17 18:04
Let me know when you have solved the register break problem and I will give you some hints off line how it works.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2019-04-17 19:41
I would suggest beginning by not saying, or thinking the word "BREAK."
Now that you've forgotten that "five letter word," try playing the "G" that sits upon the top line of the staff, then let go of the register key and work at keeping the note a "G" instead of the low "C."
Once you have that, try it again consciously letting the note fall to the "C."
Now, try that in reverse....sort of. You can start on the low "C" (first ledger line below the staff) and WITHOUT USING THE REGISTER KEY, suddenly push more air (an extra puff) to jump up to the "G" that sits up on the staff. In fact you can try this with all the note from the low "G" (below the two ledger lines under the staff) up to throat "F."
It may be helpful to think of the clarinet as a recorder to do this.
Once you are comfortable being able to skip up the twelfth WITHOUT USING THE REGISTER KEY, you can manage any interval quite nicely.
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2019-04-17 19:47
Hi Paul,
Thanks, that sounds like fantastically helpful advice. I had noticed that both of these things were theoretically possible, but I'd never tried to do them on purpose. I'll try it. :-)
Sunny
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2019-04-17 20:37
Paul's break suggestion is good for learning about the voicing abilities of the vocal cavity. A long term target is to play breaks and the full range of registers without changing the embouchure. Change voicing yes, but not the embouchure.
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2019-04-17 20:44
Thanks, I didn't know that. I thought that I was aiming to learn how to change the embouchure for the different registers. I'll have a go at keeping it the same as you suggest.
Thanks :-)
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2019-04-18 01:29
SunnyDaze - I was just checking reeds for a rehearsal tonight and for kicks, tried to 'squeak' the long 'B'. I got an 'A' an octave plus above the staff by biting a bit. The side muscles, like whistling, are very important in a clarinet embouchure. It will help the muscles learn by lifting the top teeth off the mouthpiece a bit and let the side muscles do more work.
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2019-04-18 09:53
Hi Ken,
Thanks for that. I'll give it a go. I heard about the side muscles from watching Michelle Anderson's videos so it's really good to have confirmation from you that that technique is what I should be working on. I do tend to bite at the moment to deal with the harder reed.
Thanks :-)
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2019-04-18 17:50
Hi,
I just went for my clarinet lesson and it turns out that I was pressing the speaker key fractionally later then the other ones as I moved from E up to C. The silence between the notes went away when I sorted that out. Yay!
Thanks!
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