 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarisax
Date: 2005-05-24 04:58
okay, here's the problem: im going to major in clarinet performance but im a horrible singer. the clarinet has always come easy to me and i can't ever remember a situation where i would even consider practice anything other than fun and worth my time. singing is a different story for me however. it does not come easily and i find that i actually have a lot of problems with it. my teachers have always considered me to be a pretty good clarinet player and ive gotten the first chair in district band 3 times, region band 2 times, and state band once. ive also been a participant in the tanglewood institute clarinet workshop and governors school. so im not a horrible musician and i think i have talent but since i apparently dont have the ability to sing to save my life i am questioning whether or not i really am decent. i am aware of intonation and i can hear when someone is slightly sharp or flat when i am tuning band members, but for me to actually vocalise the notes im hearing, especially when they are several octaves out of my range, i just can't do it. dont get me wrong, if i sit beside my piano and pluck out a melody line i can match the pitches and sing it, but if i dont hear the notes while im singing i dont sing the right ones. i never sang as a young child because i was always playing instruments and i honestly didn't know singing was important until i started preparing for college. at the university that i will be attending i had to score at least 70 percent on a musicianship/aurals test to get accepted. i had to take a written theory test as well, but i know the basics in theory because my clarinet teacher has taught me pretty much all she knows. i ended up with a very good score on my theory test. apparently i did good enough on my musicianship test to get accepted but they told me i should really work on pretty much everything related to solfeg (spelling?) before i start in the fall. im assuming this includes singing intervals, arpeggios, chords, scales, sight singing, etc. what can i do to help me with all of these things? im horrible to begin with, so to memorize all of those intervals and chords and then master sight singing in a few months seems so difficult and almost impossible. we dont have a class at my school to teach this stuff so i have always just had to go with the little vocal ability and knowledge that i have. does my lack of singing ability make me a bad musician and a bad clarinet player?? has anyone else on this BB had problems with singing? if so, how did you over come your problems? i am just really bad at it and i dont know what to do. im seriously getting frustrated and starting to worry about my future at college because i have problems even singing the right notes in simple high school chorus. is there ANY hope at all for me?
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Author: Contra
Date: 2005-05-24 05:10
So you can't sing well, it's not the end of the world. If you feel really bad about your singing, you can take classes or get lessons on it. Just remember that it isn't the end of the world. Voice, like any other instrument, requires practice and learning. It may not come naturally to everyone, but it can be built up.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2005-05-24 07:34
Oh yes, and sing in the car (assuming you drive alone). You'll likely feel like a complete idiot for the first few weeks, but after that it does wonders. Match pitch with what you hear on the radio. Go all out into some gaudy operatic passage you've heard. Sing the notes YOU think should go next in a passage.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2005-05-24 08:44
I have exactly this problem. I know another clarinet player, a good deal better than I am, who has it too.
You wrote: "if i sit beside my piano and pluck out a melody line i can match the pitches and sing it, but if i dont hear the notes while im singing i dont sing the right ones".
So one thing to try is to sing each pitch before you hit the piano key. When you start to get the hang of this, sing several successive notes without touching the piano. Then try it playing the piano in a different octave.
Rather than using a piano, you may find it better to use notation software. You can set it to an instrumental sound that may be easier to match than that of a piano. Also it's more difficult to cheat that way, than if you are singing and playing at the same time.
Also try whistling. I find it easier than singing, no idea why.
What I find hardest of all is joining in with a group of people singing "Happy Birthday", or a hymn tune, when half of them are out of tune anyway. The only way I found to get around this is to listen out if there is someone nearby who is singing loudly and in tune, and "lock on" to his pitch.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: luckyclarinettoenla
Date: 2005-05-24 13:51
It might help to learn solfeige syllables-- (see The Sound of Music) and then to take some of your very old, very basic music workbooks and then try singing the music with solfeige. I did not know how to sight sing when I first started undergrad (didn't realize I had pitch either) but I worked at it and now I'm fine. If you think about it, there is a very good reason we have to do this-- something along the lines of always hearing a note first before you play it. Also, it helps to make friends with a vocalist right away when you enter the university. Good luck! and let us know how it turns out. :-)
Lucky
Never fool yourself into believing that today's 'good enough' will do tomorrow!
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2005-05-24 15:20
You can relax. They probably don't really expect you to become a great singer. Solfege is not exactly the same as "singing" (e.g., to prepare for an audtion at the Met)! It involves matching syllables (do, re, mi, etc.) to printed notes. It is often used in theory courses to help develop ear training and interval recognition. Oxford Press (if memory serves) has a whole series of progressive "pocket" solfege exercise books. With some practice, you can develop your skill. You might take a look at this (but don't let it overwhelm you):
http://www.solfege.org/
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Clarinetgirl06
Date: 2005-05-24 18:39
clarisax-
You sound like an absolutely wonderful clarinet player to me! In fact, I'm a little jealous of your accomplishments. You deserved what you got!
I'm not bragging, but I have had much success with singing (along with clarinet). I'm a pretty good sightreader, but that takes a lot practice! So, in junior high choir we assigned songs that went with the intervals. Here are some of mine for the trickier intervals:
descending 3rds: Dradle (Jewish Hanukkah song)<- these are my worst
ascending 4ths: "here comes the bride"
ascending 5ths: Star Wars (buhhhhhh, buhhhhhh, buh, buh, buh, buhhhh, buhhhh)
ascending 6ths: "my bonnie lies over the ocean"
You can find numerous songs that start with various intervals.
I currently am taking voice lessons and have for 3 years. I feel like clarinet playing has strengthened my singing and vice versa. Breath support has improved in both areas, sightreading comes easier on both sides, musicality increases over time on both sides, and I have a somewhat different perspective on singing and clarinet playing because I can incorporate what I have learned from the opposite area. My voice teacher encourages her students to play an instrument and she also believes that it's beneficial for instrumentalists to take voice lessons. And taking lessons doesn't mean you suck! It shows dedication and/or your desire to succeed.
Before you sightread the next piece for your clarinet, sing it first either outloud or in your head. Then play it on your clarinet and see if you got it right (not only will this strengthen your singing, but it will probably make sightreading on your clarinet more accurate).
So you question if you are a good musician. Let's just take a gander at the dictionary:
mu·si·cian ( P ) Pronunciation Key (my-zshn)
n.
One who composes, conducts, or performs music, especially instrumental music.
de·cent ( P ) Pronunciation Key (dsnt)
adj.
Meeting accepted standards; adequate
See! You are a musician and at the VERY LEAST a decent one too (which you probably exceed the word decent)! Does either of the definitions say that you have to be a great singer, or that you can sightread 100%, or that you have to know all of music theory, etc? No!
Email me with any specific questions. I'm about your age and can relate to you on a similiar level.
Good luck! You are great and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! :o)
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Author: clarisax
Date: 2005-05-24 20:24
wow, thank you all for your very kind words and thoughts in regards to my post. my birthday is coming up and i will ask for the solfege books that were suggested. its very reassuring to know that i am not the only person who has had problems with this. again, thank you all for your wonderful suggestions and words of wisdom.
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Author: Aussiegirl
Date: 2005-05-24 23:32
I thought that i wasnt the best singer either in high school, and this year im in my first year of uni and needed another ensemble besides wind symph, so i got put in the choir, and i was terrified. But know what? I have learnt so much through being in this choir, prob more than i have on my instrument and thats a lot, just by being able to listen around me and hear others singing the same part, and hear the basses singing a 5th below etc. Ive also found that my aural has improved outta sight too through this. A friend who is doing improv on bass guitar also got put in this choir, and he said that its improved his transcriptions etc as well as aural coz he can hear the intervals more clearly.
So dont stress! If i can sing now, so can you!
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Author: SueSmith
Date: 2005-05-25 02:18
I second singing in choir...in fact, sing alto if you are female and bass if you are male (if your range allows this). I found singing the inner harmonies (alto) to be much more difficult than the melody (Soprano) as far as sightreading is concerned. An additional bonus is that you usually read your part off a score - so you can see the other voices in relation to yours.
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2005-05-26 01:55
35 years ago, I was exactly like you. I could play the clarinet but almost flunked solfege-sight singing in college. The first thing to do is join a church choir or high school choir or both. Get out your beginners clarinet method book and try to sing each exercise. Check your pitch with a piano, guitar, or your clarinet. It doesn't need to sound beautiful, just get the right notes. If the college you are going to is nearby go to the college bookstore and buy the sight-singing book you will be using in freshman theory and learn to sing every tune in the book like it was the Mozart Concerto. This will give you a head start on the other students and save you time in your first year of college. Or email one of the theory professors and find out the name of the book and order it online. This will definitely help your playing, especially intonation. Work on it every day or it won't get better. The best thing I ever did was get out my old college sight-singing book (the one I hardly ever opened in college) and learn to sing every tune, checking intonation with my guitar. It took over a year to master the book and I did this AFTER I already had an orchestra job when I realized how deficient I was in aural skills. Good luck.
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2005-05-26 04:03
I'm the dad of a clarinet major. both my wife and I started as music majors, but graduated as something else. The aural component of the 4 semesters of college theory is quite difficult and will likely require much work on your part. Be sure to sign up (immediately) for any tutoring or extra help that your school might offer. And be prepred to put in (much) time with a piano or keyboard practicing this. Even being an accomplished singer is no guarantee of an easy time.
All of the above suggestions are good. I strongly recomend a church choir if this is an option for you. Ther are usually tolerant of less accomplished singers, and the new material each week guarantees opportunities for sight singing.
Remember that you have been learning the "wrong" letter names for pitches. We play in b flat, but sightsinging is done in concert pitch. (I.e. we play a "B" to play concert the "A" pitched at 440.)
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