 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: shammond
Date: 2008-07-19 17:14
hey all, its my first post here, i found this site while looking for advice and decided to post something and meybe get some decent results.
Alright, i am an alright Bb clarinet player i know all my major scales 2-3 8va, im going to start working on my major arpeggios, ive been doing long tones for about two weeks and have the best sound i have had ever. I am currently using a Selmer Liberty student model (hopeless right?) and have recently purchased a new van duren mouthpiece that has been working out pretty well.
i was just wondering if i should start memorizing all my minor arpeggios and scales. meyb what i should be looking at for goals to set for myself. i am currently a senior in high school and am seriously lacking the ability i feel is needed for first-chair that i was last year in my wind ensamble. i want to earn taht first chair, and besides im going to be majoring in composistion and performance.
thanks in advanced for all the help hope to hear from you all soon!
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Author: clariknight
Date: 2008-07-19 17:20
Hey! I'm gonna be first chair in my high school wind ensemble next year too! Currently, to prepare for this and a minor in music in college, I am practicing just about EVERYTHING. All my minors, harmonic minors, majors, arpeggios, the whole deal. My goal is by second semester (which is when our concert band or "wind ensemble" starts) to be able to play all my major scales, minor scales, minor harmonics, and all related arpeggios. I too feel that I really want to earn the first chair spot, so I have been practicing on average two hours a day. This has really helped as I have moved in two weeks up a half strength in reeds, and possibly another half by the end of the summer, and I highly recommend at least an hour or more a day. Good luck in your practicing and for next year!
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Author: Ryder
Date: 2008-07-19 17:28
clariknight,
moving up in reed strength is not an indicator of skill level or amount of practice. If that were the case many professionals would need strength 5000 and 1/4 to sustain their skill. That's simply not the case. Mabey you are experiencing soft feeling reeds because you are practicing too much on too few reeds. I rotate at least 8 reeds at a time. Some people would even say 8 is not enough. You save money, frustration and possibly prevent yourself from making the mistake of using reeds that are too hard.
As for the origonal topic the best way to ge better is to practice, practice, pracice. Be sur you have an organization to your practicing and have goals. practicing without a direction will get you nowhere. And remember that practice make permanent, so only perfect practice makes perfect.
____________________
Ryder Naymik
San Antonio, Texas
"We pracice the way we want to perform, that way when we perform it's just like we practiced"
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2008-07-19 18:18
Find a private teacher who is a clarinet specialist. That's the best way to improve. They're there to let you know what's great, good, mediocre, bad, and horrible! A teacher will teach you how to practice and how to learn music on your own. They may even have ideas about things you've never considered at all! Someone on this board (sorry I forget who) has a sig line which is something like: "A great teacher will give you answers to questions you didn't know to ask." (I'm paraphrasing!)
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Author: hans
Date: 2008-07-19 18:21
GBK posted a good practice routine a few years ago. You should be able to find it by using the BB search feature.
Hans
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Author: GBK
Date: 2008-07-19 19:02
There are numerous practice routines, both published and home made.
I've posted this before, but here again is the 6 day practice routine for basic fundamentals as was originally laid out by Marcel Moyse:
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MONDAY - E major scale, F major scale, E minor scale, F minor scale, E whole tone scale, F whole tone scale, Diminished 7th chords starting on E, F and F#, Augmented chords starting on E, F, F#, and G, Dominant 7th chord on E resolving to Major and Minor triads on A, Dominant 7th chord on F resolving to Major and Minor triads on Bb, 3 octave chromatic scale in triplets starting on E
TUESDAY - F# major scale, G major scale, F# minor scale, G minor scale, E whole tone scale, F whole tone scale, Diminished 7th chords starting on E, F and F#, Augmented chords starting on E, F, F#, and G, Dominant 7th chord on F# resolving to Major and Minor triads on B, Dominant 7th chord on G resolving to Major and Minor triads on C, 3 octave chromatic scale in triplets starting on F
WEDNESDAY- Ab major scale, A major scale, G# minor scale, A minor scale, E whole tone scale, F whole tone scale, Diminished 7th chords starting on E, F and F#, Augmented chords starting on E, F, F#, and G, Dominant 7th chord on Ab resolving to Major and Minor triads on Db, Dominant 7th chord on A resolving to Major and Minor triads on D, 3 octave chromatic scale in triplets starting on F#
THURSDAY - Bb major scale, B major scale, Bb minor scale, B minor scale, E whole tone scale, F whole tone scale, Diminished 7th chords starting on E, F and F#, Augmented chords starting on E, F, F#, and G, Dominant 7th chord on Bb resolving to Major and Minor triads on Eb, Dominant 7th chord on B resolving to Major and Minor triads on E, 3 octave chromatic scale in triplets starting on G
FRIDAY - C major scale, Db major scale, C minor scale, C# minor scale, E whole tone scale, F whole tone scale, Diminished 7th chords starting on E, F and F#, Augmented chords starting on E, F, F#, and G, Dominant 7th chord on C resolving to Major and Minor triads on F, Dominant 7th chord on C# resolving to Major and Minor triads on F#, 3 octave chromatic scale in triplets starting on G#
SATURDAY- D major scale, Eb major scale, D minor scale, Eb minor scale, E whole tone scale, F whole tone scale, Diminished 7th chords starting on E, F and F#, Augmented chords starting on E, F, F#, and G, Dominant 7th chord on D resolving to Major and Minor triads on G, Dominant 7th chord on Eb resolving to Major and Minor triads on Ab, 3 octave chromatic scale in triplets starting on A
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This is the warm-up practice routine which I encourage my students to follow.
Combine the above with weekly selected etudes, technique, tonguing and repertoire work...GBK
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Author: davidsampson
Date: 2008-07-19 19:28
" Dominant 7th chord on E resolving to Major and Minor triads on A,..."
How would you go about doing this? I understand how you would if you were playing piano or something. Should I play arpeggio's? If so, how to I transition from the 7 chords to the Major and Minor chords? Could you perhaps give a note sequence?
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Author: shammond
Date: 2008-07-21 21:34
thanks everyone, im kinda new to this forum thing, so i forgot to mention that i dont have money for a private teacher, so i was wondering if i could get the whole attachment GBK? (like all the scales please) thanks
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Author: shammond
Date: 2008-07-21 23:34
thank you so much GBK i will begin practicing tommorow (not today because i at work right now, haha)
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Author: Fishamble
Date: 2008-07-22 14:19
I agree that getting a good teacher would be a good move towards your goal. But despite saying that, I feel I've made some really good progress without a teacher over the last year or so since I've resumed playing regularly after a 15 year hiatus. So maybe some of the following will be a help.
I think one of the best things I did was to get my clarinet fixed up by the best tech in my city. This meant that I could clearly identify problems as mine and not the clarinet's. If you've any suspicion that your clarinet is not in great repair, then I'd recommend getting it seen to.
I got a good mouthpiece - that made a huge difference to me, especially with regards to my sound and stability (fewer squeeks). You've already replaced yours for a Vandoren that you're happy with, so that sounds good.
I went on the Web and I read, and read, and read. This unbelievable resource did not exist when I played before. I've found as much advice on the Web as I have had time to digest and try out when practicing. When I find some advice that sounds good, but either I'm unsure or I don't fully understand it, I refine my searches to really concentrate on it. Usually you find more on the topic, and eventually you find something that makes it make sense to you. It takes focus and it takes time, but it's been of huge benefit to me.
I started to heed the advice I'd always ignored when I was young: practice long notes, practice scales, use a metronome, use a tuner, have a warm-up routine, do these things deliberately, every day, and understand what you're doing with them and why. It all sounds very cliched, I know, but it's done wonders for me. Look up the term "deliberate practice" in Google - this was one of my starting points. I genuinely regret not having had more cop-on when I was younger. I do these things now, then I try to remember not to over-do them! It can lead to frustration. Go and have some fun with other music and musicians!
I bought books of music that I like - Poulenc Sonata, Mozart Concerto, Scaramuche, Schuman Fantasy Pieces, etc. I wouldn't dream of assaulting anyone's ears but mine with my attemps at them, but I have CDs of great players playing them, and emulating them is enjoyable and has thought me some.
This is just my experience, but your question struck a chord with me, and maybe something I said is of some use to you.
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Author: CarlT
Date: 2008-07-22 19:04
Interesting take, Fishamble. You're starting back, while I only began back in April. Until about 2 weeks ago, I had a lesson every week, which really helped me get a good start. Since my teacher is about a 55 mile round trip for me, and with gasoline prices so high, I felt I must now limit my lessons to about one per month. I realize I will not progress quite as fast with this arrangement, but one has to do what one has to do.
Having said that, I feel that, like Fishamble said, I have made so much progress just reading this forum's good threads and searching other sites, as well. I would go so far as to say that I believe this forum has helped me even more than my teacher, admittedly in a different way. I believe I have the ability to sort out good information from bad, and to know when someone "knows of which he speaks".
I realize also, that a teacher is so important for helping you achieve good embouchure, tone, etc., but after that is obtained (and hopefully, worked on daily), I really believe that a teacher, after an initial lesson period, is not all that necessary for someone whose biggest goal is to play for him/herself, or in a local band, ensemble, etc. I believe that an occasional lesson/tuneup with a good teacher is necessary though; otherwise, how would one know his real progress?
I really don't think I would be anywhere near as far along in the days before the internet.
I do believe that most of the above depends on and is proportional to, how much one is dedicated to learning to play the clarinet, and how much good practice he is willing to do.
CarlT
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Author: Alfred
Date: 2008-07-22 19:19
It never hurts, under any circumstances to memorize arpeggios and scales. In your case you're going to need to if you're majoring in performance, and if you want to compose music.
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Author: shammond
Date: 2008-07-22 19:56
thank you everyone, i believe that you are right when you say that a good teacher is useful, and i will talk to my band director about one of the composers of the Marching Band music (used to be an all state player) for tone and progress, but i learned embouchure from this site (the concert F# with mouthpiece and barrel and tuner) and im about to learn Rose study 37 like someone seggested (i had the book sitting at home) and i am about to print out all of GBK's sheet which i will begin to use everyday. i read these forums everyday im at work and i feel like everyone is trying to help each other.
again i would like to thank everyone!
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2008-07-22 20:56
Major and minor arpeggios....keep it simple......play majors in one octave...do all twelve in succession..... slowly..... pick out the ones you have trouble with and work on them....then... go back and play all twelve in succession. ....start with quarter notes... what you want is to get them "under your fingers" so there is no thinking. Preferably don't write them out. Regarding the order of the arpeggios...this can make a difference.. try in chromatic order..... C,C#, D etc try in a cycle... C,F, Bb, Eb, Ab etc. These are two common orders. Keep playing these every day in a slow fashion until they become very natural. When you are comfortable with this then move on to two octaves. Incorporate the same order....chromatic and cycle. In addition it wouldn't hurt to sing these arpeggios with clarinet in hand, checking every once in awhile that you're not straying from the right notes. Once this is very ingrained and natural for you I would move on to GBK's system.
Freelance woodwind performer
Post Edited (2008-07-23 18:51)
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Author: lllebret
Date: 2008-07-23 18:18
I would have two suggestions for you: 1) Get a good clarinet specialist teacher if you don't already have one, and 2) listen to good clarinetists, live if possible and recordings certainly. You can only practice so long before getting tired both mentally and physically so listening to music during breaks is both inspiring and good for the soul. I would also encourage you to listen to singers for phrasing as their music isn't usually as notey as instrumentalists. If money is an issue (and even if its not), libraries generally have cd collections and if they don't have in their collection what you want, they can often get it from another library. Personally, I would rather hear simpler music beautifully phrased than a lot of notes without direction. Good luck to you - I wish more of my students had your ambition and drive (but I love them anyway!).
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