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 Playing the Clarinet Is Like Speaking French
Author: Ken Shaw 2017
Date:   2008-08-22 16:49

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/22/DD7612ET6E.DTL&hw=CARROLL&sn=002&sc=676

A pretty good clarinet column by one of my favorite writers.

Ken Shaw

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 Re: Playing the Clarinet Is Like Speaking French
Author: myshineyblackjoy 
Date:   2008-08-22 17:26

What a delightful article......Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!

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 Re: Playing the Clarinet Is Like Speaking French
Author: stevensfo 
Date:   2008-08-22 18:36

He said:

"After a while speaking English, I get really tired."

Believe it or not, I have to agree. I worked in France for nine years and speak french fluently - although understanding it easily it depends on the region from which the speaker originates - as it does in the UK and USA.

I'm not an expert in linguistics, but I do find that french seems to flow more easily and effortlessly than english. Perhaps it's something to do with tongue movements, mouth muscles etc.

Though it may also be due to the cheap booze. [toast]

Steve

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 Re: Playing the Clarinet Is Like Speaking French
Author: NorbertTheParrot 
Date:   2008-08-22 22:17

"it may also be due to the cheap booze"

Not any more!

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 Re: Playing the Clarinet Is Like Speaking French
Author: Mike Baines 
Date:   2008-08-23 09:02

Thank you for an interesting article, which I'll pass on to a few students. I spent the last fifteen years of my working life teaching English in a French university. All my students were warned that learning a foreign language was just about as difficult as learning to play the clarinet, (or any other instrument for that matter - the clarinet being my particular 'bĂȘte noir', there could have been a joke in there I'm sure)

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 Re: Playing the Clarinet Is Like Speaking French
Author: skygardener 
Date:   2008-08-23 10:39

Interesting. I went to a masterclass once and the professor tried to get me to improve my tongue position by reciting a French sentence.

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 Re: Playing the Clarinet Is Like Speaking French
Author: Mike Baines 
Date:   2008-08-23 11:03

And the sentence was?

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 Re: Playing the Clarinet Is Like Speaking French
Author: skygardener 
Date:   2008-08-23 13:54

I don't remember the French, but it was something to the effect of "I really like my tutu". No joke. He said the word "tutu" (with the French accent) has the exact position I need.

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 Re: Playing the Clarinet Is Like Speaking French
Author: Gregory Smith 2017
Date:   2008-08-23 21:06

Jon Carroll is one of my all-time favorites too.

My teacher learned about the shape of the airstream and the style of articulation from a Frenchman. The syllables and vowels were communicated to him via Bonade ("teu" for the shape and position of the tongue, French consonants for the shape of the end of the tongue for articulation, etc.). That's the way they were passed on to his students by Marcellus.

I've always wondered how much the resultant sound of a nationalities' or cultures' dialect is an influence on the way the clarinet - or any wind instrument for that matter - is approached. Perhaps when one refers to a British sound or a French or German sound, this is part of the equation when coming to such conclusions (Daniel Leeson's personal experience aside ;^).

Gregory Smith

http://www.gregory-smith.com

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