 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kimber
Date: 2009-12-08 21:49
Hi
I have decided to tackle learning clarinet. My main instrument is oboe and I have been playing for many years now. I have acquired a basic clarinet and will be getting it tuned up at the music shop next week. I do have a Hite premier mouthpiece coming as well to start with. I was going to take a handful of lessons to get started correctly on embouchure techniques, however I was told the clarinet teacher is full. So I will attempt to go it alone for now...
What is a good method for my self study - I don't need music reading/rhythm exercises (except to speed up my reading ledger lines as is beyond oboe range). Looking more for fingering fluency.
Any tips for embouchure and patterns to watch out for and avoid knowing that I am coming from a double reed?
I read about going across the 'break' - honestly I'm not even sure what that means, and whether I should worry about it.
I also have to pick up a ligature...have read about many different styles on the board but I don't know enough to understand the differences.
Thanks for any suggestions/tips!
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-12-08 22:37
It might sound like a mantra, but I'd recommend you continue to look for a teacher (can even be a music student) to get you started with embouchure, some fingerings, and also to check whether your equipment is in proper repair.
It's well-spent money.
Now, before I had a teacher, I got this book: http://www.drdowningmusic.com/Playing_Clarinet.html and I found it very helpful; good tips, good pictures.
--
Ben
Post Edited (2009-12-08 22:40)
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-12-08 22:42
kimber wrote:
> What is a good method for my self study - I don't need music
> reading/rhythm exercises (except to speed up my reading ledger
> lines as is beyond oboe range). Looking more for fingering
> fluency.
Klose's clarinet method has "exercises of mechanism," which are extremely useful. You can actually download the book for free at the following link (don't pay attention to any of the instructions about fingerings because they won't apply to your instrument [I'm assuming it's a standard "Boehm system" like almost everyone in the U.S. plays]--but the exercises were actually written for your Boehm system instrument, so they will be useful to you). The exercises of mechanism start on p. 20 of the below link.
http://imslp.org/wiki/M%C3%A9thode_compl%C3%A8te_de_clarinette_%28Klos%C3%A9,_Hyacinthe_El%C3%A9onore%29
You can kind other useful (and more advanced) technical exercises in Jeanjean's "Vade Mecum du Clarinettiste," which is kind of a crash course/rapid review of clarinet technique.
> Any tips for embouchure and patterns to watch out for and avoid
> knowing that I am coming from a double reed?
You'll have to wait for someone who plays double reeds to answer that one.
> I read about going across the 'break' - honestly I'm not even
> sure what that means, and whether I should worry about it.
The "break" is between the first and second registers. On all other woodwinds, when you go up to the second register, you go up an octave. On clarinet, you go up a 12th. Because of the way this works, you experience a much bigger difference in resistance when you cross the break on clarinet than you do when you cross registers on an oboe or other woodwind.
> I also have to pick up a ligature...have read about many
> different styles on the board but I don't know enough to
> understand the differences.
It's not an exact science. Everyone has their own preferences. I recommend going with something simple and relatively inexpensive, like a Rovner Dark, which is a fabric ligature and will fit just about any mouthpiece.
Post Edited (2009-12-08 22:47)
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Author: leonardA
Date: 2009-12-09 14:46
I found the series by David Etheridge very helpful and clear.
I don't have the web site but if you put in a search for David Etheridge Skill Builders you should find it.
Leonard
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Author: Bartmann
Date: 2009-12-09 15:26
Kimber,
Why did you choose to play the clarinet in the first place?
Do you like its sound?
Do you like its range?
Do you like its repertoire?
It's important to ask these questions because like all musical instruments, the clarinet requires time to master.
In addition, the clarinet requires a lot of time tinkering with equipment: mouthpieces, barrels, ligatures, and reeds in order to optimize your sound.
In comparison with the oboe, the clarinet is less of a high maintenance instrument. However, the clarinet is a high maintenance. So pared with an oboe you will find yourself spending a lot of time outside of practice caring for your two wooden instruments.
That being said, the clarinet is a nice complement musically to the oboe. They both share the classical and romantic repertoire. The oboe has its baroque repertoire, and the clarinet has its late romantic, big band and jazz repertoire.
And sonically the clarinet is a nice complement to the oboe. The oboe has a perky, cleanly articulated sound, and the clarinet has two distinct sounds: the chalumeau which is very deep resonant and very distinct, and the clarion which is very incisive.
Enjoy your journey of musical discovery.
Bartmann
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-12-09 16:08
kimber -
EMBOUCHURE
The oboe embouchure is usually bunched up "aardvark style" around the reed. The clarinet embouchure is flat and tight against the gums and bones.
Put half the red part of your lower lip over your bottom teeth. Bring the corners of your mouth in very slightly, but don't bunch up your lower lip.
Then put the mouthpiece over your lower lip so that your bottom teeth are directly under the spot where the lay of the mouthpiece separates from the reed.
Put your upper teeth on top of the mouthpiece, or, given the strengthening of your upper lip from playing oboe, put half the red part of your upper lip over your upper teeth. In either case, wrap your upper lip around to seal the embouchure.
Point your chin down. The area between your lower lip and your chin should be stretched flat against your lower teeth and gum.
LIGATURE
Don't worry about it. Get the cheapest metal ligature you can find.
Make sure the reed seals against the mouthpiece, particularly at the corners of the tip.
Tighten the ligature screws up snug, and then back them off 1/4 turn.
THE BREAK
This is just crossing back and forth between the upper and lower registers, exactly the same as on the oboe. It's a little more difficult on the clarinet, because the clarinet overblows at the twelfth rather than the octave like the oboe, so there are additional keys to bridge the gap.
For second-space A, the method books often instruct you to roll your left index finger up onto the A key, but this encourages beginners to roll up their entire left hand, which is wrong. Just "nudge" upward with your left index finger, minimizing the movement just as you would when rolling down to open the small hole on the oboe left index finger key. Similarly, for third-line Bb, use a small thumb motion to keep your thumb near its hole.
BLOWING AND VOICING
Air pressure is lower on clarinet than on oboe. No Harold Gomberg purple face. Also, voicing the tone with your tongue and soft palate on clarinet is very different from oboe. For clarinet, keep the back of your tongue high and the mid-front low, and let the reed vibrate. Think of your lower lip as flat straight across, rather than letting it wrap up around the reed, which dampens the vibrations.
Good luck. I play a little oboe, but getting air through the pencil-lead-size opening is difficult for me. I like the easier flow on clarinet.
Ken Shaw
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2009-12-09 17:04
Just do lots of googling, read the posts here, and have fun!
There are lots of sites where they discuss in detail how to start playing. Take your time and read carefully. If you're a methodical person, as I was, you'll have no problem.
I taught myself for about three years and when I finally had lessons, I discovered the main problems I had were with the interpretation of the music rather than the technical aspects of the clarinet.
I'm learning the oboe now and reckon that the clarinet reed must seem a doddle after the oboe! But the disadvantage is the fingering. I find playing scales on the oboe so much easier than the clarinet.
The major mistake I made when going from one to the other was the angle. Clarinet points down -ish. Oboe points up.
Main thing is....enjoy yourself!
Steve
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Author: justme
Date: 2009-12-09 18:31
Kimber;-,
This device may help you to get your clarinet embouchure down, I've read about some people having great success with this small, cheap device.
It's supposed to help the player get the proper embouchure for correctly playing a clarinet.
http://www.squeakterminator.com/
Just Me
http://woodwindforum.ning.com/
"A critic is like a eunuch: he knows exactly how it ought to be done."
CLARINET, n.
An instrument of torture operated by a person with cotton in his ears. There are two instruments that are worse than a clarinet -- two clarinets
Post Edited (2009-12-14 19:07)
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Author: scot455
Date: 2009-12-12 10:26
like yourself, I am a learner to the clarinet, though experienced at reading music.
I wanted a book that explained the mysteries of the clarinet, without the 'baby-talk' about music.
I found ' Dr Downing's -- Playing the Clarinet is Easy' at
www.drdowningmusic.com
It explains
holding the clarinet properly
embouchure
breathing
the myth of the break
proper fingering
I have no commercial relationship with the above -- other than as a satisfied customer
Ivan Mclay Komiski
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