 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jrain54
Date: 2016-06-14 14:47
Hello all,
Recently I have been struggling. When I play my clarinet, I end up playing from the back of my throat and you can hear an almost guttural sound. It's like I am pushing the air out from what feels like the back of my throat - I'm not sure how else to describe it. It is very frustrating for me because it's not only uncomfortable but it means I can't really play properly.
I struggled with this same problem about 8 months ago and then managed to recover but now I've seemed to lapsed back into it.
I'm REALLY worried because last night (I play lead clarinet in my high school band, so I have a few solos) my band performed at a Fanfare Finals competition and I struggled terribly through the pieces.. Usually I get a little nervous in a performance but this time the only thing hindering me was this strange 'habit' of mine. It's so frustrating, because I LOVE playing, and I want to play the best I can. I feel like I'm letting down the entire band if I'm not.
Incredibly, my band made it through to the State Finals (which I am absolutely overjoyed about because it's the first time our band has progressed that far!!!!) and the competition is being held in August. I AM SUPER FREAKED OUT, because I especially don't want this problem to be bugging me then.
I know for sure its nothing about a lack of practice / not having played in a long time or anything, because I play regularly for band, in my own time, for music class and for private lessons.
If anything, it may be over-practice? But that shouldn't really be a thing anyway?
Though it may also be worth noting that I can sort of feel when I'm not feeling right to play. Last night before the performance we'd already had an intense morning rehearsal, and when tuning I could feel that my breathing/ability would probably give way.
Once I was listening to one of my friends play her french horn and she started making that same guttural sound when she played and I asked her about it and said I do that too and she said that she doesn't breathe properly. Could it be a breathing problem?
PLEASE if anyone here has struggled with the same issue or knows what I can do to fix this I would be so grateful!!
Thank you!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-06-14 15:10
Do you reckon it's happening because you're maybe nervous, tense or tired? They can do odd things to people.
I remember at college during a clarinet recital, the player just couldn't get any air out and she said afterwards it was as if her throat kept closing up. She was usually fine, but I think nerves got the better of her as she was really struggling to make a sound after a while of playing.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2016-06-14 16:51
Is it possible that some of the air is actually escaping through your nose? That can cause a feeling of disturbance and noises in your throat as air escapes intermittently and causes vibration in your pharyngeal area. It can steal some - sometimes most - of the power of your air stream at the reed once it begins.
I don't know that this is the explanation. If it sounds like it could be, there is a problem called "velopharingeal insufficiency" that has occasionally come up here before. It is a physical problem, not one of playing technique. If my description rings at all true, I have a couple of ways to control it and others here may have suggestions as well (no point in going on if your sensations are completely different).
In any case, it wouldn't hurt to ask your doctor about the problem. He or she may refer you to an ear-nose-throat specialist. Whatever the explanation, it sounds like something that could have a physical cause and that might be treatable/curable through medical or physical therapy.
Do you use very hard reeds?
Karl
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2016-06-14 17:04
Lie on your back in bed or on the floor. Inhale by first expanding your ribs at the sides and back, followed by your abdomen and finally by your chest. Work toward doing these things simultaneously.
Exhale by relaxing. Toward the end, push with your ribs and belly. Again, it should be a single, seamless process.
Then do the same sitting in a chair, without your clarinet.
Then play chalumeau C4 as a long tone, letting the weight of the breath support the tone.
Put your right hand on your belly below your ribs and play slow tongued notes. There should be absolutely no puffs of air when you begin notes. The tongue interrupts the movement of the air and then releases the reed to vibrate again.
Also, put your right hand very lightly on your neck and watch in a mirror. There must be no movement in your throat.
The more movement you get rid of, the better. People watching you shouldn't be able to tell whether you're playing.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2016-06-14 18:39
Can you deliberately make the problem occur? That can be a way of clarifying things.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2016-06-14 19:09
Well intended suggestions for practicing breathing notwithstanding, respiration is something the body does without any help - it's a survival process - and unless you're doing something actively to interfere with it, it's hard to imagine that breathing technique is the cause of this.
It's worthwhile to try to analyze more thoroughly what you actually feel and what you actually *think* is happening physically. You may not get it exactly right - but hopefully you'll get close enough to describe it in a little more detail than just a "gutteral sound."
By the way, you mention that this happened 8 months ago. It looks from your email address that you're in Australia? I don't know what the allergy seasons are there, but 8 months could suggest some allergic reaction is involved that produces mucous that either obstructs the airway or interferes with closing off the nasal passages when you blow out against resistance.
Have you experimented with slightly softer reeds? Tried drinking water when this problem begins? Does it go away after a break? Does it start right away or after you've been playing for awhile? If only after a while, how long?
I have had the problem I described earlier for the past nearly 50 years and your description sounds very much like what I feel when the air begins leaking into my nose. It begins to happen after an hour or more of playing when I'm in shape - shorter when I've been a little out of practice because I assume the muscles that are involved need to be strengthened by use, and playing a clarinet involves blowing against more resistance than normal breathing does (hence my question about hard reeds).
Try to think a little more about what's going on and describe what you find. I do think checking with your doctor to look for a possible physical cause is worthwhile. I think the likelihood that this is just a bad habit you've somehow developed is small, and I doubt from personal experience if over-practicing is a cause, although not resting enough during extended practice or rehearsal sessions can contribute.
Karl
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Author: DougR
Date: 2016-06-14 20:52
I personally have had to deal with a version of this, on both flute and clarinet. In my case, it results from thinking the throat has to be involved in 'voicing' or 'shaping' or somehow tuning a note, and if one isn't careful, the throat ends up getting involved all the time, it becomes an unconscious habit, and is needed maybe only 1% of the time, if that.
there are a lot of good suggestions here and you're going to have to decide which is most responsive to your particular situation.
For starters, you could try doing the Baermann scales, and just OBSERVE what's going on in your throat, larynx etc. as you do the scales. Does your throat constrict with register changes, do you feel the chokey thing in the back of your throat on certain notes or certain interval leaps? So try it again, without any 'help' from the throat. If your embouchure, air, and tongue position are right, the notes still should come out, possibly even better than they do with all the 'help'.
I may be misinterpreting what you're going through & if so, I apologize.
There's another part to this, and that is AIR. Your air has to be strong, and focused; I found I had to use a lot more air than I had been accustomed to. Yehuda Gilad says "Breathe from just below the small of your back." Tom Ridenour, I understand, compares clarinet air to an aerosol container, with a strong "F-F-F-F" component. The air column has to be strong, not weak, and from the base of the spine, not from your shoulders/chest.
So I'd start there. This may not be exactly responsive to your version of what's going on, but if you experiment an pay attention to what's happening, maybe you'll be able to tell what to do (or more importantly, what NOT to).
Harvey Pittel has a bunch of wonderful YouTube videos on the teachings of Joe Allard, and no. 5 discusses breathing mechanisms (especially in the 2nd half). You might also look through the "The Master Speaks" videos of Joe Allard himself.
But for your immediate purposes, maybe try some scales, watch for throat action, see if you can let it go, keeping the air pressure up the whole time. This is definitely a solvable thing, because I've noticed my playing has improved a lot since I became aware of it.
Good luck!
ETA: I'm lucky to have a really good teacher who doesn't let me get away with 'throat' playing, and constantly calls me on it. He showed me a version of the exercises Ken Shaw mentions in this thread, and I found them very helpful too.
Post Edited (2016-06-14 21:22)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-06-14 23:10
It could be two different things.
At first I thought you are referring to overdoing an "AHHHH" posture with the back of your tongue (you can feel this difference between "EEEE" and "AHHHH" just by putting a hand to your throat - going back and forth you can feel your adam's apple drop like a rock). If that IS the case, you have to not do it to the degree that you are (or just not do it at all).
The other possibility is that you are tensing lots of stuff that does not need to be tense and this could include your larynx (voice box). There IS a legitimate version of intensity vibrato some oboe players and flute players use by opening and nearly closing their vocal cords - rather than controlling this with the mid section muscles. So perhaps your vocal cords are pretty much closed off and you are straining just to get the air through.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: jrain54
Date: 2016-08-05 15:34
Hi Karl,
it's been almost two months since this post, and unfortunately the problem is much the same - if not worse.
In response to your questions,
'Does it start right away or after you've been playing for awhile? If only after a while, how long?'
At the time of the post it would only begin happening after a while. Maybe 35-45 minutes or so. However, it's gotten worse and sometimes even when I immediately begin playing the discomfort is there.
It's strange as well because sometimes even when I'm not playing I find I cant take a sufficient, satisfying breath. Possibly as a result, I find I'm yawning an awful lot too. Tiredness may be playing a part in this problem?
I get around 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night (late nights finishing assignments and early mornings for band/choir; not enough sleep to be 100% revitalized the following day but it's not like I'm completely fatigued or anything..) which should be alright, but the lack of sleep could add up and become a problem...?
If I were to describe the problem in more detail it would be that it's really uncomfortable playing, and I feel like the throat sort of closes up. Sometimes I feel it in my ears too (not really sure how to explain it) - like a sort of crackling. As the throat etc and ears are all connected this would make sense, so I think I'm using a part of the throat/breathing area that I shouldn't be using.
I'm really not sure that makes any sense, but I am seriously concerned.
The band competition is in 2 weeks time - so this problem is really hindering me (and freaking me out).
As you said it may be worth seeing a doctor..
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Author: jrain54
Date: 2016-08-05 15:53
Thank you for your feedback!
As you described the 'chokey thing in the back of the throat', that is exactly what it feels like.
The lower register is more comfortable when playing, but the Bb 'pinch fingering' is uncomfortable and I can really feel the discomfort in my throat there. The higher ranges I think are the worst.
As you said, I should try play without letting the throat get involved but it seems to be something I can't turn on or off.
If you read my reply above, I describe the problem a bit more.
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Author: two toots ★2017
Date: 2016-08-06 15:50
When you say this happens when you are not playing it alarms me! See a doctor! It is not a case of "may be worth seeing a doctor", it is a case of SEE A DOCTOR!
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2016-08-06 18:18
You said "It's strange as well because sometimes even when I'm not playing I find I cant take a sufficient, satisfying breath." "Sometimes I feel it in my ears too (not really sure how to explain it) - like a sort of crackling."
See a doctor, absolutely.
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