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Re: Regarding the Mozart Clarinet Concerto

Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-03-14 20:09

Ken's post triggers an old memory. When I started the clarinet (and for some years afterwards) I could not reed music. The first solo I learned (and that was completely by ear) was the Mozart in my sophomore year of high school. I was playing for my teacher (second chair with the Chicago Symphony) and he pointed to certain spot on the third page and wanted me to start there. I insisted on starting at a break point just prior; he refused my request. Finally I had to tell him that I did not know exactly what I was supposed to play. In that moment he realized that I could not read music and was as caught off guard as he was frustrated with me.

Additionally I know a blind clarinet player (has been from birth) who is one of the principal players of a local concert band. He plays the parts better than everyone else after about a rehearsal and a half.

Suffice to say that you do really learn by really listening. However, if you are a good reader (of music) one of many methods of developing flawless technique is to move through trickier passages slowly to train your fingers to be even more coodinated with regard to what you are hearing.

..............Paul Aviles

Post Edited (2020-03-14 23:18)

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