 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kdk
Date: 2022-08-09 22:09
Someone recently mentioned Gustave Langenus's Complete Method for the Clarinet. I happen to have a copy of it and was browsing through the text at the beginning where Langenus explains everything you want (or need) to know about how to play the clarinet.
One detail I ran across that to me is an oddity is this instruction on breathing:
"Except when it is necessary to take a quick breath, clarinetists should take breath through the nostrils."
None of my teachers ever said that to me as a young player. I don't especially find the idea objectionable, but out of very long established habit, I found it almost impossible last night to make myself do it while playing, even though I never breathe through my mouth when I'm not preparing to blow into a clarinet.
Is this suggestion familiar advice to anyone here?
Karl
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2022-08-09 22:20
It was me that mentioned the book because somebody said he played double lip with a soft reed and I was keen to know more.
I've never been told to breathe through the nose, but I do find it interesting because that is the no. 1 most important thing that medics recommend to avoid hyperventilation.
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2022-08-10 00:20
Hi Karl,
I was taught to breath solely through my nose in 5th grade - when I picked up clarinet. No one ever told me any differently until I was in my 30s. I think I had already shifted to breathing in a bit through the corners of my mouth by then (in combination with my nose) as a matter of practicality.
Fuzzy
;^)>>>
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2022-08-10 00:44
I don't think I've ever tried the nose technique, though I can't say that there would be anything wrong with that as long as the maximum amount of air intake is not required.
...........Paul Aviles
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2022-08-10 00:51
Hyperventilation is probably exactly what Langenus in mind. In the early decades of the 20th century, hyperventilation seems to have been more of a problem than it is today. The famous maker of glass mouthpieces, Harry O'Brien, mentioned in an article that very close facings sometimes impeded the natural movement of air and gave players a light-headed sensation and irregular breathing. Yet traditional Viennese players have used much closer facings without incurring this health problem. Perhaps hyperventilation is socially fashionable in certain times and places and not in others, like the rash of Victorians who fashionably passed out and had to be revived with smelling salts? But breathing through the nose is probably more hygenic, with the air passing through hairs that catch dust particles and microbes to some extent.
Post Edited (2022-08-10 02:12)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2022-08-10 01:46
Let's not forget the oboe. There is still the need to proceed with the full breath and good air pressure in the oral cavity and yet very very little air escapes throughout a phrase. Ray Still used to tell his students to imagine that they are actually sipping air in as they play. The visualization apparently cuts down on the mental stress.
...............Paul Aviles
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