How to Start a Clarinetist from the Very Beginning ... Kelly Oliff Dorsey, cont.

Aperture

• The tongue should be in the “ee” position. If you say the letter “e” you can feel the back sides of your tongue touching the top back teeth. I teach my students to say “hee”. This is often a difficult practice to develop. I will very often, as a reminder, have the clarinet players hiss at me using the “hee” syllable just before I give a downbeat.

• When articulating notes, the tip of the tongue should be used to touch the tip of the reed.

After demonstrating these concepts to the student, place the mouthpiece as if they were playing the instrument while holding it at a 45°angle. Have the student repeat the instructions given above to make contact with the mouthpiece. A simple wiggle back and forth by the teacher allows them to tell if the top teeth are making contact. Tell the student to hold the mouthpiece still with their embouchure and keep it still. This will encourage them to tighten the corners and put enough pressure on the reed. To help students visualize where to place their bottom lip, here's a simple trick: gently slide a small piece of paper between the reed and the mouthpiece. The bottom lip should be placed where the paper stops.

have the student blow fast, cold, forward air (the sound should match a concert F#). Using the app, “Tonal Energy Tuner,” one of our favorite games is having the students match pitch. The longer they play in tune, the smiley face grows bigger and begins to blink. Young students get very excited when they are able to achieve that level!

Hand Placement

• The right thumb should be placed between the nail and first joint under the thumb rest on the bottom stack of the instrument.

• The left thumb (when covering the hole on the back of the top stack) should be at a 45° angle so that the register key can eventually be pressed simultaneously while still covering the hole.

• Fingers should be in a “C” shape and hover closely over the tone holes. Don’t let the fingers fly away too far from the tone holes. This will inhibit the ability to play fast passages accurately.

• When lifting fingers, it should be from the back knuckle closest to the wrist keeping the “C” shape of the fingers.

students learn all of their note names and fingerings. Once the embouchure and tone have been established, have students add one finger at a time down the instrument. When they reach C4 in the chalumeau register, touch the register key for them so the note becomes G5 in the clarion register. When students are left to do this on their own, they tend to change their embouchure. Therefore, by having the teacher touch the register key for the student, it allows them to feel and hear the note without changing their setup. Each day add another note down the chalumeau register and repeat the practice of touching the register key.

As students add fingers, another will often slide off a tone hole. The most common culprit is the ring finger on each hand. This is often a result from tilting or shifting the wrist. Have students squeeze their instrument to check for a complete ring indentation on their fingers. Rings should not be on the fingertips, but instead, should be on the pads of their fingers.

To help eliminate distractions, I prefer to begin students with just the mouthpiece and barrel. Once the mouthpiece placement is achieved,

• The right hand should never rest under the Eb side key on the top stack because it will often cause the key to bend as well as promote bad hand position.

Going Over The Break

Teach the break early, even before

In addition, teach students to roll their left pointer finger from F# to the A key in the throat tone range. Just as above, add one finger at a time going down the instrument and rolling back up to the A key. Continue this practice to the bottom of the instrument. It is important to make sure the pointer finger does not slide rather than roll.

Mouthpieces

Nothing is more important than a good mouthpiece/reed setup. This will make more of a difference in the success of the student’s performance than anything else. A few of my recommendations are as follows: Hite, Yamaha 4C, Vandoren 5RV, and Dolcé. The Dolcé mouthpiece is relatively new but is similar to the Hite mouthpiece and has great results, especially in the upper register.

Ligatures

Reverse ligatures (where screws are on the back side of the mouthpiece) are preferred. They make better contact with the reed. No matter which ligature you choose, screws should always point to the right. A few recommended ligatures are: Rovner, Bonade, and Vandoren Optimum.

Reeds

It is important to note that playing on a brand-new reed for a long period of time shortens the life and performance of the reed. A sign of an overworked reed is when the tip of the reed will look “see through.” Stop playing on it and let it rest. Continuing to play on the reed at this point will cause a very bright sound and the upper register notes can be difficult to achieve. Reeds can be problematic and considerable care must be taken. A great practice is to require students to have a minimum of four good, working reeds at all times. Because reeds are made from a wood substance, they will often be affected by changes in the weather such as cold, hot, rainy, dry or muggy days. Reeds must be “broken in” to help avoid problems.

A helpful “break in” process is as follows:

• Day 1: play on a new reed for no more than 3 minutes.

• Day 2: double the playing time to 6 minutes.

• Day 3: double the playing time to 12 minutes.

• Day 4: double the playing time to 24 minutes.

After a few days of this process, the reeds will be ready for a lengthier playing time. A recommended practice is to rotate “broken in” reeds daily. It is helpful to have students mark their reeds, so they know which ones have the best performance results. Another suggestion would be to mark them for each day of the week for rotation.

Vandoren offers several different types of reeds that are displayed in a helpful comparison chart on their website. Generally, the more open tipped mouthpieces require a softer reed. Likewise, the more closed tip mouthpieces require harder reeds. I recommend starting beginners on Vandoren 2.5-3.0. The goal is to move to a size 3.0 by the end of the year. More advanced students will typically require a 3.5 or V12 3.5+.

Maintenance

• Grease all corks regularly to keep them from drying out and breaking.

» If a joint wiggles easily, it is time for a new cork.

• Swab out instruments after every playing session.

» Be careful of the post inside the top joint. NEVER force a swab through the instrument! Make sure the swab is straight and not bunched up before pulling it slowly through the instrument.

• Swab the insides of all joints.

• Use a Qtip to clean tone holes.

• Use a small clean paint brush to clean small, hard to reach areas so they are dust free.

• Keep a very small screwdriver to tighten loose screws.

» Do not over tighten screws. This will keep the key from moving freely.

» Do not tighten the screw on the throat tone A4 key. This is an adjustment screw only and there should be a slight wiggle in the G# key before it picks up the A key.

Recommended Artists

Learning to play a musical instrument well is largely based on listening to great examples. Here are a few to consider: Sabine Meyer, Julian Bliss, Andrew Mariner, Martin Fröst, Larry Combs, Stanley Drucker,

Pedagogy

Alessandro Carbonare, Jon Manasse, Sharon Kam, Karl Leister, Ricardo Morales, Jack Brymer, Yehuda Gilad, Harold Wright, Robert Marcellus, and Richard Stoltzman.

Troubleshooting

Issues

Airy Sound

Possible Fixes

• Reed is too hard

• Reed is placed too high on the mouthpiece

• Use faster air

• Tighten corners

• More pressure on the reed is needed

• Reed may not have enough moisture

Bright Sound

• Reed is too soft

• Reed is placed too low on the mouthpiece

No Sound or Small Sound

• Biting too hard on the reed so it won’t vibrate

• Not enough mouthpiece in the mouth

• Fingers are not covering the tone holes completely

• Push the clarinet up into the top teeth with the right thumb

Flat Tone

• Not enough pressure on the reed (weak embouchure)

• Barrell is pulled out too much

• Angle of the clarinet is too much (Bring it in toward the player more while keeping the head level)

• Tongue is too low

• Use colder, faster air

Harsh “slap” Sound (when articulating)

• Students not using the tip of their tongue, rather they are touching the reed further back on their tongue (This is called anchor tonguing and should be discouraged)

Upper Register (notes not speaking)

• Tighten the corners

• Use faster air

• Raise the tongue

Developing the tone quality of the clarinet, especially in the upper register, takes time. Students must develop good habits, and they must be reminded daily until these basics become second nature. This may be accomplished in days, weeks, months or even years. It simply depends on the student. As teachers, we must be consistent in working with our students until they accomplish the task at hand. Remember, we are asking them to process several types of information at one time, not only about how to play their instrument, but also how to blend with others and how to play musically. Diligence and patience are needed to apply these fundamentals daily, and this will make a huge difference in your overall results whether it be for state or any other type of performance.