Clarinet Composure and Centrals

"TUNE AND SOUND"

Music is a world of creativity. Welcome to the fundamentals of the clarinet! When properly played, the clarinet produces a beautiful sound. But, if there is even one mistake or slip-up, the clarinet will make a very annoying squeak! Squeaking is essential to the clarinet, because squeaking is like your notification that something is wrong.
 

I’m sure every successful clarinetist has squeaked at least a hundred times. Anyway, everything needs to be perfect, if you want your clarinet to make a proper sound. You need to have perfect posture, good embouchure, and a working clarinet. Let’s focus on posture, first. You should always have a straight back and your feet should be on the floor. You should always be attentive, and focused. Posture is essential to tune and sound.

A good tune happens, when you blow an even stream of air that can be distributed among the instrument. Good air flow can help your tune. A clarinetist; Paula Corley says that clarinetists should voice their mouth in the vowel “E”. You should always have a tight lock around your mouth piece, and good embouchure. Embouchure is how you keep your face in band. If playing the clarinet, you should have a good posture, and have tight lips around the mouthpiece. You make a “too” noise, as you bump your tongue against the reed. 

Having a working clarinet is also very important. It can be very frustrating, to deal with a broken instrument, thinking you’re the problem! If everything is perfect You are ready to go!  Now we need to talk about heavy and strong air flow. Don’t puff out your cheeks or suck in air. Create a long breeze of air, that you can feel from your lungs and out through the bell. If you imagine a long string from your lungs through your clarinet, you can achieve this. A strong sound is key. Sometimes you can make airy sounds, and it doesn’t sound right. It shouldn’t sound like you’re hearing an actual clarinet; it should sound like a recording. That is how pure it should sound! Keeping in beat also helps with tune. If you feel confident, then your sound will be beautiful.

Woodwindintation.weebly.com says that high and low notes can help with tune. Playing challenging or high notes can warm you up for practice time. It recommends using vowels while adjusting pitch. Keeping your mouth in different ways changes pitch so you can adjust. Now that I think about it; I’ve been playing the clarinet with my mouth held in an “E” shape this entire time! In sixth grade I used to have a lot of trouble with my instrument. I figured it was because of my posture! I was given this book in sixth grade, called “Tradition of Excellence”. 

The book states that you should keep your chin parallel to the floor, and your elbows away from your clarinet and knees. Keeping your clarinet at a 45-degree angle can also help. You will always need necessary items to have a successful practice time. A metronome will help you keep beat. If you can’t buy a metronome, just download a metronome app on a phone. You should be able to keep beat that way. If practicing pieces of music, you should always use a music stand, to read your paper.

 If you have music to practice, always have it in front of you! Memorizing a piece is great, but I recommend you do that after you’ve learned the entire piece. This way you can always learn more during practice! On a blog, I discovered that you shouldn’t pinch the corners of your reed. It also says to voice “E’s”. Voicing seems like a good technique for many clarinetists. Pitch is very important, especially for beginners. 

When my sister started playing, the notes were so airy, and out of tune! I alerted her about this, and I taught her how to apply pressure. If you really blow in a nice even stream of air, you will make a nice sound. Do not puff out your cheeks! Puffing out your cheeks will make it even more hard to play. Many people use a double fold lip to play the clarinet. 

I would recommend this: fold your bottom lip and place your front teeth directly on the mouthpiece. This way you can produce a good sound. There’s nothing more magical than playing your very first note or sound on an instrument! After that milestone, you successfully enter the world of music. Where struggles become high notes and triumphs will be satisfied playing.

SOUND PRODUCTION 

When I first started playing, I learned my very first note (Middle C). This note had a nice tang to it, as it was low and high! This year I started taking private lessons. My teacher introduced me to this cool new technique/teaching method. He said that if students learned the high notes, first they would breeze through the low ones. I have got to agree! Moving to the upper register or “crossing the break” is a bit of a pain in the back! 

The picture below is the literal definition of the one thing that BUGS me about this instrument! The picture shows a b flat to natural transition! Just one little note change, right? WRONG! A b flat is the “A” key and the register key together. A b natural is when you press every single darn key on the clarinet! Maybe, that’s why Squidward is bad at playing the clarinet! 

Anyway, whatever you feel about it, reaching the upper register is a big step for all clarinetists! 

 

Clarinet sound is produced with good embouchure, posture, and 99% enthusiasm! I became a clarinet

 

player by accident, because some person told me to play the clarinet to train for saxophone! But I’m 

 

kind of happy that I made that mistake, or else I wouldn’t be here writing this! I love my instrument, 

 

and I really hope you enjoyed reading this! Until next time, clarinet companion!