The CLARINET and its Daily Routine E. C. Moorepeur sic or 380 Neel 402. FOREWORD This book has been written with the definite objective of helping the school band instructor in teaching the clarinet efficiently. An attempt has been made to condense into there pages the knowledge gained in a lifetime of teaching private students, classes, bands, and orchestras, Most of this knowledge has been gained the hard way by experimentation and long experience with students of various age levels. ifficult of -s in teaching clarinet can be largely al pr The clarinet is sometimes considered to be the most Bic on of a few fundamental and pract instruments to teach, The solved hy a simpli ples which are herein presented. ‘The clarinet is a most fascinating and charming instrument to play if one learns to play artistically with # beautiful tone. Every effort should be made to teach students to enjoy the sheer beauty of tone from the very first lesson. Detailed instructions are given which describe not only what to do, hut more important how ta do it, If these instructions are followed meticulously the teacher will he assured of rea ing youngsters how to play beautifully. nable success in teach. We are living in a complex age. With our large number of clinics, papers, and discussions, the young director can © hy the maze of directions and theories which are presented. Someone hhas said that often betray us by their very simplicity”. Certainly this thought can be applied to our teaching, Often the application of just good common y get bewildered ‘the fundamentals of life are simple, so simple that they “horse sense” will clear up a complex situation. Let us scale all of our efforts to the sole purpose of benefiting the students entrusted to This book is one of the Educational Series published by Leblanc Publications, Inc, as a contribution to the advancement of school music. It is sincerely hoped that the material presented will be of significant value to the teachers and their students E. € MOORE, A.B. A. WOORTICmus! 1 AE ‘9/20/00 Table of Contents CHArTER 1 2 10, WL 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 1, 18 20. UNDERSTANDING THE INSTRUMENT AND THE, "TEACHING PROBLEMS. Importance of fr lemone—Building good habit Comenen tauls in playing STARTING THE STUDENT "The instrument and ourhpiece—Asembling Ue clatinet—Plaving dhe teed— Emnovehite—The fet tnes—Hand pation, TONE PRODUCTION TONGUING ‘THE FIRST EXERCISES INTRODUCING THE CLARION REGISTER Without written notes—By 12tho—Teaeh entte register a once RULES FOR FINGERING AND FINGERING SYSTEM Fout simple rulee—Entire fingering eet explained, INTRODUCING THE ALTISSIMO REGISTER Without written notes—Anceipaing the instruction took—seven base fogerings. ADDITIONAL FINGERINGS fngesigy quickly Till Sogeringy CLARINETS WITH SPECIAL KEYS 1-7 Clariner—Aniclates Gg—19-7 Clatiner— Patented By mechanism, HOW TO PRACTICE A schedvle—How te practionRose, 40 Erades for + Clarinet” BREATH CONTROL A simple method of teaching-—Importance of correct posture MOUTHPIECES “The sight mouthpiece—Relationship 10 jeacrumen REEDS ‘Chosing the seed-Cure of thc teed djing she teed THE CLARINET FAMILY Members and transpoitony—Similaities and difecence CARE OF THE CLARINET 10 wep with explanation, RANDOM NOTES MUSIC FOR THE CLARINET FINGERING CHARTS DAILY ROUTINE FOR CLARINET Google Pace 16 @ 2 aL aAbSepranina Bh Soprano © Soprano. thSoprano ASoprano Eb ALe F Banset Horn ub Nass “Letlane Bb Contra Alto Lsttene Bb Contra Bast ‘atten Bb Octo Contra Base — CLARINET FAMILY Composs of all clarinets and their corresponding (concert) sounds WRITTEN Sounds Sounds v9 written Sounde Sounds Sounds Sounds Sounds = a ae ——— Sounds 1> Possible on Full Boshrm 2 Pomible on Leblanc Mode Si? 5 Pouible on Leblanc Model 45 =>” Pomsible extended ranges Google COMPASS OF THE CLARINET FAMILY 420 baUnderstanding the Instrument and the Teaching Problems The clarinet, when well played, is ungues tionably ane of the most beavtiful toned of all musical instruments, This ig due to its inherent acoustical properties. It is a most versatile in- stroment with three registers exch having a dis- tinetive tonal color, Yet these: registers Islend, inter the Lovel ‘composite tone so characteristic of the clarinet, Amazing technic ean he ac quired by cireful practice, It is a mest faseina- ting instrument to play #f one leans to produce « beautiful tone, This must come first if one is to get the utmust siti faction from playing it Many instructors consider the clarinet the most difficult of énstraments to teach. This is true unless the teacher wanderstands certain fundamental principles and applies them com sistently. Much of the troxible incurred in teach- ing musical instruments can be traced directly to the first lessons. fn the first Leblane “Clarinet Book" a amethod of starting students is de scribed. ‘This method leas heen used success Folly for years amd has proved tobe physio- logically and psvelologically sound. Ie is a compilation of methods advocated by many master teachers, It will be outlined again in thin book, No change will be made inthe method but the presentation will he clarified Studying history can be considered solely as mental setivity which is necessary to the acquisition of knowledge, Learning to play a mnsical instrument mot only necessitates. the nnequisition of knowledge but én addition many complex muscular hs ist Be formed. These ww muscles which are sensi tive to fint impressions and are extremely per sistent in retaining them. Hence the importance df the first lessens which aust he given with latinost care. As a erude ilystration af what is meant, suppose we give a boy an old chirinet anc a screw driver and ask him to take the instrament apart and reassemble it, If it is done as a purely exploratory stunt he should bits 9 habits involve sn he able to do it with no help. Suppose, how- ever, that we give the clarinet to the boy and Jet him tey to fine out how to. play it without any coaching. He may possibly succeed, but the odds are extremely: great that he will form so many bad muscular habits that his future progress will he surely hanclicapped if not ab- solutely blocketL. There are four things evident in this way of learning that to me are decidedly Ast The clarinet is built to be played in a lefnite predetermined way. 2nd ‘The main objective in learning to. play is to open the door to the realm of music in as short a time as possible. This objective is lost sight of in a hap. hazard “do it yourself” method, Sed “This method disregards knowled ge which has heen accumulated over the cen- turies by artist teachers, skillful artisans, and. scientists th This method of stating takes no cog- nizance of the persisteney with which muweulir habits cling alter they are once formed. It is a great waste of time ind extremely discouraging to try to break bad habits once they are formed. Methods of teaching any skill must make the tools med hecome relatively unimportant as som ay possible. A musical instrument should oly he an emotions Conall. The oainiplation of the instrument, tone production, reacting notes, and counting, time must sink so deeply into the subconscious that the entice attention can be concentrated ‘upon the interpretation of music. All methods Of instruction should lead te this end, wis for expressing our If we observe an expert violinist give the first lesson to a student we will rarely af ever find a book before the student, Instead, the student will be tought orally how te hold the instrument properly. how to hold the bow, and 5last ut mot least how to tine the strings. His sole attention will be upon the instrument asd Its tone from the beginning Compare this method of teaching violin with a method of teaching, clarinet in which the child is taught to put the instrument together properly, to acl just the reed, place th correctly, to hold the instrument with jood hand positions and to blow a few tones with no votes hefore him to distract his first efforts in forming correct habits. You can do this in about Sfreci minutes actual time by following, pre cisely the instructions given later. Contrast this method with giving a child a clarinet and a ook and sending him home to learn to play mouthpiece in his mouth withont carefail guidance in forming the all important correct muscular habits, An important factor in child education is that of immediate success. In the method to he outlined later this is accomplished. never be forgotten that children are creatures of action, Verbose talks and explanations while interesting to you as a teacher are boresome to a child. He wants to play, nat listen to explana tions, Consequently, all explanations must be as short as possible Drill and then drill some more but the lessons must move. Remember that “telling is not teaching.” Learniny, anything whieh involves muscular activity 16 The te to get dlrilling clone without having it heoome drudge Ie must ss deill thor must be resourceful and tactful There are several pitfalls that must he avoid! ed if students are to be taught efficiently at the beginning. Before we talk about these let fos mention a fault that is found in many teachers’ methods of instruction. It is a per- fectly natural one and easy to acquire. “We forget the days of our youth,” if L may he pers mitted! to paraphrase this quotation. What is meant is that the teacher has studied hard, worked long hours and spent « lot of money ii learning to play, Now when he starts texching does he start at the hottom with his students? Often he does not, Let me explain this further fay saving that the teacher's carver is like climbs ing a ladder. As he ascends he gets into ad- vanced technic, He becomes reed and mouth piece conscious and acquires very complicated inleas of tonguing, é .d breathing. Now, when he Google Jessons—common faults in playing starts a youngster he steps down just @ rang or two from his eminence: instead of going, all the way down the ladder to the youngster's level We see this demonstrated many times at clinies by some of our finest woodwind men who do not come down to the level of the yong hand directors who need help and have usivally mucle an expensive trip Ro get it On pages 7-10 are listed some of the faults in clarinet playing that are found in grade school, high school, and even in college hands, These faults can almost always be traced hack to the first lessons received. Other common faults are Wrong conception of tone. The tone quality lacks clarity and riehness. When players. he- come tone conscious they almost invariably be: come more interested! in playing. Bad intonation. ‘This goes along with poor tone quality. Players will never play in tine oF with good quality until they become conscious of the tones they are playing, and are inspired to play beautifully. They ust build @ mental keyboard. A method for doing this will be given Inter. Wrong fingerings. Four rules for fingering the clarinet will be given later, The advantages of the Bochm system are often completely lost by wrong fingerings. This is surely a block to ac> «quiring a smooth and rapid technic. Every director must admit that these are common Eiulls aniong young elarinetists. It is an extremely fallacious idea to think that these faults will correct themselves. More practice will not correct them unless students are conscious of them and have developed the will to correct then, The onky worthwhile method of practicing fs to "practice to be perfect” As said hefore these faults invariably can be traced ack to the first lessons and as instructors we must accept the responsibility for these.Right and wrong ways of playing Ist Poor lip control. ‘The lower lip is often pulled inte the mouth too rar, POOR coop nd Lack of facial control. ‘The muscles of the mouth and chin are too loose, sometimes to the extent that the clarinet mouthpiece slides around in the mouth. The chin muscles are often bunched up instead of being pulled down flat. ? GoogleRight and wrong ways of playing Brel Wrong tonguing methods This fault is easily discovered hy watching a player: throat and jaw. There must be no motion of the throat and jaw when tonguing, When = Finger is pressed against the muscle between the throat and lower jaw there should be nn ‘motion present. Tonguing: should be performed exclusively with just the tip of the tongue. POOR Geop 4th Wrong posture. A poor posture prevents correct breathing. This will be discussed more in another chapter. 8 GoogleRight and wrong hand positions POOR coop 5th Wrong right hand position, The thumy rest of the clarinet will be found to he over the first joint of the thumb instead of being just above the nail. The fingers often times will be found rest- ing en the key bar 6th Wrong deft hand position. Many times the left hand will be wed For effi cient playing. It is best that beginners start wit the fingers arched rather high and in a position to use the Ab and A keys easily. 9 Go glePOOR coop, Tth Wrong use of the fingers. The fingers flop around too much and lift too high. Starting the Student Let us delve into the method of starting, student as was given in the first Leblane “Clar- ‘net Book” This method, if followed meticu- Tously and consistently, can prevent the forma- tion of the ten common faults mentioned above. ‘OF course you can never discover the adva tages of this system and the exse of teaching it unless you try it. Let me assure you that 1 die not originate this system.. merely selected and ‘compiled it from the teachings of many fine in- structors. Is it asking too much to request that you fry the method open mindedly cractly as contlined before passing judgment on it or deviating from it? Please note than an instruc tion boak is not used. Teach the Insirument 10 ~ Google First, It takes only a lesson or two to create strong enough impiessions upon the muscles and mind to last lifetime. ‘The student has all he can do at first in thinking of posture, hands, and facial muscles without trying to read notes and count time. Let us describe this method as briefly as possible with some detailed illustrated instruc tions of the twelve steps invelved. Believe me when I say that after you have learned the routine as described you can start a student {in about fifteen minutes actual clock time. In that short time a student will get strong muscu lar impressions of correct hand pesitions, lip formation, and tongue movements. He shouldbe able to produce a nice tone on five notes He will also have Hearned how to assemble his clarinet correctly. True, the speed with which he acquires these things is largely de- pendent upon rapid but careful teaching. This method can be used with great success in classes, It is the most efficient method for start ing beginners I have ever heard of Tt is assumed that the student has the best clarinet he can afford and a mouthpiece to match if, with a medium French lay. (The Vandoren mouthpiece, for example, with a 2V for 2RV lay will be perfect for all beginning students, in fact it is preferred by many top ‘ranking professionals for their personal use.) Select a rather light reed for the start because ‘we want no tension or stiffness in the playing, Haye the student follow these steps exactly as given, He rust stind erect for this lesson. This 48 very important! Ist Wet the reed in the mouth while as- sembling the clarinet, 2nd Tf necessary grease the cork joints with small amount of cork grease. Sed Assemble the clarinet by putting the hell on the lower joint. Next put the upper joint in plice. Be careful that the connecting lever doesn't get be joint in place and finally the mouthpiece with the flat side or facing on the lower side in line the register key 4th Hold the clarinet well up under the Jeft arm with the thumb hole on top as in the illustration andl set the ligature in place with the screws on top of the facing, Press the tip of the wetted reed lightly on the mouthpiece table to flatten it Neat slip the wetted reed under the ligatu butt end first so that the tip will not get broken. Adjust the tip of the reed so that it is even with the outside edge of the tip of the lay Make certain the butt end is centered on the lay. Hold the reed in phice with the left thumb, ‘Tighten the serews so that the back screw is tightest (but not too tight) and the serew nearest the tip is just snug, It is impor tant to establish this routine at once. 1 suggest making a regular drill of it Sth Hold the clarinet with the thumb and first finger of the left hand only around the barrel joint. Do not use the whole hand. ‘This ‘ext place the barrel nvPlacing the reed Phicement of the Ligature Flattening the Reed Tip Inserting the Reed Holding the Clarinet for the First Tone GooglePlocing the clarinet in the mouth Placing the Clarinet against the upper teeth Holding the clarinet while blowing the frst tone fs important; it will establish immediately the best playing angle, 6th While holding the clarinet with the left hand only as shown in the picture, open the mouth wide. Set the mouthpiece against the upper teeth with about 34 of an inch in the mouth Close the mouth and draw just a slight bit of the lower lip over the teeth Now blow throwgh the clarinet while hold- ‘ing the mouthpiece tip Brmly againvt the up- pper teeth with a slight pressure of the lower ip against the reed, Teach the student to stop the tone by simply ceasing to blow. The lips must stoy in position until the tone has ended. be ‘Tth Next the stutent must hold the clarinet with the right hand only, The left hand must not touch the instrument The thumb rest must be placed on the thumb at a place nearly touching, the nail The fingers must be quite well arched ane 13The first tones all the right hand holes must be closed with the soft cushions just below the finger tips. It fs rather strange but true that the student will sthinost lways take a graceful sight hand po- sition if done as described. Remember the left fharul must not touch the instrument at all, He must now blow as before but this time play dotied half notes hy earl! Correct right hand position (right hand only) 4 my Google Correct right hand position Sth With the clarinet held firmly as above with the right hand finger holes closed, the student will now hold the left hand with the fingers straight up as shown, ‘The low Fs key is touched lightly with the left little finger and the top Gé key with the first finger just above the first joint. These contacts must be maintained while closing the left hand holes with the tips of the Singers. The thumb hole must not be closed until the fingers are in place. Now close the thumb hole with the thumb curved in as in the il lustration, The length of the thumb will determine the place of contact. Be extremely careful that the Fingers stay in place as shown. If the thumb is allowed to curve out it will cause the fingers to get out of position, (Note: It is an interest ‘ng. fact that this left hand position is basically the same fox the lute, oboe, saxophone, and bassoon, The position of the left hand for the violin and the viola is identically the same ex: ‘cept that the hand is turned over.) The left hand fingers and the thumb are now raised a half inch from the respective holeswhile still keeping contact with the top Gp and the low FE keys. Do not press these keys enough to open or close them. Correct position of the thumb Sth Next the thumb hole and the frst left hand finger holes must be closed. Keep contact ‘with the two keys as before Lift the right hand fingers up but now press (open) the low RG§ key with the little finger of this hand. ‘The objective here is to keep the right hand anchored in a good position and to prevent these fingers from resting on the key bar. This stunt works like a charm and is a very impor- tant thing to do. It will go far in. preventing the fingers from lifting too high (See following page for illustrations of com- plete correct left hand positions.) Second step—correct left hand position aE soogle GoogleCorrect position of the left hianel complete) Correct position of the hands with left hanel tuvnbs aud first finger closed Tone Production The tone quality on any instrument is as im- portant as the voice quality for a singer. In a way, this cansideration is even more important ‘on an instrument because of the fimbre—or eolor of tone-associated with the respective sounds of the various instruments, The clarinet has the most peculiar timbre of any wind instrument This becomes more understandable when we reminded that “clarinet” means clarity of sound. It is w fact that the cl ment to the human voice. This is. prominently displayed by the association—and beautiful blending—of the clarinet and voices in operatic works. th however, something my typical in the sound of the clarinet which makes it so unique and so immediately recognizable among other instruments or voices. This “some: thing” in the acoustical qualities of that instru: ment is the timbre-often culled “frequencies”, inet is the closest instre 16 Google inet performance must be developed by student and teacher to the fullest extent. Nothing should be allowed to mar it. Besides the perfection of the instrument, the mouthpiece must he of nor: mal opening and the reed of medium strength. A wide mouthpiece opening or a reed too stiff (or both) would be very detrimental to the timbre by producing a tone devoid of that clarity and color, leaning. toward the bassoon, saxophone, horn (or the fogchorn! ) Among the main requisites for tone quality is the position of the mouthpiece om the lower lip with the instrument held at the proper angle particularly not too high. The mouthpiece should he inserted! far enough into the mouth so that the reed will rest on the lower lip exactly at the point of separation between the reed and the mouthpiece. Too litle of the mouthpiece in the mouth would cause the lower lip to press down-) over the “empty space” thus interfering with the vibrations of the reed and resulting in a small ruffled tone and squeaks. This defect is @ common occurrence as sti dents and trained players as well have a tendency to either put too litle of the mouth: piece in their mouth, or let it ship down. There- fore, when one thinks he is ready to play, he should try to push the mouthpiece into. his mouth just a little more. Breathing is done through the comers of the mouth without disturbing the lip pressure Jn progress. Tonguing ‘The following exercise, particularly in the low register, is heneficial to the development of tone. The note should begin as softly as possible, the volume of tone increased evenly to maximum intensity, and diminished gradually until com pletely faded ot. é air Sj While the lips should be tight enough around the mouthpiece and reed to exert the necessary control, one should not confuse lip tightness with “pinching”. Pinching would deprive the tone of its amplitude and quality as well as inter- fering with phrasing. One must not “bite” or pinch. Lip tightness must be sufficient to control the tone. Also, one must take particular care of the por- tion of the lower lip on which the reed rests, eeping that portion exible enough, without tightness nor stiffness. This is very. important for tone quality and flexibihty ‘The following exercise, particularly in the low register, is beneficial to the developing of the tone: Sa Tonguing Although it is possible to start a sound on the clarinet by just “blowing” into the instrument without tongue action, this process would be in- advisable because the notes would not have the right start, and performance of quick separated notes and various articulations would not be possible. Accordingly, the action of the tongue Js necessary in connection with the beginning (and as will be discussed later: the end ) of the Google note: When the mouthpiece is in proper position in the mouth, the tip of the tongue is brought into contact with the reed, touching it slightly below the tip and with suffctent press close it against the lay of the mouthpiece, Then blowing begins. (No sound is produced yet as the reed cannot vibrate with the tongue on it.) 7Tenguing After blowing is in progress, the tongue is withdrawn from the reed, thus allowing the reed to vibrate and the tone to come out sharply Starting a note involves these three operations (after the mouthpiece i properly. placed into the mouth) 1. Tongue presses on the reed. 2. Blowing begins 3. Tongue withelraws from reed. Important: The pressure from the tongue on the reed must not affect the lip pressure, The principles just stated concern only: the start of the note. For the time being, the student should end the tone by just stopping blowing, Practice starting the following notes—played with the left hand We should now emphasize the end of the note Tt must be realized that a “staccato” note (short note) must end as sharply as it begins. Let us be reminded of the three distinct moves required to “start” a note: 1. Pressing the tip of the tongue on the reed 18 Google 2. Blowing 8. Removing the tongue from the reed In the preceeding exercises, the tone ended By stopping, blowing Now, following step No. 3 and as the blowing is continued, the tongue is brought back sharply on the reed in the same position as before the note. Even though the blowing continwes, the sound is stoppes ‘This exercise should be timed so that the notes and the spaces are of equal length: The tempo should be slow at first: approxi mately j= 60, then twice as fast: J = 120. ‘The next should be in short notes: in which case the two previous mations from the tongue (coming on the reed and coming off the reed) should be done very quickly, almost simultaneously. Care should be taken that the blowing, conti being ever conscious of correct amount of: 1. Tongue pressure on the reed (not more -s evenly and with the pliyer than n 2. Lip pres 3. Right intensity of blowing. ‘These three pressures must be equal and in proper proportions with each other The short notes exercise involving the twa simultaneous motions of the tongue should not be attempted until the preceeding one has been completely mastered, It is important that blow- ing is kept constant and even between as durinjz the notes.Staccato ‘The next exercise should be with two notes on each count. ‘The next with four notes on each count “Articulations” are executed similarly, for example in case of two notes slurred followed by two notes detached: +t ‘The tongue is brought on the reed at the exact time as the second slurred note is reached (as indicated by |). Bonade stated so logically ruption of the tone by the tip of the tongue touching the reed, and NOT a ‘hitting motion™” This is quite understandable, as hitting the reed would involve two motions: 1. the tongue touch: ing the reed, and, 2. the tongue withdrawing from the reed. It is obvious that the reed does not vibrate when in contact with the tongue, but begins vibrating when the tongue comes of the reed. ‘staccato is an inter- It is sometimes advisable to vary from this principle, making the note short by stopping blowing immediately after the emission of the note in such passages as the following Andante Lip pressure and tongue pressure on the reed should be free one from the other. The low regis: ter (middle C) is most favorable for tonguing practice because of requiring less lip pressure In what is referred to as “staccato in the legato” or “detached within the slur’, the notes are only slightly separated; this is accomplished by using the same principle as the preceeding, but with the difference that the tangue should only “touch” the reed on each note without pres- sing and come off the reed immediately after touching it. The effect is that the notes are separated with the minimum interruption Use clear, clean cut orders with children, It is not advisable to give the explanations of why each step is taken, They are valuable for the teacher but please remember that students want action. Long winded explanations only bore children with a consequent loss of interest. Use short snappy commands but give them kindly and with a smile, Remember that your knowledge can never be efficiently imparted to students unless you have the proper teaching. technic. Nothing can be accomplished without disei- pline. “The secret in maintaining order and discipline is to keep students so busy and mov- that they don't have time to get in trouble You must know children as well as the instru ments and music if you expect to succeed as an instructor, As [read what [have written so far it seems to me that 1 am doing quite a bit of preaching. However, Iam going to let the little sermons stand because to me it is a serious thing to assume the responsibility of teachingg youth Now that we have the student started we could go directly into an instruction book, However, | believe that it is wise to delay do- ing this for a time while we teach the student the following little exercises. Teach these ex. tirely by ear so that the entire attention can be 9First exercises given plying the instrument coreetly ‘Check carefully on every phase of playin Posture, hancl position, lip. position, and facial position are all important. You will be wise to pay strict attention to HOW he plass rather than to WHAT he plays, You ean supplement theye little exercises with some of your own Tittle tunes led range. Be sure the sta lent plays th before he Tooks at notes, trument correctly The First Exercises Notes played with the right and left’ hands pier Rat" Nimans palo ee +t = = iy Oa eingering cmere = pane 47 ni}First exercises Keep the right hand fingers down and lightly roll the fest left hand finger against the A key. Keep second right hand finger down in Keep the right hand fingers down on the upper tone. Keep the right hand 23 fingers down and lightly roll the first = left hand finger onto the A key. Keep the two right hand fingers down in plying the upper tone. Keep the right hand fingers. down and lightly roll. the frst left hand finger against the A key, Keep first finger of the right hand down in playing the upper tone. Google playing the upper tone, Keep the right hand fingers down and lightly roll the first left hand finger against the A key. A Few comments about instruction books are appropriate here. My intention is to recom mend certain books as being typical of good instructors. There are many excellent books on the market today and I wouldn't for the world disparage any of them. In fact, there will be a list given at the end of this book: For about ten years T used the old well known books written by the great artists, Klose, Lazarus and Baermann in my teaching. These are most ex cellent books af studies but the use of the proper Boehm fingerings is not explained and the material is not organized, hence, strictly speaking, they are not methods. The teacher has to skip about in the books to select material Appropriate for the student. When I went into advanced conservatory teaching 1 chose Mr. G. Langenus’ Clarinet Method. To my mind this ‘course of study. It is carefully planned and so laid out that one progresses page by page with- ‘out any skipping around. When a studen reaches about the middle of Book Il he will have become acquainted with the correct usage of practically all of the various alternate finger- ings as well as with the usual fingerings. ‘The exercises develop technique and the duets and studies cultivate artistic style. There is also a “college education” in clarinet playing in his text. To suit the needs of students who were very young, I wrote in 1987, with the col- laberation of A. O. Sieg, the “Preparatory Io- structor for Clarinet,” Books I and Il. These ‘were written as a preparation for Mr. Langenus’ method. ‘They follow his ideas closely except ‘an ideal authentic 21Introducing the clarion register that they stay on an easy level Tonger to suit young children’s needs Regardless of the instruction book chosen be extremely careful to teach the student to 1. Sit or stand with good posture. All talks of correct breathing are worthless unless. the student acquires good posture 2 Maintain good positions of the hands and fingers. Awkward positions are a definite handicap to technic 3. Keep all of the facial and lip muscles uneler proper control 4. Enjoy playing eccurately. 5, “Listen” and “sing” as he plays to help ac quire @ love for beautiful tone quality 6. Count time accurately 7. Articulate without jase motion or stiff tongue action 8. Practice to be Perfect. Introducing the Clarion Register Now let us assume that our student has pre gressed in his book until he can play from the low E to the throat By with a nice full tone 6H and good contro s At this stage in his progress he should he taught to play the clarion register by “ear.” When this register is taught from the notes there Is always the tendency to tighten up ane i” for the tones. The usual procedure in ood maclem instriction books is to use a note in the lower reyister and “are” up a twelh to the top tone hy use of the register key: Example While this is « good method the student will usually tighten on the upper tone. If you wish to adhere ta this method let me suggest that you teach these tones by “ear” before the sta dlent sees the notes. Here is an excellent way to teach a student how to play the entire clarion register easily which can be learned quickly. This exercise is ta be played entirely by “ear” at first and con. tinued until the clarion register can be played with smoothness, beautiful tone, and without any strain or tension, This simple exercise can be ssed with an entire clarinet scetion and the resultant improvement in tone will seem to be almost a miracle. 22 ~ gaee Play with « good full tone. Watch the lips and the facial muscles, Play in rhythm and at a speed of about MM. 72 = | Repeat it over and over. In a class have a litle race to see who can play it through the most times on one breath. In play: ing the low E keep the right litle finger down on the F key. The average student will learn this in about two minutes. Eventually while he is at the bottom E have him touch the register key and Keep on playing, He will then be playing this by ear If the upper tanes don't respond easily at first ave him lift up with the right hand thumb. This will insert the width of a hair more of the mouthpiece into his mouth. (Note: an excellent stunt for the teueher to touch the rogister key for him the first time he tries this.) (Note: Some methods recommend meesuring alf just so much of the tip of the mouthpiece to 0 into the mouth. I have always preferred the method outlined shove of starting with short bite then as the upper registers are aps proached! the mouthpiece is gradually lifted into the mouth until the proper bite is found by trial. I feel that this method to locate the exact “bite” is best because regardless of theRules for fingering lay on the mouthpiece or the thickness of the lips the best position for good tonal effects will be located accurately.) After a student can do this exercise well he should return to the lower register and play it again bat using the same position and grip which he used in produeing a good tone in the clarion register. This is a fundamental exercise which will teach the student the secret of pro- ‘lucing beautiful tone. He must have the sen- sation of playing the entire range of the clarinet with one position of the mouthpiece fand the lips, While there is of necessity a cer- tain amount of pressure used in playing it is est to mention only the position of the mouth- piece in the mouth in playing this range. ‘There should be the sensation of the lips contracting toward the center around the mouthpiece with only a slight lower Kp and jaw pressure. The ‘throat should be open, The thought of singing the tones will cause a slight natural change in the oral cavity which can affect the quality However, a young student will get s0 confused by a lot of long, unnecessary explanations that he will lose sight of the main objective which is to play musie Beautifully. The closer that stu- dents can come to doing this in a seemingly natural way the better. I am speaking of be- inners so. please evaluate the ahove remarks in that light. ‘The mare you can teach without teaching—if you grasp my meaning-the greater teacher you are, Remember that youth demands action if you are to hold interest and to ue: ccomplish great things. Let us get back to the: exercise. After it is well Hearned have the sti- lent pliy the clarion register like this by ear: It is considerably harder to start high and should not be tried until the student or group can get the high C with no effort, Use only the lightest possible tongue stroke in. starting the high or possibly no stroke at all ‘This simple exercise is a wonderful exercise to use for warming up. Tell your students to ty it while standing a few feet from a wall so the tone will reflect back to them. Play with out notes, Listen!! Singt! Play with « beautiful tone. Oh yes, before we leave this part, don't forget to check the reeds being used. When the students have progeessed this far they should he using reeds that are ahout the strength of the No. 2 or 2% Vandoren reecls. If the reed closes up too much use a thin card to pry it cont a bit If the above exercises are carefully practiced and repeated enough by ear, students will ac- quire beautifel tone quality aver the entire Say ct dace rg 44 ethos bole OHA ee awe be ren ong oo Guisthay a pay fonts fer ae, Tos and cei seleaes obs les ee aay cee ne ae tr arn Gs Toven hase Begwing tn te ae Rules for Fingering and Fingering System CHAPTER 7 Before advancing into the teaching of the stissimo register it will be wise to consider teaching the fingering system of the clarinet, “There are four simple vules given in the “Pre- paratory Instructor” and in the first Leblane “Clarinet Book” for fnigering the clarinet. These rules are easy to memorize and they are efi ent. T have never seen a clarinet passage that Google couldn't be analyzed by these rules. Please, I dida't say that there were none, I said that T il never seen one and that covers a long «x perience. Here they are: 1. Never glide the fingers from key to key or hole to key unless absolutely necessary. 2. Keep the fingering in one hand if possible. 3. Use forked! fingerings only when absolutely 23Rules for fingering necessary 4. Im passing from any tone that uses the right hanel Eingers to any of the throat tones. for vice versi, keep the right hand fingers down while playing these throat tones eed Example of Ist rute: Use the left hand L key to avoid gliding. Use the ight hae We wo seep Fey Example of Snd rule The significance of this diagram lies in the fact that it explains the fingering system and the acoustical principle of the clarinet. From low E to first space F there are fourteen chromatic From B to © in the clarion register there are also fourteen chromatic tones which are finger ed exactly the same ns the fourteen Jawer tones except that the thumb register key is open. (Note: The last five fingerings of the chalu meant register are not used in the upper range except as ausiliary of trill fingerings.) Wie the ket hand op si Di kev, beeing te oe pA <2 = Bngering in one hand. Example of Srl rele: Play B5 with the Ist finger of each hand to avoid glising (Note: Be sure that the connecting har closes the upper Bp key tightly which is just below the hole for the Ast Bnger left band.) Example of Ati rule: Keep the fo right hand fingers used in playing the = Tow A and the upper EY © fae dlown wh n phiying the G. Never keep the right hand fingers down on notes lower than this “throat” G, (Note: The low Gg key can be kept pressed open, or the little finger at least rest. ing on it whenever convenient. This will keep the right hand fingers in place—also will help hold the clarinet steacly when playing Bnger- ings in the left hand alone.) Here is a short graphic presentation of the clarinet’s entire fingering system based upon the acoustical principles involved in the con: struction of the instrument Alison Repate Rerinter oe ast o Chahiment Register a= eo] tones from high Ct to high G. This range is called the altissimo register, ‘These tones can be fingered exactly the same 1s the tones from E to Ag in the clarian register by simply lifting the fst left hand finger all or part a (half hole) off the first hole (Note: There are diferent fingerings that can be used on some of these high tones. For Instance there ate about ten dlflrent ways of fing-ring the high G. The fingering, mentioned here can he called the hasie fingerings except for high C which owill be played by an Fe to G till Angering in the exercises that follow. The seven fingerings from low Ato Dg in cin be’ ealled, the’ seven “bale fingerings for want of a belter tanse, These fingerings are used esa in each of the three registers of the ar In other words over half of the entire so called legitimate” range of the clarinet from low E to high C (40 chromatic tones) 3s fingered by these seven baste Bagerings. (It 35 possible, of course, to play several tonce higher than this high G and a clarinet with a low Ep can play tne. senitone lower.) the chalame et. Three times seven is twenty-one,Introducing the Altissimo Register cMaAPT 8 ‘This little analysis points to a quick way and incidentally a very sound psychological way of teaching the altssimo range from Cf to high G. ‘You could introduce these high notes: success- fully by ear by having the student play a good healthy E. Then, by sliding the first left hand finger very, very slowly off the hole, the Cg should sound. If the tone does not sound, ft up slightly with the right hand thumb which will push a wee hit more of the mouthpiece into the mouth. There should be the thought of the Position of the mouthpiece rather than the pressure of the lips. This is not to be com strued as meaning. a loose lip control. The lips and facial muscles must be under perfect con. teol at all times. When the upper tones are pro. sluced easily and with good quality then, and not until then, can the moutlpiece position be considered as located properly. ‘The entire range of the clarinet from high G to low E showkl now be played as nearly as possible with uniform mouthpiece position and lip exnteal The next method of introducing the alts simo range was originally used in the “Warm vg Up Exercises” for band written in 1992. Te is a logical way to introduce this register. The natural tendency of young students is to squceze and strain when they sce high notes This is true in both instrumental and ves! performances. This method, is an extremely easy way to Tear to play the entire altissimo register up to high G. It must be played by ear until the stu- lent can play with ease, clarity, and dynamic control. it should be played with a full open tone at first and gradually toned down to a soft violin like quality. The stuclent should ac- quire speed and Aueney before he sees the potes in this register This method is by far the quickest way to teach the altissimo. register. Jf the instruction book you ate using introduces this register by Drogressing scale-wise up from the clarion Google pate with the memorized follow. You will be amazed and clated with the results. Inciclentally, this principle of “anticipation by ear” works equal- ly well om any of the wind instruments inchad- ing the human voice. In teaching this register, take advantage of the principle of going, “from the known to the unknown” by learning the “7 basic” low notes with the correct chromatic fingerings: that is, B natural played with the first Singer of the right hand plus the B natural key played with the Srd finger of the right hand and the Dg- Ep with the rd finger of the left hand. Go SS Ss cover this section repeatedly by ear until it can be played flawlessly and quite fast Slur the tones up and back, not stopping on the upper tone. Then play exactly the same fingerings with the register key open, which will produce this part of the clarion register. register, si Keep the low Gt key open or let the finger rest on the key if preferred, Repeat over and over until fawless, Then have the student open the Ist left hand finger hole but keep this finger resting on the ring of the hole. ‘This will zive him the feeling of using exactly the same Fingering as before. Now have him play the ahove “7 basic” fingerings with the low GB key ‘open and he will be playing ERP, (Note: Fingering charts always give the finger ing for the high Cg with the low Gg key closed 25Additional fingerings bout opening the key for the rest p of the chromatic sltissimo sesle. = —=4 For the purpose of this exerche played by ear there is little danger of any harm from playing all the seven alissimo fn- ferings with the low GB hey open, Personally, never had any difficulty playing the C3 in tune with this Key open and the tone always seemed to my ears to be clearer with the key ‘open, However, this is purely a personal opin- ton ain to. be evaluated a such.) (Note: Many artists open the first left hand finger hoke only partly (half hole) #n_ plying some of the tones. in the altssimo range.) If the tones don't speak well he should simply lift op with the right fend thumb to insert just 4 wee hit-more of the mouthpicce into the mouth until this register can be played clearly and easily. Don't allow the student to tighten the: lip’ Go. rmuch because ‘boo taht a lip pressite closes the reed so. that it cannot vi brate freely. The lips should be uniformly firm cover the entire range of the clarinet. ‘The sec tions of this exereie shou! be played enough for the stndents to hecome very fient on them May T remind vow again that these “7 basic fingerings” repeated in the three registers. pro duce 21 tanes ent of the 40 chromatic notes on the clarinet from low Eto high G. Only after the fingerings of these three groups of chro- snatic tones are memorized and are thoroughly learned by ear, should the notes be shown to sttilents, Playing by ear at first should elimi nate all fear of these tones. The altissima range should be played with a full steady: breath at fist, then gradually diminish the tone. It is very easy to train players in. this manner to play the register softly with clarity and beauty of tone. The same lip position necessary to get this register shauld be main tained when playing the lower registers. then the improvement in tane quality over the en tire range of the clarinet wall be remarkable. The fingering, wsed for the high G is the till fingering from FZ to G. It was mentioned be fore that there ace at least 10 different ways to finger the high G. This one is also the cor. rect chromatic fingering and is very useful Again, try this exercise yourself until you are familiar with it, Then try it out with a few students as an experiment. Additional Fingerings Four les for fingering the clarinet have al realy been given. The following remarks about Fingering are to be consieloredl as suggestions for acquiring smoothness of technic. It is. as sumecl that the disestor is aequaintedt with the stundard elarinet fingerings. Consult the finger ing chart at the back of this book foe ane planation of the key Sinew the correet fingering of the chromatic seale is the basis for good finger technique let vis camsider i fest. In playing. this scale From ow Eto altissimo G the folleswing methoels ff Bngering. some seetions of it a = highly recommended. A routine method of fingering this scale or sections of it as found in asic” storting with the lowest note of the ascending scale should he established! as soon as possible 26 Twenty-one of the forty fingerings have been given before but will he mentioned again. Finger this low with both the left E key and the right F natural key. Keep the F natural key dlown in fingering Fg with the left FE key. When coming down the scale play FE with ath the left FS key: and the right F natural ey andl the low E with the F natural key. This metho! will prevent the wmecessary flopping top and down of the right hanel litle fingers on the F key. In other words, the right hand F attral key stays down on all) three tones, This exact Fingering sequence is to be used in plingMore fingerings == except, of course, that the register key is opened. The 4 tones following each of these two fingering progressions have but one way of fingering, — Spe = i= Os In playing chromatically from low Ag to B, medium F to Ff, and high D to Df, always hold the first right hand finger down and raise a semitone by pressing the small key ("Bon hast) with the third finger of the right hand. OB In other words don’t change Bngers, merely use a key, The tones in the clarion register are played! with the register key open. The tones In the altissimo range are played with the register key and the Brst left hand Binger hale open as a second register key. ‘The next three tones in the three registers ae fingered as shown. ea 1 z 22 #2 2.2 3 ck Sea 3 oh Ge ct oF Ge GH (Note: There are other fingerings for the altis- imo tones, those given can be called the regu- Tar of authentic or legitimate Bngerings as you wish. They are used most.) Note that the altis- Simo eemister ig Bingered exactly as the clarion register a minor 6th lower except that the fist left hand finger is raised and acts as a second register key. In passing to the next tones jo bo use the top key Dg for the third left hand finger in making the semitone raise, This uses a trill fingering from Ff to G in the altissimo which is correct in chromatic passages. ‘The next tones are fingered in the usual way. ‘We now come to the so called “throat tones.” In. playing keep the thumb key closed and play F§ by pressing the two lower side keys Ep and Gp with the first finger of the right hand ‘This is a much smoother way of fingering this Ff in chromatic passages than by fingering Fe with the first left hand finger alone which will cause a bad fopping up and down of the thumb and Bnger. All that remains now is to advise you to drop the three right hand fingers on the holes when playing up and down over the “break.” ‘This will enable the player to play over the “break” smoothly and rapidly. ‘An efficient way to teach the complete chro- matic scale as outlined above is to break it up into sections. Teach these sections in the dif- ferent registers as follows: (This will cause the overlapping of a few notes.) Vr tgt f 2 ape 202% Toa ae tok 208 Chek Gh Ce The 21 basie fingerings were explained in 27More fingerings previous section of the book. If they were earned thoroughly at that time over half of the cntire chromatic scale has been practiced, Have the students name the notes in each section while fingering the instruments. This drill és the fastest and best method known for teaching the notes and the fingerings. The im- pact upon the mind is infinitely more forceful when the reading is coupled with muscular movenients. The highest type of teaching is that which leaves the student with am under standing of what he is doing This is the rock bottom foundation of good music training. A modicum of this drill on the chromatic scale exactly as outlined will produce wonderful results, After these sections are learned practice the entire chromatic scale, Be sure to always use the correct fingerings. It is an excellent idea ta practice the entire scale with the articula- tions given in the Leblanc Educational Publi- cation, “Daily Routine for Clarinet” The en- tire technique for the clarinet is laid out in this small but vital publication, It is a must for all clarinet players. CHROMATIC SCALE The first major scale in the Leblanc “Clar inet Routine” is the scale of E, This scale en- tails a few fingerings that should be explained. REL LP RE To avoid gliding (Rule No. 1) from F8 to Gz we must finger the Fg on the left side and that necessitates that the low E be fingered with the right little finger. The same progression must be used on the B, Cf, and Df to avoid breaking Rule No. 1 (glide). In playing from A to B in the low, E to Fg in the clarion and Cf to D§ in the high register we must “fork” finger the B, Ff, and D8. (Rule No. 3) 1 2 2 3 i 5 5 In fingering the Cx to Dg we must finger Dg with the side key Ey for the first finger of the right hand to avoid gliding = = Rule No). E to Fin the throat register must be finger- ed with the first left hand Finger, (Rule No. 3). | road Have the students play this first major scale in the “Clarinet Routine” very, very slowly Using this sequence of Bngerings and see how ‘easily and smoothly they will play it Be sure to keep the right hand fingers down in going up and down over the “break.” Drop the right hhand Singers going up $A and lift them coming’ ~ down on A or Gy The value of routine scale practice and how to practice will be discussed more fully in a later section of this book: F could go on and give the fingerings on all the scales ‘but there is hardly room in this book to do that, The examples given are so typical in illustrating the use of the four rules of fingering that it should be an easy matter to figure out any fingering that is encountered. One suggestion that should be made és that the right little finger should, wherever con: venient, rest on the Gg (low G2) key or press it open, This is useful in holding the clarinet steady while playing the tones on the upper jnint of the clarinet fingered with the left hand. Keeping the little finger on this key assist greatly in maintaining a good right hand ‘will also‘Position. It is a particularly good thing to do when playing the upper clarion register and ‘especially when playing the top °C” where ‘only the thumb hole is closed and the register key is open which induces a feeling of un certainty. What of trill fingerings? There is such an au- thoritative section on trills, turns, and other ornaments in part two of the Langenus “Clar- inet Method” that we will discuss just a few phases of plaving, ornaments Playing. tells and tremolos rapidly is excel- lent finger exercise. Most young students play trills too timidly. They are also careless many times in playing to the correct upper note which is determined by the key signature or accidentals, In a section where several are till: ing it is wise to try to have the trlls synchron- zed and played exactly alike. If part of the section or ever: one player is on the Jower tone while the rest are playing the upper the effect of the trill will be largely lost. ‘This is usually true also of tremolos Ie may be Belfi call your stenton t a few fingerings. In playing a rapid tremolo from low G to B or ce te won De 7 py oe iw Boheme f= with the third finger of z 3 the right hand. (6) 6 ‘ Ish sete and ater 9 ema with the tt an coc ph hand ger tha st de st and thie Bogert Sy and You wil sc te iene ty The tea from Tow Bp to or clin F tr By mst le lye oth the et Sgr toch Id on te Bp or oppor Bp If the lower mote is B natural or FE clarion then play as follows: One nice trill fingering which is sometimes elected is from elation Ab to By (GE to Ap) Trill ond tremolo fingerings made by playing Ab or Gy in the regular way and trlling with the first finger of the left han. This trill is octasionally found in bao? 2 r ict ies ‘The use of the two Jong trill keys is ofte> neglected so it may be helpful to mention them Iniefy. In tilling A to Bh hold the A key dlown and trill with the second tell key (mark ed Bh in the chart), If the trill is from A to B natural then hole the A key down and taill with the key marked! © in the chart. be If the till is from Bp to B natural hold the A and the register key open—the thumb hole must be open—and tell with key Bb. If the trill is from Bp to ©, play Bp as usual and trill to © with both till keys Bb and C together. is One special fingering which is net too well ‘known is the forked fingering Gg-Ap. aaa eeel Ab is fingered with the thumb ho closed, the register key open 12-45 are closed. 1 finger holes ‘The ose of this fingering enables the playing of the above measures without gliding the fins ters from the LE key to the G2 (C8) key, As I reeall the first clarinet part to Gomez “ll Guarany Overture” there is one part that is 29Clarinets with special keys Practically impossible to play unless this finger- ing is used, It was mentioned before that there are at least ten fingerings for high G. One trill and chromatic fingering has been given, namely, from F} to G. Play Ff with the second finger left hand and trill with key DE or key Eb. The best regular fingering for high Gis this one: Close the thumb hole and open the Register key. Fingers No. 24 and 5 are: closed. Key RG¢ is open The will Gngering for F natural to G & as follows: Finger high F by closing the thumb hole. The register key is open. Close finger holes 2 and 3. Open the CE key with the left hand little finger. Now trill with finger No. 2 4 These few examples of special fingerings are given as typical of the possibilities of the oF: dinary Bochm 17 key clarinet. A few other ex- amples will be given when we discuss clarinets with extra keys. May I suggest that the young, band director make careful study of all the trills and special fingerings. These are clearly treated in the Langenus “Clarinet Method” Part UL Clarinets With Special Keys cares 10 FORKED Bb Since we have been talking of fingerings it will be in order to: have a short discussion of clarinets with special keys. Leblane clarinets fare made in the following models: The “forked By” or 17-7 (17 keys-7 rings) clarinet has an extra ring on the upper joint on the Srd finger hole. This ring will close the Bp-Eb key between the first and second Singers C to By in the low and G to Bp in the clarion rexisters may now be played with a Forked Angering, by lifting the second left hand finger. To bring the upper tone in tune the second ring has a small key to lower the pitch This is a convenient improvement and proves to be handy in many passages. It also enables the tilling of low Cz to DE or upper GE to Ag Clarinets may be purchased with this feature alone or it may be combined with some of the other improvements mentioned below. It may also be omitted from the improved clarinets listed. below. ARTICULATED Ge Another improved clarinet and quite a popu: Jar one has the Articulated Gz. On this claret the G§ key is placed on top of the clarinet (It always seemed to me to be a better location for the Ge hole than. the usual location on the side of the clarinet.) It is so coupled that when held open by the left litle finger it can be closed with any of the right hand Bngers. This enables the player to trill from low B or Bb to Cf, clarion F or FE to G, and alts simo D or Dg to F by holding the left little finger down on the Gg key and trilling with any of the right hand fingers : Ferber fe br ferdo for ten it so Bea taeHow fo practice “There ane many more places in clarinet parts that can be played with ease by: the use of the articulated Gg. key that the high F cannot be playesl with long fingering.” This “long, finger: ing’ is with all the finger holes closed and key CE oper Ay mentioned hefore it is impossible to. 0 the CE hole when any of the right hand fingers are down on the articulated Cf clarinet, When this key is combined with the forked Bp we call the clarinct « 19-7 forked Bp articulated Ce systern. 1 has one disadvan ‘The next clarinet to be discussed is the “full Boehm 21 keys 7 rings model. This system has the articulated Gf and forked B> mechanism described hove and in addition has a low Gg lever for the left hand little finger and a low right litte finger. ‘The extea crmits double fingerings for ith the little fingers, Let us call this key LGg for the present, To play on the regular clarinet these measures ‘would necessitate a glide from RFE to Ge ‘RE-LFE-Ct 6 GBLE RFE Lok In the clarion register this fingering would be used on: GALE RFF Las These measures could also be fingered 1 RE-Fe-C3. ‘The low Eb is chiefly valuable when transpos- ing “A” clarinet parts on the Bb clarinet. Low E written for the A. clarinet is fingered as low Eh when transposed on the Bj clarinet (One semitone lower) It has a secondary use in playing Bb on the third line for example borigreas a IFke Lee REP ‘There are two other improvements that are ef- ected by the low Ep key. There are only two tones, low E and third line B natural that are emitted exclusively through the hell of the regular model clarinet, As a consequence these two tones have a slightly different color than the adjacent tones. Truc, this difference is not too noticeable be cause the player learns to make their quality conform to the other tones. On the clarinet with a low Ep these two tones are part emitted through the Ep tone hole and conse: quently the low E and B are dlefinitely better ‘on these clarinets, How to Practice Students have been told for generations that “Practice makes Perfect.” 1 have in several of the Leblanc books and in clinical talks made the statement that practice never made anyone perfect unless they "Practice to be Perfect.” That statement, to me at least, is the whole crus of the matter. It is obvious that when one plays incorrcetly and constantly” practices that way, he is practicing to be imperfect. It is like getting your car stuck in sand where the ine auHow to practice you spin your wheels the deeper you get inte the nut We ace living in an era where every effort is made to “sugar coat” all processes of Tearn- ing. That is tue not only of music but of every. subject. I wonder sometimes if this style of teaching doesn't do something to the moral fiber of students. It has been my experience with boys and girls that they’ love the teacher who will lead them into doing things that take hackbone and are a challenge to their abilities As I see it, perhaps the greatest benefit gained by a student from practicing formal scale studies and etudes is mental discipline. T wonder sometimes if the phrase that “interest is the greatest motivator" isn't overworked and used as an alibi for careless indifferent work In life everyone finds things that are distaste: ful in any and every position, Everyone's suc- cess in life and the state of the happiness achieved hinges upon one’s ability to do th distasteful part of the job» well, This great Jes son which is sure to have a strong impact upon a music student's fature life can be learned by: practicing formal studies carefully and ac: curately. Suppose we lay out a balanced program for an advanced student. Incidentally a similar pro- gram for a band will work wonders. Let us plan on an hour's practice as a unit. If more or less time is given to the practice period simply divide or multiply the time of each phase but don’t omit any part. 1. Tone study without notes, 10 minutes Try the tone studies on page. Stand be fore & wall. Get the most beautiful tone pos- sible. Listen’ This will build. that mental key: board I have mentioned, Play all fingerings comectly. Stand erect, shoulders back with the small of the back pulled in. Breathe deeply. Play each part of the exercise as if playing a solo before a critical judge in a contest. Memor ize this exercise so that the att placed fully on tone ion can be 2, Scale studies, 15 minutes, Spend five minutes on the chromatic scale frat and then proceed: Try to cover a few of the major and’ minor seals inthe “Routine” tach day. Read the names of the notes and 32 Google finger while reading, Always play with a beaw tiful tone. Play each one as a solo. Play slowly and accurately. Watch the fingerings closely Play with different articulations. There are only 12 major scales and 12 minors. Working om one of each every day means that in 12 days all will be played. As experience is gained eventually all 24 can be played each day Memorize the scales 3. Interoal (chord) studées. 10 minutes Practice the chord studies given in the “Routine.” Learn one a day and in 12 days the fundamentals acquired will easily give a ‘student a start toward good elementary com mand of the instrument 4 Now miewsée. 10 minutes Each day the student should read and play at sight something new. He should read the ‘piece through carefully and quickly before play ing it. This will take a little time at first. As he acquires skill this time will shorten to where he can glance at a number (within his or be- low his technical ability, of course) and literal ly play it at sight. It is not wise to overdo this practice because it is very Fatiguing and apt to induce carelessness if too much is attempted Sight playing should be as nearly a concert per- formance as possible. Incidentally, « song book such as the “Golden Book” is excellent to use. Playing this range will give him practice in playing the most difficult part of the clarinet which is over the “break” I have known of professional clarinetists who used comet studies such as the Arban book for that purpose. 5, Polish: numbers which have been practiced hefore, 20. minutes The plin outlined above follows what we night call the “progress of fatigue” Ending the rehearsal period with music well played sends a student away with a feeling of success, of having accomplished much. You will notice that the mast exacting part of the period is the stuclent is fresh and alert Finish a lesson with a duet or a number with plano. It is also wise to wind up a band re: hearsal with a well known march or something the members play well. The feeling should be in the student's mind that the time went fast and that he wishes he had more time to prac placed first whtice or that the lesson was longer. Send them out with a tune they can whistle Now that we have discussed a balanced diet in our practice let us tall of some of the things that should be watched in practicing, in. other words let us diseiss further “how to practice” 1, Someone has suid, “Slow practice is the practice of the gods." We must not overlook that part of us which is called the subconscious snind. An exercise practiced through slowly and accurately today will surely be easy to play more rapidly tomorrow. I designed and used for years with significant success a “metronome chart.” The exercises and selections to be used were all Histed. Each day the metroname speed was registered and inerensed slightly. Each section of the lesson was played at a speed no faster than it could be played perfectly. The speed was never increased the same day. Tt was fan amazing thing to see the accurate speed that could he gained in a week on a large nuvuber of stuclics, Truc, itis a mechanical method hut isn't it « fact that a performer can never play a sole artistically until he has yained complete mechanical control of the number? 2. The student should learn to analyze music hefore attempting to play it, IF we are to take 4 part fo play we must fist analvze it before we can act it, otherwise our acting is meaning: less ancl our words empty, Se it is im music. Tt takes only a moment to analyze the key signa fire, time signature, expression and tempo marks before playing, We must learn to xend ‘aronind the nates,” A favorite expression of mine is, “You are vounger than I am, your eyes are sharper than mine the slurs anel staceato marks hetter than [ do. Let us play exactly what i written and then deviate later iF we so. desire. nl yan can sec One of the best posible ways to amalze susie is to count the time while heating the foot wigoroissly. This method is Fully and care fully described in the Leblanc haok “Playing. at Sight.” Frankly speaking. 1 fail to see how music can be tanght correctly and honestly without a de nite system of counting time Time counting must be done in rhythm and the only way we can sense rhythm is hy muses Jar action and with the large muscles at that fence heat the foot when learning a number. actice heating with a metronome if possible More suggestions for practicing Next practice the same study with the foot held stationary. That is the only way that com- tral of the large leg muscles can be gained. The student who clumps his foot in the band does so because he is not aware of what he is doing. Incidentally, the practice of just beating the big toe is futile because no big muscles are involved. Remember that rhythm is felt in the hig: muscles, The second thing to analyze is the names of the notes. The hest way, as mentioned before, to teach the names and fingerings is to name the notes while fingering the instrament."Shake hands with Mr. "G™. Again a muscular activity is incorporated into the practice and with great benefit 3. The student must always play even the simple scales with as heautiful tone and secu rate intonation as possible, Tone beauty and intonation must be required by separate tone work done fram memory. That is explained in the "Clarinet Routine’. ‘The frst thing that should be played when the clarinet is picked up is the first tone stuely by memory. This is by far, the best method [ know for making a stu- dlent “tone and intonation conscious", It is a peculiar thing that a stuclent will learn to get & lovely tone on a memorized tone study, but will phy with poor tone quality and. intonation when playing from notes unless he watches carefully: andl uses the tone he has learned. We might liken this to playing slow tone studies on 4 lovely grand piano which és ia good tune saad has gorgeous tone. New when we play ‘our other studies and pieces from notes we leave the good piano and go over to an old rattle trap of an instrument which is all out ‘of tune. It takes some time to train the young student to guard against this fault It un. oubtedhy is due to the fact that reading music distracts the attention from tone, It is rare to find anyone wha can sight read with as nice a 4 tone as will be gotten on music that is well The teacher and director must never forget that good tane must he the primary objective if a ehild's interest isto beheld, LISTEN! SING!! are the two most valuable words in the teacher's lesicn, A student she never progresses technically bevond simple songs will remain an enthusiast and lave ts play as long as he lives if he is: tasight from the start to get a beautiful tone, play: in tne, ant play accurately known, 33Practicing for expression 4. Phrasing is easy to teach. One good way to teach it is to take a simple song like “Am ica” and sing the words. Sturt with a good Ipreath and sing, “My country 'tis of thee" stop, pause, breathe, sing:"Sweet land of Nberty”, stop pause, breathe; sing, “Of thee I sing”, stop, pause, breathe; sing “Land where my fathers died” and so on to the end. Next sing the song, through breathing where the pauses were made but do not pause. Often a fudicraus way’ of singing it by the teacher will teach what not to do, For example sing, “My country tis" breath, sing, “of thee sweet’, breathe, sing, “land of, and so on. The teacher should play the tune with the correct way of phrasing and then with a funny incorrect way The young sters will soon catch on to the things that should be avoided Next the youngsters should play the song on their clarinets, breathing as before but this time they must not stop the flow of the met ody. Incidentally, correct posture will help them hold enough beeath to play long. phrases easily. [ believe fmnly that it is inherent for tnost children to want to do things correctly if given a chance and if treated as if they were nature people and not babies. After teaching 4 simple song try an easy number that has a nice melody. Ask them to make words to Bt the tune or you do it for them, Then ask where they would put their commas and demonstrate that that is un easy sway to find the breathing places. Phrasing in music is the same as pune tuation in Tanguage and. just as important After getting a taste of phrasing in easy music 4t becomes a simple matter ta extend info: more difficult music. This litte discussion on phrasing is not com: plete unless we discuss phrasing, inthe “back- round” parts of a band number. Suppose we are playing a section of a nimber with a smooth melocy for the clarinets in unison. Take afew minutes to have the clarinets rehearse the inclody alone using the stunt mentioned before of breathe, play, stop, pause; play, and insist that the rest of the band study their parts while listening carefully. Nest have the whole hand breathe, play, stop, pause; phy and so on. Next ask the whole and to play and. to breathe where they: paused before but this time without stopping. While playing they ten to the soloists and play « sympathetic artis st lis: 34 Googie tic accompaniment. It is also wise to have the accompaniment played alone a few times. It is surprising to hea how much better a banc will sound after a litte of this practice While we ace speaking of accompaniment let me suggest that you read over carefully the first chapter om tone and intonation in the Le- ‘Blane “Band Book.” All the beautiful artiste solo work and the use of the most expensi instruments will be nullifed by a few basses and hos who “pump,” puff their cheeks, “slap” and “blat” tongue. Teaching them to phrase ‘with the solo instruments will go far in cor- recting these faults 5. Speed is a necessary part of technic but speed without control is futile, Working for speed must be done subtly and accurately, Making use of the subconscious mind by slow accurate practice with a gradual daily increase will always induce x method of playing rapidly ‘that will he accurately done. Increasing speed too rapidly with students will almost always in- luce a tense, tight way of playing which will ‘be inimical to smoothness, clarity, and even ness. It will also raise particular hob with tone and intonation. Speed must be acquired coinci- dentally with relaxation. Tight finger and tongue muscles are sure to slow up speed. In- identally, clean precise playing is best because it produces a feeling of Ife which is more im ‘portant than sheer speed. 6. Expression and attention to dynamies ean be taught easily by a method given by M. Mayse in the “de la Sanorite” for ute. Let us use the refrain from Steven Foster's “Old Folks at Home" as an example SS sae Ft The expression and dynamic markings are at exaggerated for the purpose ob demonstrating this method of teaching, This method can be used with a class, band, or in- dlivieluals Sameone may level the criticism at this method that it would cause everyone to play alike and in a mechanical way. This is bethe point. ‘The objective is to teach players to gain supreme control of their instruments and to play with expression intelligently nat hap- hazardly, Its practice will quickly train students to play expressively and the director to dinect artistically “There are three steps to the method. 1. Phy the melody as softly as possible with- out the slightest expression or shading, Ob- serve the breath marks and articulations while holding the tempo absolutely. steady. Use a ‘metronome if possible set at about 66=, 2 Play again with the metronome at’a con- sistent steady tempo. Again observe the breath ‘marks ans articulations but add to the playing, the dynamics as marked. Practice until abso- lute control of the instrument is gained. S. Finally. play with a warn singing tone = serving all the details meticulously and add GG Meta muncoas of tone andl rebate 0 He nterpretation, This step is done, swithout the metronome. ‘Two other steps can be taken, The first is to have a student of a class sing the words with expression. ‘Try to induce them to feel the ppathos of this old song, The second step is to play the song again as they feel it, disregarding the indications I have given for expression and tempo. There are few students indeed who will nat enjoy learning, to play artistically and with feeling Students should be taught to pay careful at tention to the relative values of the dynamic markings. A good way to teach this is to take single tone and play gradually from the faintest pianissimo (PP) to piano (P) in a full breath, Next from piano te mezzo forte (ME) im a full breath. Finally from a forte to fortissimo (FF) ina full breath. The forte and fortissimo should never be “louder than lovely.” The soft tones must have resonance and canying power, Make a distinction between a soft tone and a feeble tone. This method ean be used with « full band by taking a single ‘chord as_given in the Leblane “Band Book” and playing as described. Another way that is ‘helpful is to play a short phrase with the five tonal graduations. Young students are apt to he careless and think of only two graduations, loud and soft when there are infinite tonal graduations from the faintest pianissimo to the fullest that is still beautiful in quality ‘of course, fortissimo How to practice a Rose study tus close this little discussion of methods of prietice by analyzing a few measures. of the 82nd etude of the “Forty Etudes for Clar- inet” by C. Rose. This excerpt is chasen to out Tine x method! tobe used of course in lean ig the entire etude. This etude is particularly cellent for use in practicing artistic expres- sion, 1 would have a student count this etude with eight counts and beats to the measure at first. After it is Teamed the student can still count with eight counts as illustrated but beat just four to the measure The am nome indication is | = 58 1 wo say f= 60 and mnt exactly as shown, While ‘counting an beating the foot strongly 1 would insist upon the student or class fingering the notes on the “This may seem a slow method but in reality it is fast There are 7¥3 measures shown in this excerpt, There are 8 counts in ‘This means that there are just 60 counts in this excerpt which takes exactly 6) seconds of time with the metronome set at Jd start much slower, each measure, First play the excerpt at that speed careful: ly and at a perfect level pianissimo tone with absolutely no inflections. Second, play with mechanical expression as described before. ‘Third, shut off the metronome and play ex pressively as indicated. Fourth, when learned bring the tempo gradually up to 7 = 116 then aut to J = 58 by counting eight and beating four. The entire etude should be analyzed and studied in this manner ‘This method of teaching will cause students to le class can play exactly in unison ay one instr ment, 1 quickly and so accurately that a lige 35Breath control I fave noticed that many teachers and di- rectors count very slowly, one and two and, ete, on a movement such as this etude. The in- dicated tempo of MM. 58 = | iss slow that & is dificult to feel the rhythm of the beat. This method is certainly alright with advanced fr professional plavers and especially so where no notes sinaller than sixteenths are used. How- ever, | discovered after trying this method that it was confusing to younger players and adults who were strictly amateurs. The method of connting and heating aceurately the eighth note values and then when well leaned counting in cight but only beating four solved the diff culty right away. For instance, the entire Rose Etudle No. 32 or any of the other slaw move ‘ments in the set of 40 etudes can be taught quickly and correctly to students who have only very linaited experience, ‘In closing, may I refer buck to the 40 studies for the clarinet again? “These studies which are published usually in. two volumes are of ine calculable value to clarinetists who have ambi- tions to develop a truly artistic style. The slow movements are exceptionally yalvable in eulti= ‘ating. gond taste and expressive tone. In a brief analysis of the two books we find im Book [there are: In Book IE there are: 12 etudes in 4/4 time 3 etudes in 3/4 time 1 etude in 2/4 time 1 etude in ¢ time 3 etucles in 6/8 time 10 otudes in 4/4 time 3 etudes in 9/4 time 4 etudes in 2/4 time T etuele in ime 2 etucles in 6/8 time ‘There are metronome indications on each etude which are advisable to follow. For ey ample etude No. 24 has the signature of 3/4 time but has a metronome mark of f = 98 Which means that the traditional manner of playing is with six counts and six beats, and is not to be played with three beats to the measure. It must not be forgotten that the dicated metronome tempos are the speed that is to be attained after practice. The spee:d that is used at first must be much slower. When playing this type of 3/4 time with 6 counts only the primary accent is used. That is, the count is T2345 6 and not T2375 6. Etude No. 34 is similar. These should be studied as described and played at a metro- rnome heat of about 60 at frst and then speeded up to 96 gradually. There are five etudes written in 6/8 time. These should all be played with six counts and six beats slowly at first. As the speed is attained some of them are to be played with two beats to the measure but the sir counts must be maintained. High standarels must be maintained if we are to be fair to our students. It is so easy to let own and think, "Well, I told him once and if hhe doesn’t want to do it correctly so. what—why shoukl I worry.” It is 30 easy to let students get by with a sloppy posture, poor tone, out of teuneness, incorrect articulations, and poor time counting. Often the thought behind this is, “As long ax he plays the tune let us not correct him. Me may feel frustrated and lose interest” Tt has been my experience that the student who is held up to high standards is not nearly s0 apt to lose interest and fall by the wayside as the poorly taught student. Anyone who is naive enough to believe that youngsters don't recognize goal or poor teaching is only kidding himself. It is indeed difficult to fool a young ster Breath Control avenren Little has boen said so far about this impor ant phase of playing. Someone has satd that “the breath is the soul of the tone, agrees that the proper method of brething. is necessary if a wind instrament is to be played well. The consensus is that the so called dia- Everyone 36 phaggnatic breathing is best, Consequently, we et into long discussions and we diagram the Giaphragm for our students. Generally, we get them so confused and so breath conscious that they shift their attention from the music to their “tummies.” It seems to me that many of ourMouthpieces diaphragmatic explanations belong in a book oo anatomy. But vow say, how can I get my stu dents to breathe properly, There is one method that will indice correct breathing and that is postore. Try this stant yourself. Stand ereet, with the left foot slightly forward. Put the weight upon this foot, Bring the shoukler blades toward each other. Lift the chest and pull the “small cf the back” in. In this position it is literally impossible to breathe any way but with the diaphragm if the chest is held stationary while inhaling and exhaling, Cheek to see that the muscle just below the breast hone (sternum) fs held flat. ‘They shoulel have the sensation as they inhale of pushing against a wall which will cause a lateral expansion of the ibs. ‘This same style of breathing, while seated is all that youngsters need The chances are that they will only he bored with long exphinations. After all they are in your class to study music and not anatomy. When they have advanced to where they have formed the habit of breathing properly. then you ean safely go into explanations. It is an accepted tenet in good teaching to “do the thing first and explain after it is done.” The breathing should be so natural that one is not conscious of breathing. If you will refer back to the discussion of phrasing another methexl of inducing deep breathing is given whieh works exceptionally. well, Doctors have told me that correct posture ancl breathing is extremely healthful. 1 was surprised to learn that not only are the lungs strengtheneel andl expanded but deep breathing done correctly with correct posture is decidedly beneficial to the muscles and ta the dis gestive tract in that it induces a good circula tion of the blood. ‘To paraphrase Will Rogers! famous semark: “AI L know is what I read in the papers,” may T say that “AIL know is what doctors have told m A-simple procedure at a rehearsal of elass or ata lesson is to use these short, snappy xls, Shoulders jack! Chest up! Pull the small of the back in! Beet flat on the floor! Sit tall or stand fall! have been told by my doc tors that young children can induce a spinal curvature by sitting im 9 slovenly way with the legs crossed. There is definitely a good psy chological reaction when childen sit up and take pride in their appearance. They will surely perform hetter and as a consequence be more interested Mouthpieces meson [8 Tn the past few years it has become commen practice at clinics to have long learned dis cussions about clarinet _ mouthpieces, 1 would like to get down ta the level of the beginner and promulgate a few ideas that are to me vitally important. Let us. dlisregard the pro: fessional and the advanced player for the oment. My concern is entirely for the young. ster who { starting, His welfare should he our prime consideration, It is absolutely true that « clarinet must be fitted with a correct mouthpicee if it is to reach its peak performance musically. ‘This ‘means that the chamber and hore must fit the bore and scale of the clarinet, If it is correctly Google matched the lay can be varied slightly without causing any appreciable difficulty Practically all discussions that 1 have heard and articles T have read go om the assumption that the mouthpiece must BE the player. That to me is absolutely the wrong approach for the vouny player and incidentally, for the teacher. ‘The teacher says that the mouthpiece is wrong ssn excise if the hoy is net producing a good tone, What is perhaps worse isthe attic this induces in the student who gets the idea that every time he doesn't play up to par he must get a new mouthpiece I sincerely hope that my remarks are not misconstrued. Professionals and advanced per a7More about Mouthpieces formers have the maturity to select_mout pieces to produce the type of sound they de- sire. However, the professional must also have 4 mouthpiece that fits his instrument. Then he ‘can adjust his embouchure and to some extent the oral cavity to get the best results, An ex ample of what { have in mind is the case of the clarinet section of the famons Garde Re publicaine Banel. 1 am tokl they are practically all using a Vandoren 2RV mouthpiece. A beautiful clarinet, as perfectly made as Inman ingenuity can devise, will go out on trial. Often the prospect will try it out by using a wrong mouthpicce. He should use the correct mouthpiece and use it long enough to get sc: ‘eustomed to it, The only way that an honest, fair, and reliable test can he made of any new instrument is with a mouthpiece that is de- signed to Bt it The poorest, most unfair test is to take a new instrument and blow it with a pet mouthpiece that fits an okl clarinet. The chances are ten to one that the old clarinet has some tones on it that have to be favored. These same tones favored on the new instrument will give very Poor results which are blamed on the new clarinet. The old clarinet should be laid away for a few days while the new instrument is tested with a mouthpiece which has been se: ected by the manufacturer as suited to this clarinet. Only after becoming thoroughly ae: quainted with the new instrument can a fair and unbiased appraisal be made. ‘The manufacturer of high grade mouthpieces Jas knowledge and experience gained by liter: ally hundreds of years of combined experimen: ‘ation and effort. The Vandoren mouthpieces represent excellent examples of the results of this experience and skill. It is obvious that there are many, many trade secrets involved which are beyond the horizon of the average player. In the manufacture of a mouthpiece an in. striment must surely: he used for testing pur pases. The mouthpiece is, of course, adjusted to sound well on that particular instrument. Now consider the manufacture and testing of a clarinet. The mouthpiece used in testing mast of necessity play an important part in the tone hole placement, and the bore of the instrument ‘The mouthpiece separable team that absolutely must supple- ment exch other, if the best results are to be attained, When the balance of this perfect union is disturbed by altering the bore, the od the clarinet are an in: chamber, ancl‘or the facing by an extrem only poor tone quality and trad intonation be the outcome. A player may by long haues of study and practice overcome the results of sich tampering, but it is seldom that this i dane. It is only human for the clarinetist to then lame the chirinet instead of himself or the poor mouthpiece. There is one solution to this problem. If a player has a mouthpicee that he simply can't live without, then he should have a custom made clarinet built to fit this monithpiece. Let us now return to the student who is just starting. \What of him? Well, it seems to me that the only sensible, scientific procedure is to procure the best possible instrument for him, then have the manufacturer who has ex pert testers who know the instruments best, select a medinm lay French type mouthpiece that will Rt the instrument. (The Vandoren 2RV is a perfect example of this lay.) Then have the stuclent learn to play this combination, The reed must he selected to fit this mouth. piece. 1 pr AAs the studen 4 quite light lively reed at first progresses choose a reed with a hit more holy to enahle him to get a clear beautiful tone. A constant watch must be kept twpon his Facial maseles that he doesn't let the mouthpiece lay loosely in the mouth. T have come ta the conclusion, after hearing. literally hundreds of young clarinetists, that clarinet playing in the country would reach a level far above our wildest dreams if all nets sold had the right mouthpiece riveted onto the clarinet and the teachers would all dig inta more scientific methedls of teaching. instead of trying to cure all faults with » new dl mouthpiece,Reeds eure 1d We have discussed the clarinet, its mouth piece and the importance of correct teachin Now we come at last toa shart discussion of that perverse imp, the reed, Regardless of the auvality of the instrument, the mouthpicee, ane ceorrect technic, the final results are "con tingent upon the quality of the reed. A poor recal cam tilly. one best efforts and the best instruments, The problem is in choosing 2 reed that is sitable The professional player buys his reeds in quantities and usually finds a small pereentage that are suitable for his purpose He uses reed nish to dress the reeds down and clips the tip slightly to suljust them to. suit his purpose What of the stuslent who goes into the music More and savs, “Gimme a reed?” Students should be trained in the elements of selecting suitable reeds, Undoubtedly: the most popular reed among, all clarinetists is the Vandoren. This popularity, extends hack many, many years, They are Dreventy red im strength of. 1, or sof or medivm, and 3, 52, or hard. There are sure ta be come variations in this grading 1. The very bexinner should use about a 12 Vandoren on his 2V or 2RV_ Vandoren mouthpiece for the best results, Litth: ean be done in the selection of the until an embouchure huis begin to be formed correctly. The reed should be thin, lively, and have a bright tone. The ceed is asially: wet in the mouth while assembling the clarinet, How ever, a better way is to wet the reed. inv water Saliva contains « trace of acid ay am element sn the digestive process. This is absorbed readily into the porous dry reed. IF the reed is wet in swuter first the pores aire pwelled shut which will tend to keep the acid saliva from entering the reed pores and vill surely lengthen thy lite of the teed Brst few reeds 2. As the student advances to the playing of the clarion register as described in a previous section then he should advance to about a Google number 2 or 2% reed so that his tone will be less. reedy A. When the student starts playing im the altissimo register he should probably use about a number 243 oF 3 reed. There is a simple little test for a reed that always produces good re sults. Play with a nice clear tone sbost mezzo forte. Then while this tone is sounding, slide the first left hand finger very, very slowly off the hole. The E above should then sound easily and in good tine if the reed is of the proper strength. Be sure wat the finger slides slowly and does not lift suddenly. If the reed is too soft the upper E svill be flat, IF the reed is too stiff the tone svill be hard to produce. A slight lift up on the right thumb which will push a hair's breadth more of the mouthpiece into the mouth will sharpen the pitch perceptibly if the reed is a ood one. However, the trick in this reed test is to get a good E without any change of pressure_or embouchure pasition. An experienced player am judge pretty well ‘what a reeds potentialities are by looking through the reed toward a strong light. ‘The color should be a rich golden one. The heart fof the reed should have an inverted horseshoe shape, The fibers that have always been best for my students were rather coarse. However, that is purely a personal opinion. The cut should be even andl not tor thin until right at the tip of the reed. If there is a variation in thickness I believe in using “Reed Rush” to slcess the reed very carefully until both sides of the tip are of the proper strength. The bevel ot heart of the reed should always be preserved. It fs fatal to a reed to be dressed down through the middle of the cut, Some artists use a new sandstone and dress the bottom of the reed very lightly, Reed rush, Dutch rush, or Horse tail has been used for years in fine reed dress 39The clarinet Family ing, It is sometimes wet and flattened, ‘Then the rubbing is done with the fist finger. If the rush is used wet I would advise that it be wet fin water, never in the mouth. It can also. be used ana stick like @ large wooden match Stick. I prefer to use it this way but again this is one man's opinion, It is really. immaterial how vou wse it as long as the results obtained suit you Another test that an artist may give @ reed when selecting one is to press the tip against the finger and note the spring and strength of the reed. There are also mechanical reed testers whieh are goad, It takes experience to be able to judge a reed before playing and even then one can get badly fooled. The real test comes when the reed is on the mouth- piece and being played. Obviously there are many more tests that artists use in selecting reeds. A whole volume could be written on reeds but this is hardly the place for an extended dissertation. All Tam. trving ta accomplish here is to give a few valuable hints for students and to emphasize the importance of the reeds enough so that care will be taken in selecting and adjusting them, The Clarinet Family A good reed deserves. goal care, 1 talked recently with one of the finest clarinetists in our country who told me that he always washed st reed carefully in plain water after he Finished playing Some artists leave the reeds on the Imauthpicces at all times. Others remove the reeds and keep them on a flat surface ufter playing. Personally 1 prefer the last -method. It always seemed to me that the reeds kept in hetter condition this way. Incidentally, lip stick smeared all over a reed closes the pores of the wood so that it cannot absorb sufficient ater to give it the proper strength Many tienes a reed can be improved by trimming the tip very slightly which will tend to sharpen the pitch and ive it mew life. The onl this can be done correctly without splitting or mining the reed tip is with a regu lar reed trimmer. Remember in trimming. the reed that only the width of a hair should be trimmed at atime, More can always be taken ‘olf but it is impossible to put any back on after it is cut Another beneficial stunt is to tise a thin piece of celluloid to slide between the mouthpiece tip and the reed te gently pry it out slighty ewaviee 15 There are several members of the clarinet Family used in the school bands in aur cot try. These clarinets are given key names ac cording to their pitches. They are all treated as transposing, instruments because the same named notes are fingered alike on all the clar inets, Foe example: = same on an alto clarinet as it is on a soprano clarinet but the tone produced with this finger: ing will be a different pitch due to the differ- cence in the sizes of the instraments. The great advantage of this system lies in the fact that once the fingerings are learned ane ean play anv member of the clarinet family, The L blanc booklet “Balancing the Clarinet Choir" C is fingered the 0 Go gle has a complete discussion of the use of the clarinet family in the concert band The name of the clarinet tells us instantly hhow to write a part for that particular instru ment, In deciding upon a name for a specific clarinet the tone on the piano which is in clarinet tells ms its key name, its transposition anc its voice, This is true except in three in: stances in which the clarinets are misnamed and which will he mentioned later Remember in transposing we must change the key signature, for example, the scale of fon the piano transposed for the By elarinct becomes the scale of D with two sharps, Fe and C8.Here is a brief list of the most familiar members of the clarinet family and their transpositions The high Ab soprano ctarinet plays G wis ca] which sounds BEF on the piano, The transposition from the piano part is a major 6th sown. This clarinet is rarely seen in our country, It és really a piccolo clarinet. (Piccolo is an Italian word meaning small.) It is quite widely used in the military bands of France and Kay’ The Ep soprano clarinet plays © which sound ey on. the, plano tramposition from the piano part is a minor aal clown, This clarinet is quite widely used in the bands of all countries, fon the piano, Since The ‘The © soprano clarinet plays C hie panes 1 there is na transposition itis called a “non transposing” instrument, on the pigno, ‘The The Bp soprano clarinet plays C wich sont ey transposition from the piano part is a major 2nd (one whole tone? up from the piano part This instrument is by far the most popular of the various clarinets, The size of its bore and length seem to be ideal for beautiful tone quality and technical facility, The A soprana clarinet plays © QRZ whieh somnds ea on the piano, ‘The tvanspasition is up a minor 3rd from the piano prt. This beautiful toned clarinet és used. al Whee the camcert key of «composition isin several sharps it necessitates dificult parts for Bry Instrument hence the wse of the A clarinet to allessate the difculty, Example: ‘The orehestis concet key of SHER caus Hy lar inet parts to he written in the key of C2 mast e\elusively in the orchestra, Transpositions PAPI corove pets in bey of D SEZ] swoute be easier to read were is also another reason for the use of this clisinet. [ts tone has a more sombre, darker quality than the Bp clarinet and com. posers use the instrament when that quality able. Basset horn is really an alto clarinet is des The pitched in F. When C =] ts played on fhe Taseet fom ie sounds cs on the Its transposition is up a perfect Sth from the piano part. The Bp alo crinet pls ¢ EE} which sends a fon the piano, Ite transposition is major 6th up fram the piano part. The so-called bass clarinet in Bp plays © oe ee ae plano, Parts must be transposed a major 9th ‘ep from the plano score, ‘This instrument is misnamed which causes a lot of confusion at first in the minds of students when they study arranging. ‘The transpesition for this clarinet is the same as is used with the tenor saxophone, Since it is next below the alto clarinet it should hy all means be called the Bp tenor clarinet which it realy i. piano, The Ep contra alto (bass) clarinet phys = my piano. Parts must he transposed a major 13th higher from the concert score or piano part This is an easy tramposition because both the ‘ounding” note and the “reading” note are in the third space of the clef. In other words we can take amy has lef part, drop 3 flats or add sharps and play the part as if it were written in treble clef. This instrument is also misnamed. Tt is sometimes called an Ep contra bass lar inet, Since its parts are transposed exactly the same as the haritone saxophone, is the next in strument below the Bb tenor clarinet (see 4Care of the clarinet shove paragraph) and ean play the Ep baritone saxophone parts in unison with the saxophone is only logical to call it an Eb baritone inet The Bb contrahass clarinet plays C a 2 which sounds SESE on the piano. The ansposition is up a major 16th from the score fr piano part. This is exactly the same trans position as is used with the Bh bass saxophone. Ie is the ext clarinet lower than the Eb baritone clarinet and can play directly from the Bp bass saxophone parts. Hence, it should be called the By bass clarinet. Itis the teue bass of the clarinet family. ‘The names of the lust three clarinets above shoulel be changed as indicated. The present names always create misunderstanding of the proper transpositions and voices, No other in: struments in the band are named according to range or quality of voice. The other instru- ments are named according to the transposition which is a sane and sensible method. All of the clarinets (Boehin System) finger exactly the same, There is, however, a some- what different embouchure (lip muscles) con- trol required on the larger clarinets. The lip position is the same but more of the mouth: Piece must be inserted in the mouth. ‘There is less pressure requiced in controlling the recels of the large clarinets ‘A few years back special instruction books were published for the alto and bass clarinets This was due to the double register key that was common at that time and the clarinets played differently from the modern instruments due to a lack of balance of the three registers. This fault has been corrected in the modern lange clarinets. The modem Leblane and Noblet alto and bass (tenor) clarinets are nearly as facile as the Bb soprano. They both have single register key and many other modern im: provements. They are easily playable through- out their complete registers. In fact, a small stuclent can usvally play the Leblanc alto clar inet easier than ke can the Bp soprano, Care of the Clarinet canes 16 ‘The clarinet is the product of expert crafts: mmanship. It is a work of art. You will get the most enjoyment out of playing the clarinet if it is given a reasonable amount of care. Memo- Fine the following suggestions for the care of your clarinet, 1. Keep all cork joints: greased with Leblanc Gork Grease. Put the joints topether carefully to. avoid bending the keys 3. Place the ligature on hefore setting the reedl in place, 4. Hold the clarinet under the left arm while placing the wetted reed butt frst under the ligature. ‘The reed tip should come out even with the outside of the mouthpiece tip when the seeel is pressed down, a2 6, Pull a cleaning swab through the clarinet after removing the mouthpiece when through playing. Wipe the keys with @ cloth to remove fin- ger marks and moisture. 8, Use care in taking the clarinet apart so that the keys are not bent. 9. Always keep the clarinet in its case when not in use, 10. Use Bor-Seal_on the wood and Leblanc Ke-Lube on the action occasionally. Explanation of the Suggestions |. Keeping the cork joints lubricated prevents the joints from sticking—enables the joints to be connected without forcing them, pro- tects the cork, and waterproofs the tenons and sockets2 4 ‘The following method of putting the clar- inet together is used by many artists who believe that a set routine should be fol- lowed ta avoid damage to the joints. The bell of the clarinet is held in the left hand and the lower joint of the clarinet in the right hand. This position of the hands will avoid ‘bending the keys. Place the bell in position with a slight twist. Next, while Tholding the lower part with the right hand, pick up the upper joint with the left hand with the fingers pressing the keys to lft the connecting lever. Now put the joints together with a slight twist. Put the barrel joint in place and lastly the mouthpiece. Keep the monograms on the clarinet in line. Be careful not to bend the keys “The reason for the following suggestion is obvious. If the ligature is put on after the reed is in position, itis very apt to catch the tip of the reed and ruin it ‘When the clarinet is held under the left arm as shown in a previous picture, you ‘ean see better where and how to place the reed. The reed must be wetted before play- ‘ng on it. This can be done by dipping the reed in water or wetting it with saliva by holding it ia the mouth for « short time. Place the reed under the ligature butt end fret, ‘The tip of the reed should reach just to the outside edge of the mouthpiece tip when the reed is pressed down. Keep the reed in line with the facing of the mouth- piece. ‘This suggestion isan important one. Moisture will collect in the bore of the clarinet. This should always be wiped out when you are through playing. The inside of the mouthpfece will get very unsanitary unless cleaned every day. Use warm water to remove the moisture and sediment that will inevitably accumulate in the mouth- piece. Never, never use hot water on a rub- ber or plastic mouthpiece. Avoid using any cloths o swabs on the inside of the mouth- piece which would scratch or injure the inner surface. ‘To keep your keys looking like new, wipe them with a polishing cloth. Another reason for this procedure is the fact that the acid 10. Care of the clarinet Present in perspiration will tarnish almost any metal. A simple way to alleviate this trouble is by dusting the hands with a good talcum powder, then wiping them with a ry handkerchief before playing, Use extreme care again in taking the clar inot apart 20 that the keys are not bent. Reverse the method described in No. 2 hove. Form the habit of following, the above routine of assembling and disas- sembling the clarinet. It will save time and will preclude damage to the mechanism. ‘The main reasons for recommending that the clarinet always be kept in its case when not in use is to keep it protected and free from dust and dirt. Do nut use the case for a “catch all.” Carrying music and books in it can easily be the cause of extensive damage to the instrument. Brush. the dirt and dust out of the case regularly. Keep the case clean, ‘The grenadilla wood used in making clar- nets is a product of nature. Consequently, ‘we recommend that the wood be coated sceasionally with Leblanc “Bor-Seal” to keep the pores filled with a protective sub- stance to preclude the absorption of moisture. The use of beavy oils such-as lin- seed and olive oil is not recommended. ‘These oils will gum up the pads and do not penetrate into the wood to any appreciable extent, Olive ofl will tum ran- cid and the acidity then present will turn the cdlges of the key cups green with ‘verdigris. Leblanc “Bor-Seal” is compound ‘ed. scientifically to really protect wood. It should be used on both the inside and out. side of the clarinet. A very light coating is all that is necessary, The Leblanc Bore-Oil Kit is scientifically designed to place just ‘the right amount of oil on the bore of the clarinet, It should be a part of every clar- inet player's equipment, Leblanc Bor-Seal will in no way harm the pads. A clarinet always scems to play easier after it has ‘been treated with “Bor-Seal". The action of the clarinet should be lubricated occasionally with Leblanc “Ke- Lube.” This is the Snest lubricant procur. able. Musical instruments are almost human in that they behave best when treated with respect and loving care. a3Random Notes oan 17 Students sometimes complain that the vi rations transmitted through the mouthpiece to the upper teeth are annoying to say the least. A small thin piece of rubber cemented to the top of the mouthpiece will relieve this problem. A couple of pieces of scotch tape or adhesive surgical tape stuck to the top of the mouthpiece is also excellent. Occasionally. this device may be used with a student who has trouble in keeping the mouthpiece. positioned correctly. Recently | have met several artists who have lower teeth with sharp, uneven edges which ut into the lower lip. The Leblanc “Lip-Savers” are little pieces of tissue which will stay in place over the teeth and will prevent this. Some artists have gone to the extent of having a gold tooth cover made by a dentist ta pro- tect the lips. We must face the fact that it can be a serious problem. Nothing has been said about the use of vibrato. This is a controversial subject that will never be settled. 1 heard one New York artist make the statement that no major sym: phony orchestra would hire a man who played clarinet with a vibrato. Everyone certainly ‘wants to hear the clarinet played with a sing. ing warm tone, I feel that the school band in structor and the private instructor will be safe in teaching children to “feel” music and to play with the sensation of singing. on. their in: struments, It is enough of a job to teach stu: dents to play with correct fingerings, good breath control, careful articulations, to read carefully, count time accurately, and to. take ool care of an instrument without delving off {nto the devious paths of vibrato and weird mouthpieces Students sometimes lift their Singers too high in playing sand strike the holes and keys too hard, Let us call it “chimping” the fingers. The “as GOORTIC fingers should not raise more than onc half inch in playing and they should stay in a nice position over the holes exactly as keys stay above the holes. The fingers when kept too high will definitely affect the quality and pitch of the tones to say nothing of the effect clump- ing has upon speed. Use the Singers gently but firmly. The Rogers can be strengthened by the little exercise of spreading them, then gripping, as though a ball was in the hand, Use tension hut immediately after, shake the fingers loosely to relax them Sometimes a reed will develop a whistle like sound. This is usually caused hy uneven side edges of the reed, Students will often play with the mouthpiece held too. lightly to have good lip control. This is easy to detect hy merely touching the clar inet at ite barrel joint while the student is playing. It is said that a picture is as good as ten thousandl words, Practicing hefore a mirror sill show a student exactly how he looks. Pricticing before a wall is valuable. The stu» lent ean find a distance which will reflect his tone buck to him as others hear it A. sensitive, critical Hstener, which every teacher should he, is always a better judge of 1 student's tone than the student is. The reason for this fact is simply that a performer is too close to the instrument to hear it properly. We never hear ourselves as others hear ws Every artist teacher emphasizes the impor tance of slow, careful, and accurate practice. Pieces selected for the young student should he technically suited to his capabilities and experiences, Many times solos are selected foryoung, people in our schoo! contests which are far beyond the student's ability to play beaut fully and accurately. “It isn't what we play, it is how we play st that matters” The parts ‘Music for the clarinet in all ensemble playing should be scrutinized carefully so that the players are not bewildered bby music that is beyond their ability to play well Music For the Clarinet exaetes 18 ‘The following very short list of music oa he used as a nucleus for a library of clarinet sie. There has been so much clarinet music published that it would take years to study and play it all. The numbers listed have proved to he very worthwhile and interesting to my stu- dents. I feel confident that they will prove to he as valvable to any students, There is more than one edition published of some of the numbers listed. No slight or disparagement is intended if some publishers have heen omitted. ‘There just isn't enough space in this booklet to give a larger list. The state and national solo contest lists shauld he eonsulted for nore solo material Beginning Books mena Cail Math uit u. Property mirc ft Cart — tn | Mere Seg len raparty nse to Cad — aa oars Seg as Hades arial Hote YoemeSeemt le Langone Mat fe Cinten Pat 6 ingot ania Cl Hatt 2 deta Rami Adomced and Routine Material Lanne: Mate Pat I 6 lames Lape Mate —Pat 1 tes ‘eect baie Sumer oF Lun Carine Mati Port HA Ure a. ine Clad Halal Pac Tle o ern Mac Ede eet v. chal Sie te Greet, mae we Soon Parminder tants vB. Mando tcc tans v. The Art of Adetig tees 0. mae u. A Chats Compeion 19 Sots te Saree — Yea I tw c Select Advanced She YemanSere Be 2 toaade uw. Clorinet Duets us St Cie Lelie u. Tene Dae Weurtiseyent CF Selec Dota. 1 , Sous a F Mine atm Lagenes Dal tr toe Che, Opes Habla Solos veith Plane Accompaniment Saale Wate Lampoos uw. Laman and Teratte epaae at Fire Pla Als Bar wo Ia the Few anges oF ete Atom bh Flt Coca inant ne Aa ad Pre abet et Pate Dice be semi Prine Rape Meet bem Cal Coca om Select o Publishers at car, ne ew eek Ch Carats ee, Mas. tata hag, |p Apleen Wak Patios, mc. gpa, dentate ask a Oy Me, Neale Namie Pal Ca ew Te asst, Wis. Laban Palais, ne local dele can fale sey samba oc yo poe ect he bleBASIC FINGERINGS AND TRILL FINGERINGS FOR CLARINET coves | EXPLANATION “The fingering charts on the following. pages are arranged according to the acoustical prin- ciples upon which the clarinet is used. The relationship between the different registers is thereby shown clearly. Note that the sev- en notes in the altissimo register are based ipon the fingerings of the seven notes shown Thelow: in the chakimean and again in the clarion register. The chart is shown as an ascending chromatic scale with sharps only FINGER TECHNIQUE ‘The use of correct fingerings is very im- Portant to a student as he advances. Many players do ot utilize the possibilities of the Hochm system clarinet. Here are four simp censily learned rules that will solve all ordi- Fingering problems: Int: Never glide the fingers from key to key or hole to key unless absolutely nl: Keep the fingering in one hanel if pos se 3rd: Don't ue forked fingerings unless aby solutely necessary 4th: In passing to any tone that uses the right Tand fingers to any. of the “throat tones,” or vice versa keep the right hand Bngers down while playing the throat tones, [ara Google Exomple of Ist rule: Use the left hand LF key here to avoid gliding. Example of Ind rule: ae Use the left hand, top Dg key—Keep finger- ing in one hand for hetter coordination of Ringers, bes Use the right hand Eb key to avoid gliding Example of 3rd rule: Play Bb with the Ist Rnger of each hand to avoid glidirg, Note: Be sure that the connecting hur closes the upper Bh key which is just belaw first hole for ist finger left hand on this fingering. Example of 4th rule: Keep the two suse in playing the low A and the upper E-dewn ‘when playing the G. Never keep the right hand fingers down om nutes. lower than’. The low RGE key can be kept pressed open, or the little finger at least resting on it whenever convenient. This will keep. the right-hand falace=also will In holel the el seetings fi the Heft haBASIC CLARINET FINGERINGS ARRANGED BYE. C. MOORE, A. B.A. TARE oF souwauonrs eh "EVERY nec ade elaine att ome [tee] | = wae [iz 2[2 | = aoe a R eat won Fee a a ete ee § Bes t : 5 = es 2 . is wolf TELL ET EE Mam | jaatfaot aot laot Junta] "feat fn at uot si alle (eAnion) frepe} te 4 1 staat ara ett oe [re [ral re fre tre wat hata|atabayatays de PHAR ry Tels ; seis re] = = 5s : shits wen 3 [2] : ud - MANO T ve ur jut) » Sapa |e] eyBASIC TRILL FINGERINGS FOR CLARINET ARRANGED BY EC. MOORE, A. B.A. EXAMPLES OF TRILL NOTATION A trill is a rapid alternation from 4 note to the next note above in the key used, An accidental above the note indicates that & © i = ca cs the will is to. the accidental, én ‘cir nit ‘Ear this case to FE, A trill is for asus oF eauivAtents Tig sable ef omabaiets gut tha "EVERY ee “Sp tate ir either « half or whole tone. It fs rarely if ever for a tone and Le a half, Trills that ore played teith regular fingerings are not eluded in this chart. A wavy line indicates the keys fr fingers to he tilled. Tell fn erings are sometimes necessary to play other ornaments smoothly.Daily Routine «use 20 The tone studies should be practiced slowly and carefully each day. Play each one as a lovely sola. Play with « full ricls to steady even breath pressure, The tone “F” an the fifth line, treble clef is chosen as the “model tone because itis easiest to get a characteristical ly hesutiful clarinet tome on this note. Carcy this {quality down to the lowest tones then up to the altissimo register and a Keep the lip position necessary in playing beautiful upper tones right dawn to the lowest tones. Allowing the lip pressure to vary is one of the commonest reasons for poor tone quality Keep the breath flowing evenly. A good posture with the chest held up and the small of the back pulled in will induce good breath control. TONE, PRACTICE SHOULD ALWAYS BE DONE. BY MEMORY. ‘The chromatic scale is the fundamental scale upon which to acquire technique, It consists of 12 notes, each a semitone apart A chromatic seale ean start from any tone, but all 12 chro: les are alike, so there is really but one ti seale. By the same reasoning there are only 2 whole tone scales. There are only 12 major scales and only 19 scales in any minor mode. The harmonic minor scales have been selected because they are so strongly colored, and so distinctively minor, Further, in_ playing the scales in the order given, progression is made from the seale in half tones, to whole tones, to a mixture of half and whole tones (major scales ) and finally to a mixture of half steps, whole steps and- augmented seconds in the harmonic rwinor seales claro ~ se Go gle “The scales are all laid out to cover the entire legitimate range of the clarinet and they progress upward chromatically (scale of E then F, ete.) ‘This layout is extremely easy to memorize, ‘The scales are numbered consecutively and the first few are marked with articulations so that it is easy to play scale No. 10 with articulation No, 2 ete ‘The chord studies are laid out similarly. ‘Ther are really anly three diminished seventh chords and four augmented chords. The chord. studies hhave just the right number of notes so they can be played in fours or triplets after memorizing, Practice them with different articulations When the 12 dominant seventh chord stadies, swith their resolutions have been played, you will have played all the daminant seventy chords, all the major triads, all the minor triads and since the upper three notes of @ dominant seventh choral is « diminished triad, all these will have Then played which makes these condensed studies very comprehensive and complete. These studies are based on the ideas used in the “De la Sonorite” and the “Journaliers” for Hute written by the eminent artist and teacher, M. Marcel Moyse, of the Paris Conservatory now residing in America, Wind instrament players owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to him for his works because the principles of tone study and technical teaching are so applicable to all ‘wind instruments, 49CLARINET TONE STUDIES IN SEMITONES ‘TONE STUDIES ON THE WHOLE TONES See Py en a GoogleTONE STUDIES ON THE MINOR THIRD AGO52 BASIC ARTICULATIONS TO BE USED IN SCALE AND CHORD STUDIES po DIMINISHED 7th CHORDS bate Ete ie isea u ee its =] Freres 53a u ee its =] Freres 53HARMONIC MINOR SCALES 54DOMINANT 7th CHORDS RESOLVING TO MAJOR AND MINOR TRIADS QQ a 00, a 55