Clarinet/Playing

From Music-Web Encyclopedia

[edit] Assembling the Clarinet

Make sure all joints are thinly coated with cork grease. Whenever two sections are assembled, it is with a slight rotating, twisting movement. This minimizes the strain on the instrument in general. If a joint can not be easily assembled, apply more cork grease to it. On a wood clarinet, loose tenon rings create a significant risk of breaking the female tenon joint and call for extreme caution during assembly. Be careful to avoid bending the "bridge" keys at the middle joint or damaging the cork on the bottom of the top bridge key. Grasp the upper section in the left hand, with the fingers depressing the rings to raise the upper bridge key. Grasp the lower section in the right hand by the wood below the keys, so that the lower bridge key remains down, being careful not to bend keys by pressing them. Insert the corked part of the upper joint straight into the lower, watching the position of the bridge keys while doing so, and join the two sections with short twisting movements. Avoid excessive twisting and wobbling. Place the bell on the bottom, then the barrel on the top. Last, insert the mouthpiece into the barrel joint, with the flat side parallel to the octave key.

[edit] Position for Holding the Clarinet

The clarinet is held fairly close to the body because of the mouthpiece design, so that the lower lip can support the reed. The mouthpiece should point slightly toward the roof of the mouth. The right thumb, under the thumb rest, supports the instrument's weight just above the base of the thumb nail. The fingers of the right hand arch slightly as the balls of the fingers fit the centers of the rings to close them, with the index finger slightly inclined upward to work the side keys when necessary. The little finger hovers over the keys so that those closest can be played with a curved finger and those farthest away with a straight finger. This avoids movement of the right hand, which could result in a leak. The left thumb falls diagonally on the thumb hole, allowing the upper tip to reach the octave key when necessary by tilting the thumb without moving it out of position. The left index finger must be inclined upward while covering the first ring so that it can reach the A or Ab keys. The other fingers arch slightly to close the other holes, and the little finger operates the keys under it.

[edit] Embouchure

There are two methods: the upper teeth can rest on the mouthpiece, or the upper lip can cover the upper teeth. Resting the upper teeth on the mouthpiece will wear a groove in the mouthpiece eventually and causes uncomfortable vibration in some players, but the choice should be left up to the individual player. Draw the lips back as if forming a slight smile. Point the chin so that the lower teeth press forward against the lower lip. Allow a little of the lower lip to curve in as a cushion over the front teeth. Place the mouthpiece in the mouth, pointing toward the back of the roof of the mouth, with the reed firmly on the lower lip. Close the corners of the mouth in toward the mouthpiece with the sides of the lower lip lifting to seal around it and let the upper front teeth, with or without lips over them, rest on top of the mouthpiece. After a tone is produced, experiment with the amount of mouthpiece taken into the mouth, the amount of lips over the teeth, the clarinet angle from the body, and the tongue position. Some change in lip pressure is usually needed to go to different ranges. Higher notes tend to need more air pressure to play in tune.

[edit] See Also

• Clarinet Embouchure Guide
• Role of the Embouchure in Characteristic Clarinet Tone Production

[edit] Tongue Position

For most tonguing, the upper side of the tongue, near the tip, lightly touches the underside of the tip of the reed. This stops the reed's vibration (and the sound). The tone is started when the tip of the tongue drops lightly downward and slightly back away from the reed while air pressure is being provided to the mouthpiece. Avoid tonguing too far down on the reed or placing too much tongue against the reed because this may result in a quacking sound. Tonguing is most easily learned by playing a long note and lightly flicking the tongue against the tip of the reed to stop the vibration momentarily to interrupt the note. Repeat this until the starting and stopping of the note is smooth and the stream of breath is continuous. The tongue should be as relaxed as possible and as little of it should move as necessary. The lower jaw should not move with the tongue, and the throat should be relaxed and open. Start the air pressure from the diaphragm before the tongue releases the reed to vibrate. To play legato or rapid staccato, the tongue's return to the reed stops one note and starts the next. In finishing the ends of phrases or in stopping the vibrations of notes followed by intervals of silence, the diaphragm will stop the flow of air. Experiment with tonguing the corner, centre, or the entire tip of the reed to discover important differences in the abruptness and quality of tone beginnings; e.g., legato is achieved by tonguing near a corner or by reducing air flow by passing the tip of the tongue near the tip of the reed, while strong accent is achieved by covering the tip of the reed from side to side.