Clarinet Talk

clarinet tone, music, equipment, news, all things clarinetist

Video: Tips and Tricks for playing the Mendelssohn Scherzo 1st Clarinet Part

A 12 minute, fast-tonguing clarinet lesson, introducing various techniques and tricks for playing the most difficult clarinet passages in: Hector Berlioz “Nuits D’Été: L’Ile Inconnue”; and Felix Mendelssohn Scherzo, from his Incidental Music to the Midsummer Night’s Dream.

I demonstrate each passage using a combination of single and/or double-tonguing, with an occasional “hu” articulation. Using the “hu” articulation in certain spots is an unusual, but effective, way to help speed up and lighten single tonguing.

These orchestral excerpts are among the most difficult classical music to perform well, and the Scherzo is required on virtually every clarinet audition list.

Enjoy. (Below is a PDF of the difficult lick from Berlioz Nuit D’Été. I will post the Mendelssohn Scherzo excerpt in a few days.)

Berlioz clarinet articulation excerpt

Berlios Nuite D’Ete, L’Ile Inconnu

Awesome Street Clarinetist in New Orleans!

street clarinetist

This YouTube video was posted by DJKKGaGa. Wow. What a find. I love his orange clarinet. If anyone in New Orleans knows this guy or where he plays, let me know. Every young clarinetist should be encouraged to learn to wail in such a vocal exuberant way. It’s better to harness this kind of joyful enthusiasm than try to create freedom of sound from within a prison of rules. Enjoy

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Video- Opening clarinet solo from Rhapsody in Blue

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We had a great live concert tonight as part of our AEP Pops series. It was an all Gershwin program entitled “The Gershwins- Here to Stay”, with my excellent colleagues of the Columbus Symphony, Peter Stafford Wilson conducting, and staring Kevin Cole on very Gershwinesque piano, Sylvia McNair (a Columbus native) on gorgeous vocals, and Ryan VanDenBoom on vocals and fantastic tap dancing. Here is a video demonstration and tips on learning the famous opening clarinet solo in George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

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Video- Clarinet Finger Love Fest in Brahms Schoenberg Giant Orchestration

Brahms Schoenberg Orchestral Clarinet Excerpts

This past weekend the Columbus Symphony played a ring dinger of a piece, both musically and technically; the Schoenberg arrangement/transcription of the Brahms Piano Quartet Opus 25. It’s like playing a Brahms symphony on Mahler steroids and sounding at times like a huge Bach Toccata. This music presents daunting challenges, from intonation and balance issues due to the thick orchestration, to the numerous technically difficult licks. In this video I demonstrate and offer practice tips on many clarinet excerpts from this gorgeous music. The clarinet sheet music for the excerpts are below, if you wish…

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Nutcracker Clarinet solos; demonstration with practice tips.

Nutcracker Clarinet solos, an introduction with tips

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! What better way to celebrate the season than to talk about The Nutcracker clarinet solos! Enjoy.

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Rachmaninoff Vocalise – for Mom

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Rachmaninoff Vocalise Op. 34, NO. 14. Video of my practice today. Great piece for working on phrasing and breath control. Mom loves this piece (and has sung it) and always asked me to play it. When I do, she tells me to support more, play slower and phrase longer. Thanks, Mom. I added text comments throughout the video. Enjoy. Clarinet – Buffet R13 A Mouthpiece – Hawkins B Ligature – Bay, gold plated Reed – Legere Signature 4.25

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X-Ray Video of Dancing Tongue in Clarinetist’s Mouth – Not what you expect.

xray_mouth

Clarinetist and teacher Ray Wheeler (1930-2006) shocked the clarinet world in the early 70s with his x-ray film of what happens inside a clarinetist’s mouth while playing. (Video link thanks to ClarinetMike Blog) For those who may not be aware of it, most clarinet teachers and players believe the tongue is high in the mouth for high registers and low for low registers. This video shows the opposite. It also shows an amazing amount of movement in general. In fact clarinetist’s and saxophone players move their tongues much more than any other wind instrument player.…

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Stanley Hasty (1920 – 2011) Legendary Clarinetist and Teacher

Stanley Hasty (1920 – 2011) Born February 21, 1920, Mr. Hasty pursued a long and distinguished career as a clarinetist and teacher. From 1943 until 1955 he served as principal clarinetist and soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. During that time he also taught at Indiana University in Bloomington and Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. In 1955 Mr. Hasty joined the faculty of the Eastman School of Music and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra where he served as principal clarinetist and soloist until…

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Chronogram Magazine -Religious Reeding. Don Byron Clarinetist

Chronogram Magazine – June 01, 2011 – Religious Reeding. It’s long been a mystery as to how and why the clarinet came to lose its standing. A wind instrument once as synonymous with jazz as the saxophone or trumpet, it was the axe of choice for a string of superstar bandleaders and iconoclastic stylists that began with Sidney Bechet, led to Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, and, to many, stopped with Eric Dolphy. Perhaps it’s all those hokey, Bourbon Street-souvenir Pete Fountain LPs currently clogging thrift store bins that have unfairly branded the “licorice stick”…

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Clarinetist Dieter Klöcker (1936-2011)

Dieter Klöcker (1936-2011) David Glenn to Klarinet List: Dieter Klöcker died on May 21st. He had cancer. I was at his funeral on Saturday. There were more former students of his as well as collegues from Consortium and the conservatory in Freiburg. His wife and son were looking well for the circumstances.

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