The Buzzing Reed, David Thomas' Clarinet Blog

Daily Practice of Conscious Rest

For performers of any instrument, a daily practice of a conscious resting position such as Shivasana (Corpse Pose from Yoga) or Constructive Rest (Alexander Technique) encourages a vital awareness of the whole self. Such a practice supports healthy use of the self while practicing your instrument.

I recommend a 3-5 minute lie-down just before practicing each day for a week. (You can do longer, but if you are impatient like me, a 3 minute true rest is better than a 10 minute impatient one!)

You can lie on a carpet or other padded surface, preferably not a bed, since it suggests sleep.

I prefer constructive rest to Shivasana, since it’s a bit more specific and tailored to match the body poised in a standing position. (for a standard Alexander description, go to constructive rest, which has a pdf you can print out.)

The goal of this practice is conscious, intentional rest, not a nap!

Constructive Rest

Constructive Rest requires a few books under your head, to prevent craning it, enough so your eyes are point straight up to the ceiling.

1- Put an inch or two of books where your head will go, and test the distance by lying down with feet flat on the floor, knees bent.

(This next two steps are not required, but are helpful to elongate the back. You can also just lie down to rest your head on the book and go to step 4.)

2- Now roll up to seated with your feet flat on the floor, more than hip width apart. (You can also put your legs up on a chair as in the photo here)

3- Curl your head forward to your knees and, holding hands to backs of legs, SLOWLY roll back until your head can release to the books. Your legs may roll up as you roll back, or they may stay on the floor. Either way, you will feel a little work in your abdomen as you roll back. The purpose of the roll is to unwind your back to a nice, long resting position.

4- Hands can unfold to the floor at your sides or lie on your belly, whichever is most comfortable.

(You may adjust your feet position so your legs can balance so as not to flop either in or out. You may have to use a tiny bit of control to keep them there. That’s okay. This is not as much about relaxation as it is active rest.)

5- Eyes remain open. You can focus on a point on the ceiling.

6- Allow your breathing to settle, and begin to notice the out breaths. I like to let myself yawn several times to get started. On each out-breath, allow your feet, hips, back, neck and head to sink a bit heavier. Keep that heaviness on the next inhale, and continue deeper on the next release of air. (notice I don’t call it exhale, which implies pushing)

I imagine there is air in my arms and legs, and with each exhale, I let the air flow out of them.

Let the ends of each release of air to extend several seconds. You are in fact still exhaling, extremely slowly. This point is the most important in this practice, since it affirms a very neutral, open position for your body, full of potential.

Let your hands go, notice them releasing, let each finger go, until there is only a vibrant openness in them.

7- On an exhale, imagine playing a simple scale on your instrument. Take time to imagine this scale several times as you continue to be conscious of the resting energy of your body.

8- When you are ready, roll over to one side and slowly get up, keeping openness in your body along with the virtual scale. Then play. Notice what changes or tenses unnecessarily. Arms? Hands? Neck? Hips? Back?

Scales and Unexpected Life

My life has been somewhat chaotic the past few weeks. My mother (who lives in Maryland, while I am in Ohio) was hospitalized with a mild stroke. Luckily my sister lives in the same house and was able to care for her.

This was also the time the East Coast of the US was slammed with has been dubbed “snowmageddon”, which dumped 3 feet of show in Maryland. While Columbus Ohio did not get as much as Maryland, we had enough to disrupt schedules.

With my mother’s fate on my mind, I found it difficult to concentrate and get into the “zone” to practice effectively, nor to write for my blog.

Normally I would have enjoyed a few days of isolation, which allow me to escape into that wonderful world of practicing, where the only limitations are my time and concentration.

Fortunately, my mother is recovering at home, though she needs assistance to walk. Most of the snow has cleared. I am now in Bethesda for a few days to visit with her and help my sister with her care.

I was able to do some slow scales during this time, and, of course, practice the music required for my position with the Columbus Symphony.

If I only have a half hour to devote to practice, I use the time as efficiently as possible.

Slow scales are effective in maintaining overall technique, while enhancing my air use, tone, embouchure, voicing and legato.

1- I play all major and minor scales 3 octaves, quarters notes at about 80 bpm, or perhaps eighths at 60 bmp. The idea is to have some flow for legato, but slow enough to concentrate on finger motion, tone, intonation, voicing.

2- I start with a lot of air in the sound, a breathy tone, to force the embouchure to engage and avoid biting. It also engaged my full air capacity more effectively.

3- I often play the first few scales at mezzo forte, then progress to alternating forte and piano scales after my body has warmed up.

I have had some discussions with other clarinetists via Twitter and blogs, on the value of thinking of scales “musically” as opposed to purely technically.

Regarding technique and music making, it’s true that scales are not music. But scales are certainly used a lot in music, and of course, in music they are played “musically”. So the line is not really clear as to their separation.

If scales are like stairs, who’s to say they can’t be beautiful?

I have found that if I practice scales “mechanically”, I often have more tension than is ideal. I tend play with less than beautiful sound, perhaps less than ideal legato, intonation and other such “musical” basics. So, if I imagine the scales as a long, mellismatic musical “phrase”, I engage and lock into a higher level of coordination, one which will ultimately help more in real music making. Scales can be imagined as having chords underneath them, with tension and resolutions found in musical phrases.

This is not to say that scales are the same as the complex emotions transmitted by music, only that they should be played with the same care and attention to detail as would a real phrase of music.

Clarinet Magazine, 1954

My clarinet colleague in the Columbus Symphony, Woody Jones, came across this very old copy of Clarinet Magazine published in 1954. He gave it to me because it contains an article by my old teacher, Sidney Forrest.

It also contains articles by Anthony Gigliotti, Daniel Bonade, among others you can see on the cover of the magazine in the photo above. (click on the photo to see it enlarged)

Gigliotti gives advice to move fingers in a smooth manner and flex the air to attain good legato. He also writes a section on proper breathing which I will quote here, since it parallels much of my own advice on the subject.

[...] Mother Nature teaches us to breath correctly when we are babies, and we continue to perform this important function properly through early childhood. However, when a child reaches school age, he is inclined – perhaps because of the fact that he spends so much time in a sitting position- to allow bad posture to interfere with his correct breathing habits. Parents and teachers, noticing this begin to instill in him the false idea that he must stand up straight and expand the chest in order to breathe deeply, which actually causes a body tension that results in just the opposite to what is desired. In holding the mid-section rigid (as one must do, to expand only the chest), one prevents the correct functioning of the midsection, the only section of the body that is capable of normal expansion which allows the lowers lungs to fill properly. If you watch a sleeping person, you will notice that the expansion and contraction in breathing is in the region of the lower ribs, where the diaphragm is located. [...]

Bonade suggests adding right hand fingers to tune throat tones, and to relax the embouchure a bit to lower high tone.

Among other things, including some fun ads for bizarre reeds, there’s an article on playing the mouthpiece upside down, with the reed facing up. Apparently several prominent clarinetists played the clarinet in this manner quite successfully, including Luigi Bassi, and the principal clarinetist of the Boston Symphony at the time, Gino Cioffi. According to the article, Mr. Cioffi switched to the traditional way of playing the mouthpiece, with the reed facing down, not because it was better, but because he was afraid of not being hired simply because he played in an unknown and unaccepted way. I had heard that the clarinet was played this way, but never knew to such high professional degree.

Sidney Forrest, who studied with Simeon Bellison, offers practical advice on playing high tones. I would like to quote his short article here.

1- Whether it be a high tone or a series of high tones, one must first hear the desired pitch mentally before trying to play it. Merely using the correct fingering will not produce the intended tone or tones.

2- Imagine that you are singing the desired pitch into the instrument – the clarinet at all times should be thought of as an “extension” of your voice.

3- take in the optimum amount of mouthpiece – the amount that will be suit you for playing in all registers. It should not be necessary to take in more mouthpiece at any time to reach a high note.

4- Stretch the corners of the mouth further back for high notes, as in saying “EE” or as in smiling. Be sure this is done only in moderation, in order not to disturb the “center” of the embouchure around the mouthpiece and under the reed. It should be emphasized that the basic shape of the lips – the fundamental embouchure – definitely remains constant.

5- When playing a large ascending interval, tilt the clarinet ever so slightly upward simultaneously with the change of fingering; e.g., solos in Egmont Overture, introduction; Night on Bald Mountain, Pines of Rome.

6- Give special support to high notes by raising the diaphragm (located between the abdominal and chest cavities) and pulling in the abdomen.

7- It is a good practice to flex the upper part and sides of the reed away from the mouthpiece. Insert and old but un-chipped reed or celluloid card between the reed and mouthpiece and bend the reed away from the mouthpiece firmly but gently and with a bit of spring in the motion.

8- A parting “don’t.” Don’t bite, don’t press, and don’t squeeze the reed and/pr mouthpiece to play any high note.

This last note is typical of Mr. Forrest who often used humor or word games to help an idea stick.

Sidney Forrest, who is 92, is still alive and kicking. I visit him when I an in the DC area where I grew up. He still has useful and clever advice on playing clarinet.

It feels so good when it comes together

When I have a truly great practice day it feels so good! I am exhausted because I’ve been playing all day. But so many things kept coming together; I didn’t want to stop.

I managed to get out for a walk about half way through the day, and it was freezing out. But I had dressed well and kept walking, and I eventually warmed up.

My iPod (my PalmPre) was on shuffle for all the classical music I have on it, including that fabulous Schoenberg album with Michel Arrignon playing. There’s also another great clarinet player on a collection of Poulenc, his Les Animaux Modeles, Les Bisches, some piano piece. Lovely clarinet playing.

I had all these great tones in my ear, and as soon as I returned home I went to my practice room and started playing again.

I had in the past briefly connected a certain tone in my ear with how to achieve it on clarinet, the type of support involved, the voicing, the pitfalls. But the connection was always brief, or difficult to repeat.

Today it came together again, and I was just familiar enough with what had happened from previous attempts to analyse it, and to grasp it one step deeper.

I recorded a description of the physical nature of the experience, subjective as it may be, on my digital voice recorder for later review. I find that recording descriptions of how things feel helps trigger a body memory of it next time.

I could write about it now, but I won’t. First, I’m starving. I’m getting some Chinese carry out to eat. Second, I don’t want to blab about something so complex until I’m sure of how to describe it in a way that doesn’t sound like I’m too nutty a professor, off in my own little paradise. I want the technique to be secure and reliably repeatable.

Keeping a stiff lower lip

Lip pushups anyone?

During my deeper explorations of clarinet playing, I stumble upon tiny techniques which have huge effects on playing. One of these is the importance of a firmly supported lower lip. (The upper lip has a different function, which I will address in another post.)

Since the lower lip is the only contact with the vibrating reed, its importance is obvious. It is especially critical to control of the reed in technical passages, when the reed must jump around with precision.

Any serious player has thought about this. Yet it is often forgotten when a clarinetist has achieved a certain level of competence. And while students may have been instructed in various embouchure formations, the importance of the lower lip may have been lost in other efforts.

I tell my students that the reed is like a puppy needing to be trained. And the embouchure, particularly the lower lip, is the leash to control it. If it’s too loose, the puppy runs wild. Too tight and you choke it.

Let me clarify what is NOT involved in the use of the lower lip. Jaw pressure is NOT to be increased as the lower lip is tightened. Throat muscles are NEVER tightened.

I’ll start with the assumption that you know how to form a basic clarinet embouchure: chin flat, corners pulled in towards each other, cheeks pulled in against the teeth and gums.

If you say the word “Ewww”, with pursed lips, your lower lip should bunch up. Pull that bunched up lower lip into your mouth and form and embouchure. Say “Ewww” again, more emphatically. Tighten that lower lip in and together as much as you can, and a little more. Keep your chin pulled down.

The critical part of this musculature is the tension between the pulled down chin and the pulled up lip. Think of two arrows pointing up toward the reed as the direction of the lower lip. See the following illustration.

clarinet embouchure with direction of tension of lower lip

While doing the above exercise, check in with jaw and throat to be sure they didn’t come along for the ride. It’s harder than it seems to tighten your lower lip muscles without engaging those others unnecessarily. For that reason, I suggest the following exercise.

Form the embouchure as suggested above, place the clarinet in your mouth in ready position. Close the embouchure around the mouthpiece. Take a breath and DON’T play. Exhale through your nose. Keep the embouchure formed, concentrate on the lower lip pulling in and up. Relax your jaw and throat exaggeratedly.

Do this several times. Each time take note to relax the following in addition to jaw and throat: behind the eyes, forehead, sinuses, neck, shoulders, hips, knees, feet. You may enjoy this exercise and wish to continue for many breaths. Be careful not to hyper-ventilate.

Now play some slow scales, taking care to maintain the above achievements as you play.

Happy Music Making!

Clarinet Breeds and Behaviors

Tom Blodgett wrote a concise and perceptive categorization of the tone and other characteristics of the “big three” clarinet makers: Buffet, Selmer and Yamaha. The context was a discussion of the rise of custom clarinet makers, with particular mention of Luis Rossi. He also cites Backun, and the rise of custom parts and the use of different woods. Tom did not mention Leblanc, so I’ll wait for readers to fill in that gap. I tried a Leblanc or two briefly, and found their tone mellow and appealing, but not as interesting as Buffet.

An important point about tone: the player brings their own tone to whatever clarinet they play. The key is to find an instrument which is comfortable and allows you to sound like you.

Here is Tom’s note-

Being a clarinetist, I feel I have insight to this specific line of questioning.

It is a swing of the pendulum, where in the early 1900s independent makers started getting bought up and the musical instrument industry began to standardize, centralize and mass produce, now there is another swing thanks to the void left by that conglomeration which is being filled by artisans such as Rossi who focus on quality rather than “other things”.

There is also the effect of customization that most larger brands can’t offer. Yes, the large companies offer several different product lines based on beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, and even several models in each category. But with the movement in customization, you can now get custom mouthpieces, ligatures, barrels, bells, reeds, and even custom boring and undercutting of tone holes, not to mention gold, silver, nickel, or even platinum plating on the keys. These all do effect the overall tone quality of an instrument, as well as tailor the setup to the individual in order to maximize a players capabilities (too bad many people alter their equipment instead of fixing their problems first).

As far as the difference in tones, I firmly believe that (unfortunately) there is no standard tone for the clarinet. Everyone is happy that the clarinet player just doesn’t squeak. I personally think the big 3 makers – Buffet, Selmer, and Yamaha cater to different needs – Buffets have the best (sweetest) tone with the best key work (if you don’t get a lemon) and are more for solo work. Selmers are the darkest and heaviest, their key work is different than the Buffet, but in no way negative. They are good for large orchestras. Yamaha has the best consistency instrument – if you’ve played one, you’ve played them all. In my mind, these make the best military and band applications, where there is much more uniformity in tone and intonation.

All that goes out the window once you start changing the stock pieces, and it started with mouthpieces and ligatures, then moved to barrels, then bells and bores, The final straw was Bakun who started (or re started…) using different types of wood other than grenadilla, such as rosewood, which has a much warmer, but less vibrant tone. That’s also when makers like Rossi threw their hat in the ring, and we have come full circle to the 1700s when makers made individual instruments for individuals. The only diference is that the availability and variety of materials and the accuracy and speed of the machinery used.

In the end, the big 3 will most likely always be the top choice for factory instruments. There is room for custom makers, but the players and the public have to be able to accept them in order for them to survive.

Just my $.02

Tom Blodgett

Is Perfect Possible?

Is Perfect Possible? I guess those who think so would say so. I don’t think it is. Perfect is an idea, a goal. Getting close is what we strive for. The journey to get close is the reward. But it’s like the speed of light. The closer you get, the harder it gets, ad infinitum.

However, the pursuit of perfection can either lead us to glorious highs in artistic excellence, or it can drag us down to dungeons of pickiness and self-doubting. So the idea, its allures and gifts as well as its poisons and deceits should be addressed in order to strive toward it without hurting yourself.

Darin Wilson, a Twitter friend (@dariwilson) posted about those very ups and down, adding some good practical advice, in Perils of Perfectionism, a thoughtful and insightful article, which he playfully (or perhaps not) notes is “not quite right” yet.