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Breathing
- Have instrument ready before you play in order to get nice full breath.
- Relax stomach.
- Keep neck down very relaxed in breath.
- Picture breathing to the back of your ribcage.
- Practice breathing through nose to discover the feeling of a nice relaxed breath.
- We breathe through our mouth to bring in more air in less time, but the feeling must still be the same.
- Inhale so much air that it wants to automatically come out of the lungs.
- Breath like you’re taking in all the oxygen out of the room
Tonguing
- Use “Tee” for tonguing.
- Let the tongue let go of the reed
- Put tongue on the reed and then release it
- To practice, bite down on sides of tongue. Quarter notes “Tee, Tee, Tee, Tee”
- Tongue lightly towards the tip of the reed
- Tongue is always making the same motion regardless of articulation
Embouchure
- Make sure you have plenty of mouthpiece. If you play too close to the tip, there is not enough reed vibrating to a make a good sound.
- Open mouth the width of one finger
- Check instrument angle (not so far in)
- Tongue placement. Think “Shhhhhhh”
Intonation
- Most pitch problems will take care of themselves with proper embouchure, tongue placement and breath support.
How the clarinet works
- Form the embouchure around the mouthpiece
- Tongue directs the air
- Blow against the reed.
- Reed vibrates against the mouthpiece
- Air column vibrates through the tube (clarinet)
- Changing fingerings changes the length of the tube (clarinet)
