In This Issue
August 30, 2014
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- A Note From Michelle Anderson - Back To School and Happy Labor Day Weekend!
- Free Training - The Amazing Body Rhythm Machine - An introduction to the main system I use to teach rhythm
- Michelle Recommends - New Royal Conservatory of Music Clarinet Series - An excellent new set of books progressing from very easy to university level
- Clarinet Is Easy - Complete how-to lessons for beginners and self-taught intermediate players
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A Note from Michelle Anderson
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Hello !
Welcome to the Clarinet Mentors newsletter. I hope you find some great clarinet pointers and tips that help you to play the clarinet more easily through these newsletters.
I always feel like September is more of a new year than New Year's Day in January. Here in North America, everyone prepares to go back to school, and all musical groups get back into their performance seasons.
I look forward to playing Carmen with the Vancouver Opera, and many other interesting concerts in the next two months. If you have considered joining a local community band or orchestra, but decided that you are: too shy, or not good enough, or too old, or too young (etc), NOW is a great time to check out the groups in your community. You can ask to sit in and observe a rehearsal. There are many community bands that welcome up-and-coming newbies (or oldies, who haven't played for a long time). If you participate in an organized group, it is one of the best ways to improve your skills.
I really encourage you to try it!
Thanks so much for being part of my Clarinet Community. I hope that you enjoy your clarinet this week!
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Free Training - The Amazing Body Rhythm Machine
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Today's video is a brief introduction to my main system for learning rhythm. It is only a small piece of things, but I think is useful to try as a stand-alone exercise. I have met so many students who believe they just don't have a "natural" sense of rhythm. Once they tried an organized system for learning rhythm patterns, without fail, every one of them found that rhythm and counting actually became a strength in their playing.
This video really only gives you one exercise to try. It will probably feel a bit silly, but it is effective. I introduce some of the concepts using very easy rhythms. The idea is to start with easy ones, and methodically add more challenging patterns into your routine over time. If you find rhythm to be a bit challenging, I encourage you to try this out. I will also have a major rhythm component in my new course that will give several days of exercises. For now, though, you can start with this and adapt the technic to your own rhythm patterns. For some of you, this will be really easy (however, in future, I will definitely throw some your way that will likely be challenging). For many of you, this will feel tricky at first, but simply focusing on one exercise at a time will allow you to learn it until it does feel easy.
I hope you enjoy today's video, and if you have any comments, please feel free to write them in the comments box below the Youtube video.
Please click on the link below, or on the photo:
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Michelle Recommends: Royal Conservatory Clarinet Series
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When I was at ClarinetFest in July, I was introduced to a new line of clarinet study books that were presented by Toronto clarinetist Peter Stoll. These are designed to go along with a series of grade level exams that many clarinetists progress through in Canada and the US. However, they also make excellent books to play out of for people who are just looking for good music to learn. I was very impressed with the variety of musical styles within each book - classical, jazz, contemporary. The learning concepts are extremely well thought out. I will definitely be using some of these books with my students this year.
I heard there is an American and Canadian version. I'm not sure what the difference is. I imagine there may be some slightly different repertoire to tie into the exams that differ regionally. If you are not doing the exams, either one would be fine!
I'll have a better idea of the full repertoire when I receive my full set, that is currently in the mail. I did look through them fairly carefully at ClarinetFest. I often have people ask me what music would be fun for them. I do recommend these books. You can choose the level that corresponds to your own playing level, and play alone, or with piano accompaniment. I believe there are professional recordings available with each one of clarinet with piano, and then just the piano.
Here is a link for more information:
This link is for the complete set, but each book is also available separately. I think many of you would enjoy trying one out!
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Clarinet Is Easy - Your Step-by-Step Beginner Course - Now Available! (Also enjoyed by many intermediate level players)
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How To Solve Your Common Clarinet Frustrations and Play Clarinet More Easily
I firmly believe that if anyone has the "recipe" for how to play clarinet, things are really relatively easy to do. Most of our frustrations come from inadvertently learning bad habits along the way. With that in mind, I have created for you a 10-lesson comprehensive course for beginners (and self-taught intermediate players) that gives you the tools to truly learn the clarinet easily, while avoiding all of the most common frustrations that can plague us. I believe that these lessons can save you hours of grief by giving you the best practise systems that have worked for thousands of clarinetists. The lessons have great content, and are presented in a video format so that you can watch them again and again. If you would like to play with more ease and have a clear understanding of the fundamentals of clarinet playing, you can get more information on the Clarinet Is Easy course here (including some free preview videos):
Click here for the free preview videos to Clarinet Is Easy
If you are curious about this, you can try these lessons with a 100% 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee. (That means that you can try a full 5 lessons before you decide if you have received great value from the course.) If it is not the right style for you, you get your tuition refunded, no problem. I invite you to try it now! Many students have received amazing results so far from this course (and you can read their comments on the order page).
Michelle Anderson, the founder of Clarinet Mentors, is a professional clarinetist and teacher who currently lives in Vancouver BC. Her professional career spans 30 years and she currently plays regularly with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the West Coast Chamber Music series. She has performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Touring Orchestra and many other groups. Michelle currently specializes in teaching adults to play clarinet more easily and quickly through online resources, and conducts the Vancouver Clarinet Choir.
Thanks for reading this biweekly newsletter. If you think a friend would enjoy this, please feel free to forward it. If they want to enrol in the Clarinet Mentors Community, they can go to www.learnclarinetnow.com.
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Helping you to find success on your instrument with proven, easy-to-follow systems that are designed to help you sound good, and feel better about your playing.
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