In This Issue
August 9, 2014
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- A Note From Michelle Anderson - ClarinetFest 2014 report
- Free Training - How To Choose The Best Ligature For Your Clarinet- My report on some of the best ligatures that I have tried, and what to look for
- Michelle Recommends - Silverstein Ligature - A very well-designed ligature
- 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 have just returned from 5 full days of Clarinet Geekdom at Clarinetfest 2014 in Baton Rouge, LA. What fun! There were concerts daily from 8:00 am to 10:30 pm. I saw many superb performances, some soloists, some clarinet choirs, mixed ensembles and fabulous lectures. There was also a huge exhibit area filled with clarinet gadgetry and music. I found many things that I enjoyed, and I will share ideas with you in upcoming newsletters.
One performance that stood out for me was hearing Julian Bliss perform the Finzi Clarinet Concerto. He has a beautiful fluid tone, that makes use of many tone colours. Here is a photo of Julian with clarinetist Julien Herve. They played a fun, virtuosic duet to finish one of the evening concerts.
In this issue, I share with you my results from my Great Ligature Hunt. Many of you had sent me suggestions, and today I publish my results. 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 - How To Find the Best Ligature
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Some time ago, I declared that I was initiating my own Great Ligature Hunt, because I had been using the same ligature for about 20 years, and I was curious to find out what else was out there. Many of you sent in your suggestions of ligatures that worked well for you. I appreciate all of your suggestions, and at ClarinetFest, I was able to try most of the ones that I hadn't already tried at home.
I quickly became aware that the best ligatures really do enhance tone quality, and affect the character of tone considerably. Every person's clarinet setup, and desired tone quality, is different. There is no definitive "best ligature" for everyone. I highly recommend that if you have time to try a few different ligatures out, you pick the one that sounds best to you on your mouthpiece and clarinet.
Here are the ligatures that made my "top 5 list":
Since they work differently for everyone, here are some other excellent ones to try out:
Other BG Ligatures
Rovner Clarinet Ligatures
Vandoren Klassik Ligature
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: Silverstein Clarinet Ligature
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As this week's video indicates, there are many good ligatures in the clarinet world. At ClarinetFest 2014, I met the creators of the Silverstein ligature, and I was very impressed. This ligature is very intelligently designed, and uses sturdy material. It comes with a lifetime guarantee, which I have not seen in any other clarinet ligature.
On my clarinet, it produces a very warm and resonate tone quality. They come in a few different sizes. I was able to try a couple, and choose the one that fit my clarinet best. On their website, there is a chart of common mouthpiece types, and what works best. I also think it is very attractive to look at. As a performer, I like things that will catch the eye of the audience. Of course the most important factor is the sound it helps produce, and out of everything that I tried, it worked best with my setup. I was pleased with my old setup, but this adds a bit of "velvet" to my sound that I really enjoy. I compared the silver and gold plated models, and I liked them both. I ended up choosing the gold one, but I would have been happy with either one.
I highly recommend that you try one to see how it works on your set up. If you contact them, mention that you are part of the Clarinet Mentors community.
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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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