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In This Issue June 28, 2013
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- A Note From Michelle Anderson - Enjoying summertime
- Free Training - 5-minute maintenance for your register key
- Michelle Recommends - videos at Backun Musical Youtube channel
- 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 Everyone!
Welcome to the Clarinet Mentors bi-weekly newsletter. I welcome several new clarinetists to this community since the last newsletter. I hope you find great value in the clarinet pointers and videos that come with these newsletters every two weeks. Feel free to comment on any of the videos on the YouTube page, or by sending me an email.
I've gone into a bit of summer holiday mode. My family meets every June at a local hot springs resort. Great place for all ages, and they don't have any clarinets there! Personally, I love the clarinet, but every now and then, it is nice to have a holiday (until I pick up the instrument again at home and produce really scary, out-of-shape sounds!!). I had a great holiday, and now I am busy preparing and recording a whole bunch of new, great videos for all of you in the Clarinet Mentors community. Please keep sending me your ideas for any clarinet-related pointers that would help you in future Clarinet Mentors newsletters.
Just a reminder from last newsletter - as a gift to you during the month of June, anyone who emails me this month with the subject line: "Sign Me Up For Lesson One" will get a free membership to the first lesson of my Clarinet Is Easy course (details below). Lesson One is designed for beginners, but it also reinforces some great habits for intermediate players.
Have a great week, and thanks for being a part of my community!
Free Training - 5 minute register key maintenance
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Every now and then, I will be playing, or I'll be listening to one of my students, and I will notice that the throat tone Bb is especially bad. Now, this note is probably one of the worst notes acoustically on the clarinet since the register key is really designed to play high notes, not a Bb. Although there is a side key that produces much better tone, the reality is that we often can't reach that fingering comfortably within most finger patterns.
I have a video on YouTube from a couple of months ago that shows you some ways to improve the tone of the Bb by adding "resonator fingers" to this note. I'll put the link here for you, since it is also mentioned in this week's video:
There is another trick that can often improve this note. Our register vent hole (that is the metal tube that sticks out on the inside of your top joint, and catches your swab) often gets obstructed with dust and lint. This can make an already fuzzy note even worse.
It only takes about 5 minutes to clean this out, and all you need is a small screwdriver, a toothpick, and your swab. I do this about once a year. Check it out in this week's video below:
I have more videos currently in production. If there are topics that you would like help with, please send me some suggestions. If you are a Facebook user, please LIKE the Clarinet Mentors page at: http://www.facebook.com/ClarinetMentors
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Michelle Recommends - Backun Musical Youtube Channel
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My guess is that if you enjoy all of my clarinet videos, you may also enjoy the wide range of videos that you will find posted by Backun Musical Services on Youtube. There are several world-class players speaking about a variety of topics. You will also find some great information about clarinet equipment. I recommend that you subscribe to their channel and enjoy the clarinet expertise that you will find there.
Here is a link to a sample video from Eddie Daniels, who plays both classical and jazz styles expertly, discussing vibrato on the clarinet.
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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 hundreds 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 also try the first lesson with a 100% Money-Back Guarantee. If it is not the right style for you, you get your tuition refunded, no problem.
***SPECIAL UNTIL JUNE 30, 2013***
If you also want to just peek at Lesson One of Clarinet Is Easy (great for beginners), send me an email in June with the heading "Sign Me Up For Lesson One" , and I'll give you a free membership to the many videos in Lesson One.
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.
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Helping you to find success on your instrument with sound teaching techniques, and useful learning systems.
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