In This Issue
March 1 2014
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- A Note From Michelle Anderson - Lion or Lamb? What about bees?
- Free Training - Alternate Fingerings Part 1- An introduction to alternate fingerings for Bb and Eb help you play more smoothly
- The Great Ligature Hunt - Help me find the best clarinet ligatures
- Michelle Recommends - ClarinetFest 2014 - The largest clarinet festival of the year. I'll be there!
- 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 bi-weekly newsletter. I welcome new readers to the Clarinet Mentors community, and I hope that you enjoy the clarinet-related knowledge that is shared here. My goal is to continue to make life easier for clarinetists all around the world!
Thanks to all of you who gave me feedback on how viewable this newsletter is. It appears that most of you see this in a very easy-to-read white text on a dark background. However, some of you, get dark grey text on black (yuck!).
There is an old expression that if March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion, and vice versa. Here in Vancouver, we have been quickly moving between cold and snow, and then a day later, warmth and sunshine. March 1st brings both. I think the lamb and the lion are doing some weird collaboration. Speaking of weird collaborations, I heard about this video that you have to see to believe. This is a man who likes to cover himself with bees, and then play clarinet. (What a great model of playing in spite of possible distractions!) This will bring a smile to your face. Click the photo below to enjoy this, and as always, thanks for being part of my community!
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Free Training - More alternate fingerings for you to learn to improve your technic and play more easily
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Today's free training is aimed at newer players or players who may not have learned alternate fingerings along the way. More experienced players are likely familiar with these fingerings, but if you are not fluent in them, you may wish to use these exercises to improve your finger skills.
This new video introduces you to the alternate fingerings for high Bb and low Eb. I also show you the best trill options for these notes. These are fingerings that you may not use often, but they are very helpful some of the time! You can download the worksheet that goes with it here:
As always, I enjoy hearing from you, so please add your comments in the comments box below the video on YouTube, or send me an email. Click on the video image below to watch this video lesson.
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The Great Ligature Hunt...
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I receive many questions every day about the equipment that I use. Personally, I think there are many fine options in the clarinet world, and I will usually recommend a few different options that I know are good quality for any given piece of the clarinet.
It has been a long time since I have taken the time to do a thorough testing of the many types of ligatures out there. There are many good designs. I am going to play test as many as I can in the next month to find out what I think of the current designs.
I'd like your help. Are there any ligatures that you LOVE? Is there anything that you think I should try out? I look forward to hearing your suggestions...
I'll let you know what I discover in a future newsletter.
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Michelle Recommends: ClarinetFest 2014 - five full days of everything CLARINET!
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Every year, the International Clarinet Association puts on a huge clarinet conference. There are recitals, concerts, lectures, many clarinet gadgets to try out, competitions and of course, many opportunities to meet other clarinet players.
I will be there this year, and would love to meet some of you in person if you will be attending. For details, check out the link below:
https://www.clarinet.org/clarinetfest2014/Index.asp
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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 sound teaching techniques, and useful learning systems.
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