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In This Issue August 6, 2013
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- A Note From Michelle Anderson - Happy Summertime!
- Free Training - The most common mistakes we all make (part 2), and how to correct them
- Michelle Recommends - Backun Musical barrels
- Are You A Clarinet-Nerd? - The answers to last newsletter's CN challenge
- 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 knowledge that is shared here. Feel free to comment on any of the videos on the YouTube page, or by sending me an email. My goal is to continue to make life easier for clarinetists all around the world!
As I write this, I am on the second leg of our annual family holiday trip to visit people in many places, both in the US and Canada. Our travels take us to Manitoba, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington. It is hard to stay in shape on clarinet while travelling, but it is great to catch up with old friends and family. Today's video I filmed at home before leaving, and is part two of the video which was featured in the last newsletter. I hope you enjoy it, and I appreciate reading your comments on the video page.
By the way, I have been receiving several emails from members of the Clarinet Mentors community lately, which I really enjoy. I may not be prompt in answering while I travel, but I will replay at some point. Feel free to send your clarinet questions my way.
Have a great week, and thanks for being a part of my community!
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Free Training - A Few More Common Clarinet "Bad Habits", and how you can fix them...
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Today's free training continues the learning from last newsletter. I had noticed that many of my students had all seemed to slip into some bad habits (usually just a bit, but enough to impact their playing). I decided that a full video on common bad habits would be useful for all of you. A good teacher will always point out when we are straying from the best practises, and help steer us back into good habits. I want you to watch these videos and see if you recognize any of these common bad habits in your playing. I know that I check up on in my own playing from time to time, because they can sneak up on anyone.
There really are no new concepts here, but I do present them clearly, and show you the good and bad consequences of these behaviours. At an average of 4 minutes per mistake, it is worth watching.
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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Are You A Clarinet Nerd? (The Answer...)
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In my last newsletter, I featured my new, fun, video that will reveal whether you are in fact a true Clarinet Nerd. This one-minute video is a clarinet version of "Name That Tune". There are eight famous clarinet pieces put together in a very fast medley. If you haven't already tried this, I challenge you to identify as many of them as you can by clicking on the video link below. In my opinion, if you recognize at least five of them, you are a hopeless Clarinet Nerd. (In fact, if you even click on the video to try it out, you likely qualify for official CN status...)
I originally posted this on Facebook to make it easy for you to share with other Clarinet Nerds in your life. If you are on Facebook, click here to see this fun video. I encourage you to click "share" to spread the Clarinet Nerdiness in the world! I have listed the answers underneath the video icon below.
Are You A Clarinet Nerd? - Here are the eight tunes in the video:
- The Clarinet Polka
- Mozart Clarinet Concerto - 3rd mvt. Rondo
- Weber Concertino
- Copland Concerto
- Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie
- Brahms Clarinet Sonata #1 - 3rd movt. - Allegretto Grazioso
- Finzi - Five Bagatelles - Fughetta
- Poulenc Sonata - 3rd mvt. - Allegro con fuoco
If you are not a Facebook user, you can click directly on the image above to view the Clarinet Nerd Challenge on Youtube.
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Michelle Recommends: Backun Barrels for your clarinet
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Many people who watch my videos write to me and ask me what kind of barrel I am using, since it does not look like the average barrel. In fact, these barrels are so far above average, that I encourage you to try them out.
These barrels are made by Backun Musical, and come in many different shapes, sizes and wood types. They respond differently on different setups, so if you have a chance to try a bunch out, it is a real treat. I have a few different ones that I play with. In my experience, on my clarinets, the FatBoy model (pictured below), produces a slightly larger, darker tone (Brahms). The MoBa barrel produces a rich, lighter, sound (Mozart). The truth is though, that other players might describe them quite differently. What I can tell you, is that all of my students have improved their tone, intonation, and their flexibility in making more variations in tone colours when they have chosen a Backun barrel. They are all good. Some may suit your individual preferences more than others. Most people prefer the cocobolo wood, although on my clarinets, I prefer the grenadilla. I love that they come in many different sizes, so if intonation has been a challenge for you, you might find that a different size barrel will greatly improve things. I encourage you to try them out.
There are many dealers that now carry these around the world.
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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 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.
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Helping you to find success on your instrument with sound teaching techniques, and useful learning systems.
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