In This Issue
September 3, 2016
|
- A Note From Michelle Anderson - Hey! Do you want to hang out with me in March 2017 alongside some of the best clarinetists in the world? Please let me know...
- Free Training - Improve your tone (dramatically) in the next 2 weeks
- Will You Join Me For An Amazing Clarinet Event in March?
- Michelle Recommends - Clarinet News - a new clarinet magazine filled with valuable resources
- How To Play Clarinet More Easily - Better Clarinet Tone and Faster Clarinet Fingers now available to you - great online courses
- Clarinet Is Easy - Complete how-to lessons for beginners and self-taught intermediate players
Hello From Michelle Anderson
|
Hello !
Welcome to the Clarinet Mentors newsletter. If you have just joined the Clarinet Mentors community, welcome aboard! I hope you learn many things here that make your clarinet playing more fun and easy. I am so pleased to be part of this great worldwide community of clarinetists that includes you.
Wow! August was an action-packed month for me. First of all, I went to ClarinetFest in Kansas, and was there for 3 days of amazing clarinet moments. I met many performers, manufacturers, composers and saw and heard "all things clarinet". I heard some incredible concerts. Highlights for me included hearing David Shifrin, Bil Jackson. Eugene Mondie, Michael Lowenstern, Pierre Genisson, Eddie Daniels, Ron Odrich, Ben Lulich and Ricardo Morales live.There were many great performances, but those players stood out for me. Being able to hear that many superb players in one place was really inspirational. If you are anywhere near Orlando next year July 26 - 30th, you could experience this event yourself at ClarinetFest 2017 (or even earlier if you look at my special invitation below).
I also enjoyed a couple weeks of family holidays, making the most of summer. I experienced planes, trains and automobiles and many time zones. I had a great summer, and it is now nice to be back home. Read on for updates on the Clarinet Cruise (which is postponed until 2018), and also a special invitation to join me at a clarinet event in March of 2017. I'd love to hear from you if you are at all interested in this amazing opportunity.
I hope you are enjoying your clarinet, wherever in the world you are! Thanks for being a part of the Clarinet Mentors community.
Free Training: Something that seriously improved my tone in a short amount of time
|
Sometimes as a teacher, I get a secret, smug, satisfaction when a student comes in with a major breakthrough and sheepishly says "I finally tried that exercise you've been recommending for months, and it really works!". Now, most of my students are quite diligent, and will make the most of their lessons by trying what I suggest within a week or so. However, it is human nature to sometimes put things off, even if we know that they are supposed to be good for us. Now I find myself guilty of the same thing. Seeing Bil Jackson at Clarinetfest, who was a very influential teacher to me, reminded me of an exercise that he had recommended to me many years ago. I decided to try it for a short time (3 weeks), to discover if it was good for me. Now, in all transparency, I've known for years that this is a great exercise, but probably in the same category as "I shouldn't eat that chocolate brownie", knowing it, and doing it, are two different things.
My time in August was spent in many places - homes of family and friends, hotel rooms, long days of travel, and in circumstances that made a regular practise routine very challenging. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to practise much in one day, and not even every day, I committed to doing this one exercise for 20 minutes, every day that I could practise. A few times I was able to practise longer, but mostly not. Sometimes this was "every other day", I wanted to be in decent shape when I returned home so that I could get into full performance condition quickly. What stunned me was that once I got home, I sounded good right away. Usually my first session in my home studio after August travels is painful. What was even more unusual, was that I thought I sounded better than usual. Yikes! How could I know this was great years ago, and then put is aside? It is now back in my routine!
This video gives you my version of Bil's exercise. It is not entirely how he teaches it, but is based upon his version. You can actually read an article he has published in the Clarinet News journal that I recommend below which outlines his version of it. I highly recommend that you try either his version, or mine. This is not a glamorous exercise, and a quick look might appear that this is too easy, or shouldn't work. However, if you do it mindfully, the results are stunning. Please try it, and let me know your results.
The worksheet to accompany today's video can be found here:
Will You Join Me And Some Of the Greatest Clarinet Performers in the World For An Amazing Clarinet Event in March?
|
I love meeting members of the Clarinet Mentors community. Sometimes people will visit Vancouver, and arrange a live lesson with me. Recently, I opened up 10 lesson spots for an online private lesson, and met some amazing clarinets. Some were very recent beginners, some were getting back into after a long break, and some have been playing regularly for a long time. We all share the passion of having fun making music, and wanting to play as well (and as easily) as we can.
I was approached to consider having a Clarinet Mentors live event in conjunction with another clarinet event that takes place in Nashville March 9-11, 2017. I am thrilled at the prospect of this, because it offers all of you, in the Clarinet Mentors community, a chance to interact with some of the greatest clarinet players in the world. It also lets me meet you in person. I have some great ideas for things we could do together.
I need to hear from you if you think you might be interested in attending. This is not a commitment from you by any means, it is simply for me to have an indication of whether or not you might be interested in taking part. If we have enough people interested, I'll go ahead and pursue this. I am super excited, because over three days you would get to hear some amazing young clarinetists, in an international competition. There will be concerts by some of my very favourite clarinetists, who represent the highest level of clarinet performance in the world today. There would also be some special events for you, members of the Clarinet Mentors community. We will have some group masterclasses specially designed for our community. We would represent the people, (mostly amateur adults), who "love to play, and want a safe and fun space to learn and improve with similar folks".
This is an amazing clarinet event. Many similar events are geared only to the very highest level students or best professional players. Although this will definitely appeal to those groups, having a Clarinet Mentors stream allows for all of us to be included as a significant part of the overall clarinet community at this event.
You would have access to:
- Recitals and concerts with some of the world's greatest clarinetists
- Masterclasses - observing some of the highest level teachers with some of the best, most talent student performers
- Masterclasses for YOU, the passionate amateur adult, in a supportive, nurturing "no pressure" setting where you can learn an amazing amount
- The opportunity to take some live in-person lessons with myself and other well-respected clarinet teachers
- Sessions with clarinet makers and clarinet gadget folks - your chance to try in person equipment that could really help you play clarinet better
This event is hosted by Bil Jackson at the Vanderbilt University in Nashville and sponsored by Backun Musical Services (which means some of their incredible artists will be on the performance roster). This is a beautiful facility, and promises to be a totally inspiring event for all of us. I hope that you can come to be inspired, and to learn.
Click here for more details:
Michelle Recommends - Clarinet News - An Exciting New Resource that Debuted at ClarinetFest 2016
|
All participants at ClarinetFest 2016 in Kansas this year received a copy of a beautiful magazine entitled Clarinet News. This features a variety of articles from well-respected clarinetists. I highly recommend you read this. There is also an article in here written by Bil Jackson with the "real" version of the warmup that I have included in today's free training video. You can try his version, or my own variation and discover which one works best for you.
Download the digital version here:
Are you enjoying the more than 90 free clarinet training videos on YouTube? Would you like to "go deeper" with an organized training program and worksheets?
|
Did you know that there are over 90 clarinet training videos available on the Clarinet Mentors YouTube channel? These resources are my contribution to the clarinet world, and have been viewed well over 1,000,000 times.
I know that many of you are working on your own, and may not have access to a good private teacher. You may benefit from one of the Clarinet Mentors courses which provide a much more structured, organized, system for learning. They all include several videos and worksheets, but they are presented in a really easy order that you can follow at your own pace. All of these courses have some free preview videos, and a no-risk, 100%, 30-Day, Money-Back Guarantee in case you invest in something that isn't a great fit for you. (Honestly, this rarely happens, because most people to find value here.) I have received hundreds of comments from students in these courses telling me of the benefits they have received, and how their clarinet playing has improved. For this reason, I feel very confident in offering these to you. We all need a little guidance sometimes, and I think this could help you take your clarinet playing to the next level.
My clarinet program, How To Play Clarinet More Easily, is designed for players with an intermediate to advanced level of clarinet skills. (If you are newer to the instrument, or basically self-taught, the Clarinet Is Easy course, below, is a great starting point to prepare you for this upcoming course.)
For intermediate to advanced players, two courses are now available. Faster Clarinet Fingers (as you may guess from the name) has all of my favourite tools and tricks to help you move your fingers around the instrument more easily and quickly. I have heard great feedback from clarinetists who have been going through this course. You can access some free preview videos here: https://www.clarinetmastery.com/pl/11972 You'll be asked to enter your email address, which is just to have the system automatically send you links to the videos.
Better Clarinet Tone covers all of the areas of clarinet playing that affect how you sound on the clarinet. Most of us are inspired by listening to our favourite players, and we want to sound more like them. This program will help you figure out how you can sound the way you want to sound! You can access free preview videos here: https://www.clarinetmastery.com/pl/34192
You'll be asked to enter your email address, which is just to have the system automatically send you links to the videos.
As with all of my courses, there is a 30-Day, 100% Money-Back Guarantee. My goal is to give you the very best tools to help you learn the clarinet much more easily and quickly. If these are not the right tools for you, I refund your tuition, no problem.
Clarinet Is Easy - Your Step-by-Step Beginner Course - Now Available! (Also enjoyed by many intermediate level players)
|
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).
I am so excited about the idea of a Clarinet Cruise, and am committed to making it happen. I did not realize that these things need to be planned further than a year in advance for the greatest success. With that in mind, I am postponing this event until early summer of 2018. That is good news for those of you who wrote to me and let me know that you were committed to other travels next summer. Please put your name on the information list, and I will update you as details become available.
My apologies to everyone. My initial announcement was to see if there was interest. Yes! There is great interest in the Clarinet Mentors community. Then I approached various travel planners and discovered that I was a bit late for optimal planning. Now we are proceeding properly. I hope you can join us!
Michelle Anderson, the founder of Clarinet Mentors, is a professional clarinetist and teacher who currently lives in Vancouver BC. Her professional career spans over 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. Michelle is a Backun Musical Services Artist and plays on Backun clarinets and mouthpieces.
Thanks for reading this biweekly newsletter.
|
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.
|
|
|
|
