A New CD to listen to!

Listening to music is an amazing, enlightening, inspiring and emotion-provoking experience. As musicians we listen to music for so many reasons – to enjoy, to experience, to learn, to study, the list goes on. We should listen to those pieces that we love and cherish; we should listen to those pieces that we don’t yet know as well. We should always be striving to broaden our musical horizons. Listening is an ideal way to do this.

The reason I’m writing about this is that I just heard a new recording that is dear to my heart on many levels and I want to share it with you. It is entitled Wolf Rounds, and was just released by Naxos as part of their Wind Band Classics series. (NAXOS 8.572439) The performers are the Frost Wind Ensemble at the University of Miami, Gary Green, Director, with Glenn Basham, violin and Tim Conner, trombone, soloists.

The pieces on the CD are Ladder to the Moon, by Michael Daugherty; Concerto for Trombone and Wind Ensemble, by David Maslanka; and Wolf Rounds, by Christopher Rouse. The performers are of course from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, so all of the clarinetists are/were my students. The conductor and soloists are friends and colleagues at UM.

The composers are all inspiring, the pieces fantastic and the performances incredible. Ladder to the Moon is based on the urban landscapes of Georgia O’Keeffe. It is scored for solo violin, wind octet, double bass and one percussionist. It is high energy, exciting music and Glenn Basham, solo violin, is fantastic. (as is the clarinet soloist!)

The Trombone Concerto is incredibly beautiful and heartfelt music. It was written as a memorial to Christine Nield-Capote whose passing was a terrible loss to all who knew and loved her. She was a very special musician, teacher and friend and she is terribly missed. Along with beautiful trombone playing by Tim Conner, there is a solo cello line, played by Ashley Garritson (UM graduate student) which is simply stunning.

The CD ends with Wolf Rounds, which was premiered by UM at Carnegie Hall in 2007. It is based on a series of circular musical ‘loops’, cycling and overlapping. Mr Rouse describes this idea of loops bringing to mind wolves (lupus) circling their prey, which in turn brings to mind the circular nature of the piece – hence the title Wolf Rounds.

I hope you will take a few minutes to listen to this wonderful new music. Each piece is a tremendous addition to our wind repertoire. And as a last thought I will say, since most if not all of us reading this blog are clarinetists – there is some GREAT clarinet playing on this cd!! And to those of you reading who performed on this recording – congratulations to all of you, I could not be more proud of you. 

Dr D

Happy New Year!

Just a quick note to wish you all the very best in the new year. It was a year ago that I started this blog and it has been great fun for me to share some clarinet talk with you. I am thankful for those of you that return to check out new blogs and for those of you who are stopping by for the first time. I have had visitors from nearly every state and well over 50 countries. I am thankful for all of you.

We have so much more to talk about! Look for a new blog in the next week or so. As always I am open to suggestions, so comment or email your ideas about topics!

Have a healthy, productive and prosperous new year!!

Dr D

Auditions

 

Its college application season! For many of you this will mean college auditions are coming up in the next few months. This month I would like to share some thoughts about this process from the auditioner’s perspective, in the hope that this may give auditionees some insight into what goes on.

 

Let’s start by looking at the audition itself:

#1 and vitally important – the audition begins the moment you enter the room. You will project an image to the audition committee from that moment, potentially several minutes before you even play a note. Enter respectfully yet confidently, smile, make eye contact, and say hello. Organize yourself so that you have everything you need at your fingertips. Don’t rustle through a folder to find your audition sheet, don’t pull all your music out and organize it into the order you want. Have that all ready before you walk in. And of course, dress and act professionally.

 

Introduce yourself; name, where you are from, your intended major, and the pieces you have prepared for the audition (unless that is specified and you had no options).

 

#2 While you are performing;

Don’t give away your secrets! Don’t advertise mistakes by making a face, shaking your head, slumping your shoulders, etc. Once you have made a mistake there are only two options; the audition committee noticed it or they didn’t. If they did, they know you also noticed it so let it go. If they didn’t notice – don’t alert them!

 

Having said that, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. I believe most university studio professors would much rather hear a musical, committed performance that may have a mistake or two, than a safe, note-perfect performance. Speaking for myself, when I hear auditions for incoming freshmen I am looking for potential as much as anything. It is usually quite easy to tell the difference between someone who may be exhibiting some problems due to lack of training or nerves and someone who is having problems due to lack of preparation. I look for someone who shows a command of the clarinet, but equally important to me is someone who clearly shows a love for music and a desire to commit to it.

 

#3 After you play:

Thank the audition committee. Gather your belongings and leave the room, remembering that the audition is not over until you are out of the room. Remain professional throughout. Finally, give yourself a BIG congratulations!!

 

Let’s back up now and look at the days and weeks prior to the audition.

 

#1 Preparation is everything!

Common sense, right? Yet it is surprisingly common for people to choose audition repertoire late in the process, to wait too long before beginning truly detailed practice. You need to give time and attention to all the details of your music as much in advance as possible. This will leave time for the pieces to mature, so your musicianship can shine through. At the audition you will want to be able to focus on music-making not note playing.

 

#2 Change the order:

Practice the pieces in different orders so you are able to play anything the committee might ask, in any order they ask it.

 

#3 Dress rehearsal:

Schedule a dress rehearsal for yourself. Gather friends and family and play through everything for them so you feel some of the excitement you’ll feel at the audition. This is a huge confidence booster. Preferably schedule this well in advance so you have time to deal with any problems that may come to light.

 

 I wish the best of luck to those of you who are applying and auditioning for college in the weeks ahead! This is a very exciting process – enjoy it!

 

Dr D

 

I have been a little slow with blogging lately…The last time I wrote it was the beginning of the school year. We were all, students and teachers alike, excited by the seemingly limitless promise that a new year holds. Time flies by and here we are, now about half-way through the semester for most of us, deep into the routine. Classes, practice, rehearsals, concerts, papers, projects, midterms…the list goes on.  Perhaps the excitement has dwindled, the lure of the ‘new’ dimmed a bit. It happens. Even with the best of intentions, even with the best priorities, outside responsibilities can threaten to derail progress. Unlimited practice time is filled up with other responsibilities.

 

 How to come through this period and keep the energy and excitement alive? Its not easy but it is simple. The answer is - ROUTINE. Hopefully you have established a practice routine that is thorough, efficient and encompasses all your needs as a clarinet player. Now is the time that routine will pay big dividends. When every minute counts, you want complete efficiency in your practice. Not only do you need  to learn all the rep you are required to play,  you need to continue to make steady, discernable progress as a clarinetist.

 

These are two separate items; learning rep and making progress with your clarinet skills. It is important to keep these clearly separated in your mind, especially during unusually busy periods. Of course learning rep can and does lead to improved clarinet skills. However it is not the most efficient means toward that end. Specific goals and specific skills practice is infinitely more effective in this regard. What this means is that every day you must have a clearly defined goal in mind; something about your playing that you are trying to improve. It may be one goal that you focus on daily for a period of time. It may involve two or three goals you are working on concurrently. Either is fine provided you are clear and specific in your goals. Along with this you have specific exercises designed to reach your goal.

 

So lets go back to your ROUTINE. Every time you practice - let me say that again - EVERY time you practice you need to follow your routine. Your day starts with your warm-up routine. It is followed by skills practice. This is followed by rep and etude practice. This routine gets threatened during busy weeks. It is incredibly easy to forego the warm-up. Equally easy to skip skills practice and jump straight into rep. This is counterproductive. You must stick to your routine. If so, you will continually be improving your clarinet skills, ultimately making the rep/etude portion of your practice that much more efficient and productive. You MUST preserve the skills portion of your practice. These skills are most often directly related to the rep or etudes you are currently playing. Consequently your progress in that area is so much more profound if you are dealing with the underlying issues involved, rather than specific passages.

 

For those of you without or in between teachers, I am happy to help you set up your personal practice routine. Please feel free to ask questions about goals and which exercises are the best suited to help you meet those goals.  You can either comment directly to this blog or email me privately at mdonaghue@miami.edu.

 

Good luck with the rest of your semester and remember to check back in a few weeks for a new blog!

 

Dr D

 

 

 

New School Year!

Almost time!

Welcome to August! It’s that time again – back to school, ensemble and seating auditions, rehearsals, concerts…clarinet!! Perhaps you focused on specific skills to improve or repertoire to learn over the summer; perhaps you took some time off. Either way school is fast approaching and auditions will soon be upon us!

I thought it might be interesting to discuss auditions this month as many people will have placement and/or seating auditions in the next few weeks. There are some specific steps you can take to help you through the audition process.

1. Get in shape. This goes without saying but I will say it anyway. Don’t wait until the last week to start serious practicing. Start early, several weeks before the date, and renew your daily routine. Start the practice with a 20 minute warm-up to get loosened up and get the reed and clarinet warmed up. Spend another 40 -60 minutes (at least) in skills practice. Choose a set of skills that you wish to focus on and work them every day. You can alternate or change skills as you wish as long as you are spending isolated, concentrated time on the skills you have chosen. Don’t forfeit this portion of your practice to move directly to the audition material. If you stick with this routine it will serve you well.
(There is a previous blog about warm-up/skills practice if you are interested)

2. Learn your audition material. What I mean by this is learn everything you can about your audition music. It may be music of your choice or it may be music that has been assigned to you for the audition. Know the composer – dates he/she lived, style he/she composed in, is it classical, romantic, contemporary. This is important information with regard to interpreting tempi, character, style, etc. Is the audition music an excerpt from a larger work? If so, familiarize yourself with the entire work, not just the excerpt. Know what goes on around you, ie the orchestra parts, the piano part – whatever the case may be.

3. Listen. Listen to recordings of the work(s). Take note of tempo, style, inflection, texture, etc. Record yourself and listen back. This may be one of the most enlightening things to do. You are sure to discover things you hadn’t noticed that you were or weren’t doing.

4. Practice. Restrict the amount of time you ‘play’ the material, increase the amount of time you practice. The bulk of your practice time should be spent on sections that are giving you trouble. Try to avoid over-playing the sections you are comfortable with. Practice SLOWLY with great deliberation and care. Listen carefully and adjust as necessary. Practice small sections at a time, and gradually increase the tempo as you master the section. A good rule of thumb is to move on or increase tempo only when you can play it perfectly five times in a row.

5. Let your personality show. Perfect technical playing is great but excellent playing with personality, emotion and feeling is even better. Invest yourself in what you are playing and know exactly what it is you are trying to communicate to your audience.

6. Finally, present yourself professionally at the audition. Think about the impression you wish to convey. Dress appropriately for the type of audition you are taking. Carry yourself with confidence. Speak clearly and articulately. Your audition actually lasts from the time you step foot into the room until the time you leave.

I wish everyone good luck with the new school year! I hope you get out of it all that you hope for.
Dr D

Clarinet Exercises For Endurance

Tips on Breathing

Breathing is at the very core of clarinet playing. It is the foundation upon which everything rests – tone, technique, articulation, endurance, and musicality. Because of this is it is in our best interest to spend considerable time working on all aspects of breathing; including inhalation, exhalation, air quantity, air speed, and endurance.

For this discussion I would like to focus on endurance, but first a quick refresher on proper breathing technique. To maximize our air capacity we must breath low with a relaxed and open throat. This enables solid diaphragmatic support. We should avoid the higher chest or throat breath which limits capacity and increases tension in the throat, chest and shoulders.

TIP:

The pitch of your breath will sound high if you are breathing from the chest or throat. The pitch of your breath will sound lower if it is a low breath with a relaxed and open throat.

TIP:

Place the palm of your hand on your back, just above the waist and toward the side. If you are breathing properly you will feel expansion along your rib cage.

Two Types of Endurance

We need to work on two types of endurance; the first is 'rested endurance', which is the length of time you can hold a note with a rested, relaxed breath, such as the first breath of a piece. The second type of endurance, 'cumulative endurance,' is a series of quick breaths, which become increasingly more taxing until you are able to take a relaxed, cleansing breath.

Any long tone exercise can be used to work on this. Today we will talk about the 2-Register Warm-up, and how we can use it to work on endurance skills.

The 2-Register Warm-up

This is a three-note pattern which spans the chalumeau and clarion registers. The pattern is:

Low note – add register key – ascend half-step – breath – repeat.

-example-

Low E – Long B – C – Breath

Low F – C – C# - Breath

Low F# - C# - D – Breath

Repeat pattern until :

Throat tone E – top clarion B – C.

You should put the metronome on 60 so you can track seconds (it also keeps you from hurrying through your warm-up). When warming up I like to play the pattern with whole-notes, giving a 12 second pattern. Completing the pattern from Low E through throat tone E will give you an excellent start to your warm-up.

Using the 2-Register Warm-up for Endurance Work

For Relaxed Endurance:

Begin the pattern on Low E, starting with a pattern that is long enough to approach your limit without pushing your endurance to the point of gasping for breath. This will of course vary from person to person. For some it might be a five-second per note – 15 second pattern, for others an eight-second per note - 24 second pattern.

Play one or two sets to establish your breathing. Then as you move on through the exercise, extend the last note as long as possible, really pushing to your very limit. In between patterns be sure to rest and start the next pattern refreshed. When you are pushing your limits it will take several seconds to recover between patterns. When you are consistently extending the third note three beats, increase your pattern by a beat for each pitch. Again, resume the pattern and continue extending the third pitch as long as possible.

This is a rewarding exercise because if done consistently, you will see objective, measurable results. Your pattern will increase in length and you can clearly monitor your progress.

For Cumulative Endurance:

Begin the pattern on Low E, again starting with a pattern long enough to approach your endurance limit but not long enough to leave you gasping for breath. For this exercise you will not be increasing the length of the third note, but rather decreasing the length of time in which you breath in between patterns. Start by taking two beats to breath between each set. Reduce to one beat between each. This will eventually take a toll and you will not be able to make the entire pattern before needing a breath. (If this doesn't happen, then your initial pattern is not long enough and should be increased.) As you become increasingly tired, concentrate on a keeping a relaxed throat and a low-pitched breath during each inhalation.

TIP:

I tend not to work on both types of endurance in one practice session. The two types of endurance each have a somewhat different focus and one's practice will be more efficient and more productive when focus is on one set of skills at a time.

Good luck and please let me know how it works for you! As always I look forward to comments or questions. If you prefer not to comment directly on the post, feel free to email me at mdonaghue@miami.edu.

Happy Summer!!

Dr D

Clarinet Masterclasses

I am going to stray a bit from the 'masterclass blog' and simply share some thoughts.  I have very recently given a couple of masterclasses; one at Emporia State University Woodwind Day - thank you Dr McConkie!! - and one at the University of Miami Clarinet Choir Day - thank you Mr Piccinelli and the All Broward Clarinet Choir! (By the way, Dr McConkie and Mr Piccinelli are both UM alumni and former members of the UM Clarinet Studio!)

As I prepared for these events, I thought quite a bit about what young clarinetists need in order to grow as clarinetists and blossom as musicians. The answer is quite simple: they need to grow as a clarinetist and blossom as a musician! What I mean by that is that we all (regardless of level) need to constantly strive to maintain a balance between skills and art; more specifically between those skills required to play the clarinet and those involved in music-making. These are two separate areas and both need attention to thrive.

In order to grow as a clarinetist we need to attend to details involved in playing the instrument; tone production, technique, articulation, range, etc. This is a means to an end however, not a final goal in and of itself. These skills are the foundation that allow us to make music, our ultimate goal. The clarinet is the vehicle we have chosen for this amazing experience of music-making. (Well chosen, I might add! An exquisitely beautiful instrument it is!)

Herein lies the challenge - balancing skills practice with practicing music. It is surprisingly easy to lean decidedly one way or the other. We must constantly evaluate the structure, balance and efficiency of our practice time to be sure we are attending to all our needs; those needed to play the clarinet as well as those needed to turn a beautiful phrase.

Just some food for thought - I welcome discussion!

As always, I wish you all good health and good reeds!!

Dr D