Clarinet Lesson: Improve your tone, and play more easily by activating your blowing muscles
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2024
- Michelle Anderson of Clarinet Mentors (www.learnclarinetnow.com) provides you with a lesson on how to improve your tone and air support with a technic that really helps you find and use your diaphragm muscles properly. Feel free to post comments below on how this works for feedback from Michelle.
WOW! That made a HUGE difference in my tone! My old band teachers used to say "use your diaphragm," but I never really knew what they were talking about. Your description of it was exactly what I needed. So glad I subscribed to your channel - thanks!
I love your exercises Michelle, thank you so much have a creative day Ginette
Thanks Michelle. This is exactly what I need to work on to activate my blowing muscles. 😊
I didn't realize I had this technique already amended in me. Now I can show my Sister this :) Thanks So much.
what should the motion of the belly be when breathing in? should it push out of retract?
HI Michelle,
This video has changed my relationship to the sax. I was always winded when I got to the end of a song and had a very difficult time playing ballads with long tones. This video taught me to use my body correctly and has made playing much, much easier. Thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!
I think 007Commentator makes a very important point with practical consequences, and until I saw this video I was breathing out improperly. The diaphragm will bring air into the body, but using it to rapidly expel air implies using the thoracic muscles which is inefficient and exhausting (and not a lot of air). In the video you are pushing with your abdominal muscles (which forces the diaphragm up). Now that I understand I think I will correct some mistakes.Thanks, Michelle. I loved your course--well worth the price.
Excellent video! You explain the concept and describe the exercise progression very well. I'm exclusively a saxophone player, but this video has made a positive impact on my tone.
Thank you! I look forward to more of your videos.
HI Michelle your lesson really works immediately it´s amazing and is useful for lot of things, i am going to follow you at once¡¡
I used to play the clarinet (quite badly) about 50 years ago. Now at 83 I have been diagnosed with COPD. I have been told that there is an opinion among doctors that playing a wind instrument is more beneficial than the medication traditionally used. I would like therefore to return to the clarinet and your videos seem to fit the bill to give me more control over my breathing. I just hope I am not too old!
Hi John, You are definitely not too old to do this. I have been in touch with a COPD man who then had a double lung transplant and started playing clarinet (also after many years away from it). He astounded his physical therapists at how quickly he rebuilt his muscle strength. Here is a resource that includes some good blowing/breathing work: www.5daybetterclarinet.com
Hi Daniel. Wow! This breathing technic works for all wind players. I actually got my inspiration from opera singers, who have probably the best air support in the music world. We all can learn from them. - Michelle
Hi Michelle, I have just started watching your videos. You are a god-sent, I can play my high c very well now.
Hooray! Thanks for the kind words.
This is awesome. I have a solo in an upcoming performance (on throat tones) and this really improved the tone!
I'm glad this helped. It is a great way to get the air moving and improve tone. I hope your solo goes well!
Michelle: I have participated in speech therapy, after I had trouble with my breathing and speaking (following surg in my neck). Your advice is very similar--the stomach breathing particularly. I am going to give it a try with my playing-especially high notes. Goal: in tune! thanks!
Hi - The idea is use this action to some degree all of the time. As you blow out, you also push your belly button outwards. The exercise in this video has us "huffing" in spurts, which warms the muscles up. The next step would be to just play long tones continuing this action in a steady blowing motion. - Michelle
I just started... Was disappointed with my initial sound. After this exercise I think I might actually have a chance! Thanks for this!
I appreciate the feedback. These concepts seem to work equally well on saxophone and clarinet. Although our airstreams are a bit different, the muscle action is very similar, and this helps to get it going.
Hi Michelle...at last, the mystery is solved! My clarinet being fine, I tried a different reed, a big softer, and most of the squeaking went away. I could tell that the reed was hard for me but my teacher was not convinced. So I am a happy clarinet player again!!! Thanks for your support
Hi when I saw this i instintly used it and it worked
Good answer! - I didn't see yours before I commented. I find that I don't need to change embouchure, but I definitely increase air speed as I use less air. - Michelle
Hi Nathalie, Good suggestion. I will try and produce more breathing videos. The idea is to think about pushing the abs outward the whole time that you blow into the instrument. You will "deflate" a bit, but the muscle action should be to push outward. I will add another video to this soon. - Michelle
Great exercise
excellent video.Have been breathing the wrong way all this time.Just recovering from a dose of bronchitas.Shall practise your breathing technique as soon as I am fully recovered.Kind regards. Vir
Someone asked about importance of "keeping the throat open". Yes, an open throat is very important, but keeping it "open" is not what most think. Open means "unrestricted" - when the tongue sits in the back of the throat (syllable O), the throat is being partially closed/obstructed by the tongue sitting in it. The "eee" keeps the throat unblocked, which means that the throat is open - assuming that you're not tense in the upper chest. Saxophone uses slower airspeed than the Clarinet uses.
Hello - a good fingering chart will help you become familiar with all of the keys on the clarinet. Most of them don't have special names. I think for starters you may want to know the note names that use all of the keys along the way. If you Google "clarinet fingering charts" there are some very good ones online.
Hi Nathalie, When only a couple of notes give you trouble, it usually indicates that something is not covering the holes properly. If these are your left hand high notes, I am suspicious of the covered key that closes between your index and middle finger. If this is not sealing properly, your B's will work, and your A's will be resistant (or squeak). You can hold the middle ring down and see if there is give on that key by pushing on it. If so, fixing that will really help! - Michelle
Hi Michelle, are you supposed to tense your abs as you push forward or simply push forward with no tensing?
Great technique, still feel a weird but I can blow my higher notes out more easily now and the notes I play don't sound too pitchy !:)
Great question Rick! I hadn't heard that physiological difference. When I direct people to their belly button, it usually works regardless of gender. If I think about it, I am actually doing most of the work just below the belly button, so likely this would be the lower abs. I welcome confirmation from any body experts out there. - Michelle
I have a feeling I'll have a sore diaphragm in the morning! Thanks for this video, It helped quite a bit! I'll stick with the practice and see where it takes me!! :) Thanks again!
The diaphragm is the muscle that hangs under the lungs, not a gut muscle.
Hi MIchelle! First of all I'd like to thank you for your videos!
I've started learn clarinet about 6 month ago and I have a little problem with one note - B of 1st octave (all keys are pressed). I can't play it with good attack, it always sounds with sloooow attack. Legatos like G-A-B-C always have a short pause before B. I even become angry about that. Please advise me a way to solve it. Thank you!
Hi Michelle
Thanks for your video. I have a question. I understand that to breath in we need to expand the diaphragm which pushs out the tummy a little. Having the tummy pushed out how can we also breath out using the technique you suggest where the tommy is also pushed out. Could you clarify this please? ..or could you make a video about the complete breathing in and blowing out technique. Thanks so much
Hi i was wondering how i get sound out of an itermediate clarinet because i just switched from a beginner
Hello, I really like the effect that this is having on my tone, but I find that as I'm trying to push my diaphragm outward I'm also tensing up my lower back muscles. Do you know of a way that I can isolate the diaphragm use from the back tension?
Thanks
Michelle, thank you so much for answering me. This am was another quite frustrating practice with many squeaky A's and actually other too, but most often the A. I pressed on the 2nd uncovered key - is this what you meant? - and I noticed that I need to press it hard in order for the covered key to cover the hole like it should. Is this what you mean by "give" on the key? Anyway, I will have my clarinet checked to make sure. Thanks bunches.
A while ago I took some voice lessons where my teacher emphasized the importance of using the lower abs to support the singing voice. As part of his explanation he discussed the difference in men's and women's physiology with the woman's lower ab band extending higher than a man's, with the belly button being the dividing point for a woman, were as a man's is lower. So my question is: are you pushing out with your lower or upper abs?
I'm confused by this exercise since I'm here to work on my air stream and tone. When I tried this exercise and blew out, my belly button went in instead of out because I think this exercise is to help push air out of your diaphragm? When the air goes out of your diaphragm, I'd imagine your stomach would go flatter instead of expanding. Does that mean I'm not breathing the right way?
Hi Michelle. I played clarinet in high school and have recently started playing again at age 60! I am really loving it. I am going through a Bob Mintzer Jazz/Blues Etudes book. So I want to focus on that particular genre. I need to buy a clarinet, so what would you recommend? I need an upgrade that will last awhile and don't want to buy a brand new one.
There are many good used clarinets available. Most beginner ones are made out of plastic, which is durable, but won't sound quite as resonant as a wooden clarinet. A good intermediate wooden clarinet will likely be the in $700 - $800 range. Whatever you choose, getting a professional mouthpiece is a great idea because it will enhance your sound on any clarinet. A good plastic clarinet with a professional mouthpiece (and possibly a wooden barrel) would last you for quite a while, although you may upgrade at some point to a wooden instrument. I would find a good music store in your area that lets you try a few out. Some good brands include: Backun, Selmer, Buffet, Yamaha, Jupiter, Bliss, and more...
This is good info! I like the idea of getting a really good student model with a professional mouthpiece. It would be in my budget that way. I'm going to explore that more. Thanks!
Elyse I play the flute and just started to learn the Clainet at 64! So much fun
Hi - having your throat and shoulders relaxed so the air flows easily is important. Our body is relaxed, but our tongue should be high in the mouth, as if you are saying "HEEE". To play softly, we use less air, but it has to move way faster to keep the reed vibrating as much as it does with more air. - Michelle
That would be a great future video topic. It is a combination of your tongue position ("voicing") and fingers. Look for the video that features Ricardo Morales at Lincoln Centre (made by PBS and online for free) explaining how to play the Rhapsody In Blue Gliss. He gives a good basic explanation.
(I'm Learning how to play the clarinet and practicing on the embouchure) but my question is; what the the keys in order in a clarinet, and what are the long metal looking things on the side called?
Hi Michelle,
I have a question that I'd love you to answer if you have time. Most often when I play high A, although the high B sounds good, I squeak on the A and sometimes on the G. I paid attention to the biting on the reed but I do not change my embouchure strength between both B and A. Do you have any wisdom on this? I am getting a bit frustrated because it's been several weeks and it's not getting better. Thanks for your help!
Just tried it on clarinet and I didnt get it right first time but I'll probably need to just keep going at it :)
Hi Michelle, uhhh I am in middle school and I always play and when I do i always hear gulping sounds do u have any tips? and if so please make a video about it because i have anger problems and it makes me stress please
Hello Michelle, First of all thank you for the video. Have you ever used Pilates or yoga to strengthen the diaphragm?
Hi Michelle, thanks for the elaborate explanation! However, I am confused about one thing. My teacher always tells me to push my belly out when I inhale (sort of like "pilates breathing"). But your exercise is all about pushing the belling while exhaling, not inhaling. So, what happens when you inhale? Do you suck your belly in?
Michelle, your videos are great and absolutely helpful. I just started playing the clarinet only recently and I'm working on activating the right muscles and the right embochure. I think i'm doing something wrong for i get a sore throat after playing. i appreciate any insight on whats causing this and how i correct that. Thanks so much:)
Sometimes a sore throat means that you may have too much back pressure, and may in fact be blowing too much air into your clarinet. Try using less air, but focus on it still being very fast and strong.
Alright! Thanks, Michelle:)
How do you do a full glissando on the clarinet?
i like it
Why does it hurt when I stick out my ab muscles? Also it doesn’t go far out as yours
This is amazing, as so many top teachers teach the opposite--but it works! Do you ever have a use for the old way, or should that be discarded as a bad habit?
I think both ways work. I have just found it interesting that when I have the chance to meet my "clarinet heroes" and speak with them, they all use this method. It seems to just give the air an extra boost. There is nothing wrong with being good at both systems, and using the one that works best for you.
Very helpful videos. Although I play clarinet and saxophone for some years, I need to go back to the basics from time to time in order to concentrate on a full rounded sound, which I consider the most important factor when playing a wind instrument. My question is if it helps to purposely inflate or expand the lower abdominal muscles while blowing. It makes me feel like it lowers my pressure. I've also heard that mental visualization is very helpful to control the blowing muscles. It's like thinking of compressing the vertical air column as if we were a bike pump while blowing. What do you think about it? By the way it would be great if you made a video about mouthpieces (I haven't found it). Continue the good work!
Hi Jaime, There are many different ways to imagine our air stream as we blow. I know great players who imagine it quite differently from me, and they get great results. I think with clarinet, as long as the focus is on a fast, steady, air stream, we will get good results. Your model seems very good to me. I don't have a mouthpiece video yet, partly because I end up using unusual sizes myself. I may do one on "what works for most people" since I have helped several students choose good ones, and see some definite trends. Thanks for the suggestions.
A tip, or better still would be a video on how to avoid the that nagging and burning pain in both lower thumb
joints. In 30 of teaching experience surely is You've been confronted with this more then once.
I wish I would've seen this during my christmas break, I have area auditions this saturday and I know this exercise would've helped me hit my high F at the end of my piece…well at least it will help me for next year! so thanks ^-^ this really helped me, but my only problem is puffing my cheeks…do you have any videos about that? or any tips that would help me not puff my cheeks?
Hi Leena, Usually if you really focus on bringing the corners of your mouth in firmly, it helps get rid of puffy cheeks. Michael Lowenstern has a fun video that might help: ua-cam.com/video/B4d2gpRysZY/v-deo.html
Thanks, excellent video. Two questions:
1) I was taught also to keep an "open throat", but I didn't see you talk about that. How important is it?
2) To play softly, is it the quantity or the speed of the air that has to be decreased?
Thank you. Nothing seems to address dynamics in sound. It's just stick out your gut and blow fast.
Dear Michelle the trick didn't work because O have air coming out of my clarinet still.
Hey Michelle
Are these excersizes good for the soprano saxophone as well?
thanks
אייל סלע I think that these exercises will help you warm up very nicely for soprano sax as well. There are more similarities than differences between the two instruments.
Hi Nathalie, You should have your clarinet checked out. It sounds like it is out of adjustment. The pad that is located between your second and third fingers is likely not closing. That will help! - Michelle
Do you have any tips for someone transitioning from bass clarinet to soprano?
quentin Good question - in point form: - your tongue should sit higher in your mouth, and you should blow with much faster air (as if you are hissing loudly the word "HEEE") - bring the corners of your mouth in firmly - play with a tuner to help your high notes (if they are in tune, you usually have your tongue high enough, and air fast enough)
Hi! How do you do de Growling effetct on clarinet? And the laughing effect?
You're great and i love your videos :)
+Carolina Antunes Growling is usually rolling your throat while blowing into the clarinet (sometimes with voice added). It is like gargling while blowing. Laughing is often a klezmer effect which involves letting the pitch drop by opening your mouth wider, and dropping your tongue low in your mouth to create a really open oral cavity. This is especially effective in the higher register. That is the simple answer - both of these technics take some getting used to, but they are fun to experiment with.
Thanks! I wish you much success and have fun playing clarinet! Kisses :D
I just switched from clarinet to bass clarinet and I have trouble playing notes below B it makes an odd shriek (it's not a squeak I think) but it seems can play those notes just well when I puff out my cheeks am I suppose to puff my cheeks?
+Tyler “exoplanet366” Nguyen When you switch from clarinet to bass clarinet, you really need to get used to opening your mouth much more. We tend to "bite" on the mouthpiece, which causes the notes to come out to high. I would practise by bringing the corners of your lips firmly in, and initially just blowing air through the clarinet without making tone. That helps you get used to how open your mouth needs to be for the air to move well into the instrument. Then, gradually blow faster until the notes play, thinking about corners in the whole time.
My tutor asked me to put both legs in front of me in the air while playing and i noticed that my stomach muscles stiffened a lot. How does that help in playing the clarinet. She also scolded my senior when she found out that she told me to stick my stomach muscle out just like u did in the video. So is making the muscles go inwards better or outwards?
I've heard of both ways in the music world. Perhaps there is not one correct approach. I will say that I really like this approach of pushing ab muscles out while playing. It definitely works. It may be that having any organized way of approaching this works much better than having none! When you get conflicting opinions from teachers, your best bet is to really try both ways and decide which one gives you the best results.
Although the fingering for that B can be tricky, and we often don't quite put our fingers on the keys in time, you may have a mechanical issue. The two pads that come down on the bottom joint for a B are some of the "most often out-of-adjustment" pads on the clarinet. That will cause a delay to the B. You might be able to check this visually by holding down the B key, and simply pressing each pad. If there is give, it will need adjusting. Try it and see. - Michelle
Hahaha, trying to do that exercise while pregnant... "Is my belly sticking out more? I used to be able to do this!"
It is tricky to do this when you are being crowded out by another being! The concept is still good, you'll just find that you don't have room to take big breaths until the baby is out! Good luck! You may find that you do such a great job of compensating that when the baby is born, you breathe much better than you did pre-pregnancy!
Haha that spontaneus laugh was cute
I kind of feel like I should be giving birth. :)
To play softly, the speed is not decreased. It's more focused air and the amount is a little less than normal. You can change your embouchure to help play softer, it's different for everyone. You can experiment by just playing soft but, remember, use lots of air! Just not all at the same time.