August Practice: Week 2
It's week 2! Time to add a bit more detail to your E-flat clarinet practice. If you're just joining us, check out the post from August 1 for the overview and month-long practice calendar.
Week 2 Practice Concepts
Add a drone to your practice
Play some long tones and/or scales over a drone. This type of practice is particularly important, as E-flat clarinet has a reputation for less than stellar intonation! If you can make tuning various intervals by ear a part of your routine, playing in ensembles will be less stressful.
Normally, I would recommend playing for a few minutes before tuning and then doing intonation work. If you are a more experienced E-flat clarinetist, try doing this exercise without any warm up - that way you are prepared for those quick instrument changes!
Make a fingering chart
Read the post on alternate and altissimo fingerings, and print off the chart. Now would be a great time to collect any alternate fingerings you may have penciled in the margins of excerpts, solos, or etudes. Keep the chart handy so you can write down any new discoveries as you practice this month.
Excerpt: Bolero
This excerpt is a great way to work on tone and intonation in the context of a melodic line. Play through the whole excerpt slowly, focusing on the sound you want to create. For some notes, this might mean alternate fingerings, or resonance fingerings. Remember the rhythmic context when picking fingerings - a choice that sounds great but is difficult to get to won’t work very well in a section full of faster notes!
Drone recommendations: The tonic and dominant are very important throughout the entire piece, so a concert C and G would be good places to start. It might be good to identify notes that feel particularly unstable for you and set your drone to the appropriate concert pitch. Matching pitches by ear will be more helpful than watching a needle on a tuner, especially once you start playing in an ensemble.
Log playing challenges
Go through a standard warm up - long tones, finger exercises, articulations, voicing, and whatever else you would include in your routine. Keep a list of issues that you notice in your playing that are different or perhaps more pronounced when compared to your B-flat clarinet playing. This can help you develop an E-flat clarinet warm up that can address your personal needs, especially when you have limited time to practice your auxiliaries.
Finger exercises and hand position
Play through a full fingering exercise routine (like Vade Mecum or some of the Langenus Left Hand studies). Focus on the spots you identified when thinking about the differences between your B-flat and E-flat clarinet playing. Re-evaluate your hand position that you established in week 1. Watch out for unnecessary tension!
Watch some videos
Find some great E-flat clarinetists giving tips on excerpts or general playing! If you’re looking into excerpts, such as Bolero, know that you should listen to several examples. If you’re just getting started on E-flat or excerpts, ideally you can discuss the differences in interpretation and sound with a teacher or colleague.
Here are a few to get you started:
Jessica Phillips (Met Opera): Chi-Yu Mo (London Symphony):
*Always look up the performer/teacher when searching for videos online. There are a lot of talented and qualified clarinetists out there, but some have more experience than others!
Share your progress, etude ideas, and questions with the E-flat clarinet community by posting on Instagram and tagging @eflatclarinetproject in your posts, or commenting on this week’s Facebook post!