The following is a comprehensive list of what clarinetists need to do to successfully Cross the Dreaded Break:
Put the correct fingers in the correct places at the correct time.
That is all.
I frequently meet young clarinetists who have been taught that a successful Crossing of the Dreaded Break requires many other things, including but not limited to:
A long lecture by the band director or private teacher about how impossibly difficult this is going to be
If breath support, embouchure, and voicing are correctly established, then Crossing the Dreaded Break ceases to be a Thing. It’s just another note: a moment ago you were playing B-flat, and now you are playing B-natural. As long as your fingers get where they are supposed to go, then that’s all there is to it. Personally, I don’t even use the word “break” with a beginning student—there’s no need to get them all uptight about what really is a non-event.
If you are a band director or teacher of beginning (or advanced) clarinetists, and you find that they have difficulty crossing the break, you must first diagnose basic tone production issues:
Are the instrument, mouthpiece, and reed of basic decent quality and in good functional condition?
Is the breath support firm and constant?
Is the voicing nice and high?
Is the embouchure well-formed, without excess tension?
If not, (re-)teach these as basic concepts of clarinet playing, not as special things to be done at Dreaded Break-Crossing time.
If all is well with basic tone production, then all that remains is to move fingers. Granted, a stepwise break crossing does mean that many fingers must move precisely at the same time, and this may require training and practice. But if the fingers are covering and uncovering the right holes in unison, then a successful crossing is assured.
Crossing the break is only as hard as you tell your students it is!
As woodwind players we are often taught that articulation requires the use of the tip of the tongue and no more—to use more than the tip would just be wrong!
For reed instruments, I think this is essentially true, but I don’t think it works that way on the flute. Try this:
Using a reed instrument mouthpiece, or substituting a (clean) finger, simulate “tip of the tongue” articulation. Find the very tip of the tongue and touch it lightly to the tip of the reed (real or imaginary). With the tongue frozen in this position, apply some air pressure. If you allow the lips to “unseal” from around the mouthpiece at this point, air escapes.
Now try it with nothing inside your mouth, in the manner of a flutist. Touch just the very tip of the tongue to your favorite articulation spot (palate, teeth, or maybe lip, depending on your pedagogical pedigree) as though about to tongue a note, and apply air pressure. Notice all the air leaking out? Me neither.
Are you really holding back all that air with just the very tip of your tongue? While I think “tip of the tongue” is still a useful fiction for flute playing, it seems to me that I must actually use a surprising amount of tongue to seal off the air from escaping—the sides of my tongue contact my molars to help contain the air until I am ready to release it.
(The tip of the tongue is effective for reed instruments because it is only necessary to prevent the reed from vibrating as the air pressure is applied—a very small amount of tongue is quite effective for this.)
The “tip of the tongue” is a good concept for helping flutists to keep their articulation light, crisp, and relaxed, and I don’t particularly recommend teaching the sides-of-the-tongue thing to students as it can easily be misunderstood or taken too far. But I do think a clearer understanding of the invisible parts of woodwind playing can help advanced students and their teachers diagnose and solve subtler problems.
In the past I have had my woodwind methods classes make woodwind pedagogy notebooks. The idea is to have them explore some available pedagogical resources, and assemble them into a resource they can use for reference in their future teaching. But that assignment is starting to feel a little weird, especially since I have been trying to go increasingly paperless in my own life, and because it has been increasingly difficult to persuade my digitally-oriented students to go to the actual library and look at actual books.
To be clear, I’m a lover of libraries, and for me there’s no question that there are tremendously valuable resources there that are not available online (yet?). But it seemed like time to experiment with embracing an online approach to the assignment. So during the past semester I had them each locate some online articles they thought might be useful. Then they used a discussion board to collaborate on vetting the articles for usefulness and author credentials, and to compare their content against the concepts we covered in class.
I’m going to provide here a heavily-edited report of their results with my own commentary. Some articles were proposed but were rejected by classmates as less useful or credible, and I don’t see any need to list those. Also, I wanted my students to go through the process of vetting online information, but I didn’t entirely agree with their conclusions, so I’m omitting some that I personally think are problematic. (If you’re wondering, my own blog posts were off-limits.)
Here are some of the articles my students voted to be worthy of inclusion in a digital notebook:
Clarinet Basics: Maintenance Habits, written by Julie DeRoche for The Woodwind and The Brasswind. This one was very highly regarded by the class, and I am inclined to agree with their assessment. My students liked the article’s thoroughness and day-to-day applicability. Two cautions with this article: firstly, I think it’s wise to be careful with (paid?) articles from websites that want to sell you things, but Ms. DeRoche’s credentials are above reproach and the information checks out. Secondly, the article does describe briefly the process of oiling a clarinet’s bore, though it does not strongly recommend this procedure. That is probably information best not given to beginners—at that stage it should be prescribed and carried out by a professional.
Reed Help for Beginners, written by Sarah Hamilton. This oboe-related article was another top pick by the class, who appreciated its down-to-earth advice, clearly-explained concepts, and helpful illustrations. I agree that this is a great resource, though some of the reed evaluation and adjustment procedures described might be beyond the scope of what a non-oboist band director can or should attempt.
Beginner Clarinet Tips, written by “Andrea.” This one is really more of a table of contents to some other articles on the site. My class liked the breadth of material covered and the extensive photos. I find the information to be very similar to much of the conventional wisdom regarding beginning clarinet playing, which mostly but not completely agrees with my preferred approaches.
The Big Switch, by Amanda King. My students found this advice on switching students to the bassoon to be useful. I am on record as disagreeing with the premise that beginners should start on some other instrument before switching to the one they want, but the article does raise some relevant points for cases where that is happening.
Teaching the Beginning Bassoonist, written by Terry Ewell for The Double Reed. I’m including this excellent article even though it really is geared toward private bassoon teachers rather than band directors; it’s a good example of solid information that would be mismatched to this particular audience. It’s also a good (and relatively harmless) demonstration of the importance of using up-to-date materials, as bassoon reeds now cost well over $6 USD.
Tips for Teaching Beginning Flute Players written originally for BandWorld Magazine by Randy Navarre. My students liked the article’s concision and clarity. I generally agree with the information presented.
I think some good things came out of the assignment, though I still feel like I sold out a little by excusing my students from visiting the library. I stayed fairly hands-off through the discussion process, and that did result in the students selecting some articles that weren’t really a fit for what I wanted them to learn. In the future I might consider being more involved with guiding the discussion. I’m also concerned that the final product—this blog post—isn’t as tangible as an actual notebook, and might not be as ready at hand, but hopefully they have developed some skills in evaluating information they find online.
I got an interesting email recently. I’ve edited it heavily and fictionalized almost all the details, since I’m using it here without permission, but you’ll get the idea:
Dear Bret,
I found your web page through a Google search. My company is presenting a themed cruise for classical music lovers departing from Seattle in February, featuring performances by a full symphony orchestra.
I am looking to hire a woodwind doubler to serve as a sort of human insurance policy, should something happen to one of our woodwind players while we are out to sea. I’m wondering if you know anyone in the area who would be interested. We will rehearse in Seattle before departure. Compensation is room and board on the ship and travel to the Hawaiian islands, plus $50 per service to attend all rehearsals, and $100 per concert if called upon to perform. I need someone who can play flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, and the repertoire is standard symphonic fare: Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, etc.
Let me know if there’s anyone you could recommend for this. There’s a nearby university with a degree program in multiple woodwinds, so I figure there must be a number of students or graduates who are available. I would like to hire someone in the area, since unfortunately we can’t pay for travel to Seattle.
Thanks!
Eddie Skousen, President
Classical Cruises, Inc.
I’ll confess to being sort of fascinated by the idea of being hired as a kind of utility backup for an orchestral woodwind section. And I did put out a call for some potential hires, but didn’t get any nibbles. It’s a creative idea, but there are a number of practical obstacles: Read More “The woodwind doubler as orchestral utility player”
Today I found myself in the embarrassing situation of arriving at a rehearsal, contrabassoon in tow, without a single contrabassoon reed. Luckily the problem was easily solved—the reeds were literally just a few moments away, and I didn’t miss a note of rehearsal.
The problem, of course, is that the contra is a university-owned instrument, used by several student bassoonists, and so I don’t like to leave my reeds in the case. I just keep them in my bassoon case, with my bassoon reeds, and usually this works out fine since it’s rare that I go anywhere with the contra unless I have my bassoon along, too. But on the rare occasion that it happens, like today, I can easily forget to bring the reeds with me.
A number of years ago, when I started to get really serious about the doubling thing, I decided I needed a bag in which to keep my non-instrument-specific stuff. For example, in prior years as a dedicated alto saxophonist, I kept my accessories in my saxophone case: a metronome, a tube of cork grease, and so forth. When my instrument cases began to multiply, I found myself sometimes without an accessory that I needed. Buying more tubes of cork grease isn’t a big deal, but multiple metronomes can turn into real money for a college student. So I invested in a cheap messenger-type bag. Read More “My doubling bag”
The woodwind section of the symphony orchestra has long held a place of preeminence. Woodwind historian Anthony Baines gushes: “…the woodwind [section] is a small cluster of musicians in whom the greatest virtuosity in the symphony or opera orchestra is concentrated. It is the orchestra’s principal solo section… They are stars because composers for over two hundred years have made them so…”1 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart certainly made stars of the woodwinds—in fact, he may have been the most important link between the string-heavy ensembles of the early symphonies and the lush, varied sounds of the post-Beethoven orchestra.
Nathan Broder points out that Haydn and a multitude of lesser figures made contributions during this same period. However, when comparing Haydn and Mozart:
Of the two, Mozart was the more progressive. Younger, more impressionable, more sensitive to contemporary music, and possessed of a wider knowledge of it because of his travels, it was he who, after having learned much from the symphonies of Haydn, took the lead and reached the pinnacle of pre-Beethoven instrumentation. It was he in whose work were combined all the progressive tendencies of the various outstanding composers of the time, and whose symphonies present a summing-up of orchestral advancement in the latter half of the eighteenth century.2
Often, when I discuss with my students issues in their playing technique, I follow up by asking them, “How can you solve this problem?” They learn quickly that “breath support” (or a rough synonym like “more air”) is generally a safe answer.
And with good reason. Breath support is absolutely key to tone production—it is crucial to reliable response, consistent tone quality, and stable intonation. If I can get a student to improve their breath support, I can generally count on each of those things improving immediately and noticeably.
But I think there are other things that are improved, perhaps indirectly, with air:
Finger and tongue movement. I am lumping these together because I have a theory that air helps them in the same couple of ways. The first is that focusing on breathing—a movement so natural that we literally do it for our whole lives and barely think about it—diverts attention away from the finger and tongue movements that woodwind players get so stressed and tense about. This lets the autopilot (or Gallwey’s “Self 2”) take over and execute in a relaxed, natural way. The second way air helps here is that good breath support requires good breathing, and good breathing gets more oxygen to the finger and tongue muscles.
Expression. Expressive playing often involves things like dynamic contrasts, vibrato, and nuances of tone color (to name only a few). Each of those things functions better when well-supported: dynamic range expands, and vibrato is smoother and more controlled (again a result of better-oxygenated muscles?). Tone color, I think, actually gets less flexible, in the sense that it becomes more consistent note-to-note despite quirks of the instrument; this means that tone color changes may be applied in a more deliberate way.
Confidence and relaxation. Deep breaths are a common and effective insecticide for pre-recital butterflies. The breathing should remain centered and Zen even after the music starts.
AMEN!!! I can’t tell you how many clarinet students I’ve come across that can’t cross the break, only because they’ve been told how hard it was! As soon as my students can cover all of the holes, I add the register key for them for the first time! (that also means, they spent a lot of time getting the embouchure correct before the clarinet was even put together!) My 7 y/o student, who’s hands are barely big enough to cover the holes on an Eb clarinet, is now playing over the break with ease. If we don’t make a big fuss about it, they’ll never think otherwise.
My kids don’t know what “The Break” is! I never use that term in my class. The first note that I teach them is the low G, teaching them to cover all the holes. The first exercise I teach them is “Joy to the World”, starting on thumb F. It comes down to covering the holes, as long as the clarinet seals properly. You would be surprised how many of the low pads come with leaks from the rental shop!
First, for me, as an adult beginner on clarinet (with experience as a saxophonist), I despaired of ever being able to play the darn thing without squeaking on every other note. The Break was a challenge I wondered if I’d ever be able to overcome. I can now play across The Break, but it took a lot of time in the woodshed to get there.
On the other hand, my daughter began clarinet in 3rd grade, when our elementary band starts. One day, the teacher marveled that the clarinets had just crossed The Break. She had no idea what the fuss was about.
So maybe it’s just that old saxophonists have problems with The Break. :-)
Sax is my primary instrument and clarinet is one of my doubles. I was doing way too much work with throat and embouchure changes, so my teacher took my clarinet and had me sit down beside him. He held the clarinet up to me and said “form a good embouchure and blow.” So I did, and he proceeded to rip some amazing licks out of my clarinet, going over “the break” many times without a glitch. That was a real light bulb moment for me. I was my own worst enemy when playing clarinet. Because I didnt know what notes were coming next it just wasn’t possible for me to anticipate the notes I was afraid of and do the wrong things with my embouchure that had become habit over decades of playing without a teacher. A fundamentally good embouchure and breath support are just that – fundamental to good clarinet playing. It’s not exactly “set it and forget it” but it’s often closer than we are led to believe.
I thoroughly approve of that type of thinking. I learnt the saxophone 35 years ago and it seems much like whistling in it’s difficulty level, but suddenly I need to start playing clarinet – and ‘the break’ was what has always put me off. I find, however, that if I stab about for notes using my knowledge of theory and how the instrument works I am gradually crossing it without really knowing any particular difficulties.
As for the ‘key change’ that appears as you go between registers, that is currently proving annoyingly difficult.
AMEN!!! I can’t tell you how many clarinet students I’ve come across that can’t cross the break, only because they’ve been told how hard it was! As soon as my students can cover all of the holes, I add the register key for them for the first time! (that also means, they spent a lot of time getting the embouchure correct before the clarinet was even put together!) My 7 y/o student, who’s hands are barely big enough to cover the holes on an Eb clarinet, is now playing over the break with ease. If we don’t make a big fuss about it, they’ll never think otherwise.
Great post Bret!
My kids don’t know what “The Break” is! I never use that term in my class. The first note that I teach them is the low G, teaching them to cover all the holes. The first exercise I teach them is “Joy to the World”, starting on thumb F. It comes down to covering the holes, as long as the clarinet seals properly. You would be surprised how many of the low pads come with leaks from the rental shop!
I have 2 anecdotes concerning “The Break”.
First, for me, as an adult beginner on clarinet (with experience as a saxophonist), I despaired of ever being able to play the darn thing without squeaking on every other note. The Break was a challenge I wondered if I’d ever be able to overcome. I can now play across The Break, but it took a lot of time in the woodshed to get there.
On the other hand, my daughter began clarinet in 3rd grade, when our elementary band starts. One day, the teacher marveled that the clarinets had just crossed The Break. She had no idea what the fuss was about.
So maybe it’s just that old saxophonists have problems with The Break. :-)
Brett has this nailed—
“If breath support, embouchure, and voicing are correctly established…”
And the same thing for altissimo—just part of the clarinet.
Similar for me coming to saxophone from clarinet to being able to play low notes on saxophone at any dynamic; correct voicing and breath support.
Sax is my primary instrument and clarinet is one of my doubles. I was doing way too much work with throat and embouchure changes, so my teacher took my clarinet and had me sit down beside him. He held the clarinet up to me and said “form a good embouchure and blow.” So I did, and he proceeded to rip some amazing licks out of my clarinet, going over “the break” many times without a glitch. That was a real light bulb moment for me. I was my own worst enemy when playing clarinet. Because I didnt know what notes were coming next it just wasn’t possible for me to anticipate the notes I was afraid of and do the wrong things with my embouchure that had become habit over decades of playing without a teacher. A fundamentally good embouchure and breath support are just that – fundamental to good clarinet playing. It’s not exactly “set it and forget it” but it’s often closer than we are led to believe.
I thoroughly approve of that type of thinking. I learnt the saxophone 35 years ago and it seems much like whistling in it’s difficulty level, but suddenly I need to start playing clarinet – and ‘the break’ was what has always put me off. I find, however, that if I stab about for notes using my knowledge of theory and how the instrument works I am gradually crossing it without really knowing any particular difficulties.
As for the ‘key change’ that appears as you go between registers, that is currently proving annoyingly difficult.