Favorite blog posts, January 2025
- At the Woodwindfixer’s Bench (Jeff Dening): Why do pads stick?
- Jenny Maclay (clarinet): 25 Clarinet repertoire hidden gems to perform in 2025
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Favorite blog posts, June 2014
- David Wells has updated his excellent bassoon fingering charts.
- Oboist Cooper Wright discusses shaper tip widths.
- Clarinetist Victoria Soames Samek suggests there are better options than just circling problem notes in your sheet music.
- Bassoonist Kristopher King explains the usage of the little finger whisper key. (Warning: auto-plays music. If you have a website, don’t do that.)
- John Witt reports on the Carolyn Hove English Horn Masterclasses, days 1 and 2 and days 3 and 4.
- Bassoonist Betsy Sturdevant warns about carrying musical instruments onto airplanes.
- Jennifer Cluff offers tips for cleaning a flute (spoiler alert: she suggests letting a professional do it).
- On the WindWorks Design blog, J. D. Smith shares a do-it-yourself modification for the Yamaha WX5 wind controller.
- Christa Garvey does some facial stretches for a tired oboe embouchure.
- Bassoon professor Christin Schillinger offers advice for musicians choosing a college.
- Saxophonist Anton Schwartz recommends “back-chaining” as a practice technique.
- Oboist Patty Mitchell muses on her choice to be a musician.
Favorite blog posts, June 2025
- Tammy Evans, flutist: Flute Dynamics: Quiet High Notes and Loud Low Notes
- earspasm – read. (Michael Lowenstern, bass clarinet): Classifying the Bore Designs of Pro Clarinets: The good, the bad and the broken.
- Jenny Maclay (clarinet): Is your clarinet thumb rest in the optimal position?
- Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. (Tracy Heavner): How to Select Saxophone Reeds
- The Flute Examiner (Keith Hanlon): Piccolo Lessons – Teaching Woodwind Doublers
- Musings from a Saxophonist… (Ellery Eskelin): Gear & Promo
- Dudukhouse – Dudukhouse Blog: Finally! No More Mental Math: Introducing Duduk Scale Explorer & Duduk Finder
Favorite blog posts, January 2016
Some nice work from woodwind bloggers in January:
- Some good advice on Matt Stohrer’s Open Source Saxophone Project on inspecting a used saxophone.
- Bassoonist Barry Stees suggests using multiple senses to improve technique.
- Joan Martí-Frasquier shares a thorough altissimo fingering chart for baritone saxophone, including quarter tones.
- Some good stuff from the D’Addario Reserve Method Program blog, including one from clarinetist Nick Councilor on some basics of ensemble etiquette and one from clarinetist Bradley Grasl on being your own teacher.
Don’t see your favorite blog here? (Your own, perhaps?) Make sure I know about it.
Favorite blog posts, September 2017
- Flutist Jennifer Cluff offers advice on (not) playing with pain.
- Clarinetist Jenny Maclay invites you to enlist for Baermann Boot Camp starting October 1st.
- Cate Hummel shares tips on basic flute care.
- Flutist Jolene Harju discusses breaking the habit of playing “test notes.”
- Rachel Taylor Geier challenges you to test your flute knowledge with a quiz.
- Oboist Jennet Ingle finds inspiration in fancy fountain pens regarding “flourish.”
Each of these fine woodwind bloggers has been featured here repeatedly, so be sure to subscribe to their RSS feeds and/or social media streams. And get in touch to let me know who else I should be following! (You, maybe?)
Favorite blog posts, April 2020
- ProneOboe (Jennet Ingle): Keeping My AIR to Myself and Top Six Reasons I Love Teaching Online Lessons
- Jennifer Cluff (flute): Rampal’s embouchure micromovements
- Jennifer Stucki, oboist: Tips for tips… (for tips??)
- Practice Monster (David Pope, saxophone): A Jazz Embouchure? and Creative Alternate Fingerings for Middle C-sharp
- Bill Plake Music (saxophone): Five Checkpoints For Healthy And Efficient Practice
Favorite blog posts, December 2025
- International Clarinet Association (Shawn Copeland and Jackie McIlwain): Pedagogy Corner: Part 1 — Inhalation: When Balance Breathes For You
- earspasm – read. (Michael Lowenstern, bass clarinet): I’m in High School. Is it worth it to get a Low C Bass Clarinet?
- oboealli (Alli Gessner): Oboe 101: How much reed is too much reed?
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Just looked at that list of woodwind blogs you follow. Wow that is a huge list. I have been in wordpress for awhile but did not know all of these were out there.I will definitely come back through here again for a closer look.Dont go away and thanx for having that there for me to explore and by the way i like the four reeds diagram at the top of your page. I have referred your web site to a freind