Favorite blog posts, November 2023
Just one post to share this month:
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Favorite blog posts, August 2013
Read these excellent mostly-woodwind-related blog posts from the past month, and thank me later:
- Bassoonist David Wells shares and comments on early 20th-century recordings of the Weber Andante e Rondo Ongarese by William Gruner and Fernand Oubradous.
- Multi-instrumentalist Mark Catoe shares some clear thinking about teaching the concept of time signature. This will benefit even some of my college students, who are still trying to shed the “quarter-note-is-always-one-beat-no-matter-what” misinformation they were fed years ago.
- Viviana Guzman at The Flute View declares the first Canadian Flute Convention a success.
- Sherman Friedland offers some comments about purchasing clarinets. He mentions a couple of specific makes and pulls no punches about his opinions, but regardless of your personal taste in instruments there are some general points worth drawing out: just because “everybody” uses one model doesn’t mean it’s the “best;” a good teacher is crucial to the process of obtaining a fine instrument and making it sing; and it doesn’t hurt anybody to at least consider the advantages of instruments made from non-traditional materials.
- Matt Stohrer explains why getting your saxophone overhauled is good for your playing and for your bottom line. Good advice for any woodwind player, really, though of course some of the instrument-specific details will differ.
- Oboist Christa Garvey gives college music majors some sage advice for the new academic year.
- Saxophonist Craig Buhler suggests that a joyful performance requires joyful practice.
- Clarinetist Meri Dolevski-Lewis gives some tips on reading (and, by extension, on writing) advertisements for private teaching. Also: tips on diversifying your musical income streams (including a strong case for woodwind doubling).
- Patty Mitchell shares a compelling argument, in video form, for learning the play the oboe the right way rather than looking for shortcuts. (Spoiler alert: It’s a demonstration of a single-reed mouthpiece for the oboe.)
Favorite blog posts, May 2019
- Sax Spy – Blog: 3 Low-Note Exercises From the Masters [update: link dead]
- Trent Jacobs, bassoonist: On forming blanks and cracking cane
- ProneOboe (Jennet Ingle): Psychology of the Oboist and Transitions
- Jenny Maclay: The Complete Guide to Developing Great Technique
- Sam Newsome’s Blogspot: Soprano Sax Talk: Websites: Relevant or Relic?
And, as always, this is an excellent way to get your blog post selected as a favorite:
- Joffe Woodwinds: Bret Pimentel
Favorite blog posts, July 2016
- Theresa Koenig gives a brief history of the bassoon.
- Flutist Terri Sánchez shares an interesting idea for making long tones fun. (No reason these couldn’t be adapted for other instruments.)
- Jenny Maclay outlines some factors in clarinet tuning.
Favorite blog posts, September 2018
- Heather Roche shares a list of easy/reliable clarinet multiphonics. Useful information here for composers and performers.
- Eric Schultz examines the history of multiple tonguing on single reed instruments.
- Jenny Maclay explores clarinet orchestral excerpts. (Also consider enlisting for the October Uhl Boot Camp.)
- Flutist Kelly Wilson explains the anatomy and function of the arms.
- Jennet Ingle discusses producing a resonant sound on the oboe.
- Oboist Nuria Cabezas demonstrates some stretches for musicians.
- Flutist Jessica Dunnavant deals with performance nerves.
- Ariel Detwiler shares thoughts on fitting into a band or orchestra bassoon section.
- Patty Mitchell spends some time away from her oboe.
- Hannah Haefele offers some suggestions for warming up on the flute on a tight schedule.
Favorite blog posts, March 2016
- David Wells discusses composing cadenzas for the Mozart bassoon concerto (and shares his finished product).
- Jill Cathey shares some techniques she is using to improve her oboe reedmaking, including giving her reeds names.
- Saxophonist Eddie Rich legislates three laws of practicing [update: link dead].
- Cindy Ellis explains the function of each lip in the flute embouchure.
- Jennet Ingle explains (and demonstrates in a video) a technique for cleaning out oboe reeds.
- Manny Martinez suggests 10 classical saxophone recordings to check out.
- Trent Jacobs uses a power tool to make bassoon reeds.
- Cate Hummel continues her crusade against questionable “kiss-and-roll” flute embouchure pedagogy, and has an insight into that technique’s popularity.
- Jeff Cunningham explores some of the “ups & downs” for beginning saxophonists. It’s good context and advice for woodwind doublers, too, who may be at beginner stage on a secondary instrument.
- Bassoonist Andrew Burn shares some unconventional ideas about recital preparation.
- David Freeman logs a gig experience covering Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album, and shares saxophone solo transcriptions.
- Khara Wolf discusses aspects of high-altitude oboe reedmaking.
- Helen Kahlke shares a review of an inexpensive bass saxophone. Don’t reach for your wallets yet, but the takeaway here is that playable, affordable, modern saxophones lower than baritone could be on the horizon.
- Also, I am now a co-author, with Kellie Lignitz-Hahn, of the “Clarinet Cache” column in The Clarinet (journal of the International Clarinet Association), and the related blog. Check it out online or in your latest print issue.
Favorite blog posts, March 2020
- Practice Monster (David Pope, saxophone): Circular Breathing
- Sax ProShop: #WednesdayWisdom: Sanitizing Your Mouthpiece & Instrument
- Trent Jacobs, bassoonist: Bassoon fingering chart and On communicable diseases and buying reeds
- heather roche: “Ultra-Underblow Mutiphonics”: Part 2 of the recategorisation of Philip Rehfeldt’s chart
- Rachel Taylor Geier (flute): Imperfect Balance – Hand Position Correctors
- The Bassic Sax Blog » (Helen Kahlke): Is a vintage sax right for me?
- The Vintage Clarinet Doctor – Blog (Jeremy Soule): mouthpiece porn vs Mouthpiece Monogamy
- The Flute View (Lauren Monteiro): 4 Rules for Recording Your Practice
- International Clarinet Association (Wesley Ferreira): Master Class: Fantasiestücke (Fantasy Pieces), Op. 43 by Niels Gade
- Jenny Maclay (clarinet): 31 Clarinet Compositions Written by Female Composers
- Music Major – Majoring in Music: Music School Decisions When You Can’t Visit