Favorite blog posts, June 2020

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See the woodwind blogs I’m following, and suggest others!

Understanding response and stability

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For most players and situations, some kind of middle ground is the right choice: enough response to articulate notes at pianissimo, but enough stability that you don’t have to devote all your attention to keeping things in tune.

Wind controllers as “practice” woodwinds

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Can you use a wind controller, like the Akai EWI, the Yamaha WX, or the Roland Aerophone, as a convenient and/or quiet way to practice a “real” woodwind instrument, like the saxophone or the flute? No, not really. You can practice some very limited aspects of woodwind playing. For example, each of those wind controllers … Read more

Should I tighten the screws on my woodwind instrument?

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For many household items, screws should be tightened if they seem loose. But for woodwind instruments it’s a little more complicated. Woodwind instruments (flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and saxophones) have many screws on them. They are usually the slotted type, for which you would use a standard (“flat-head”) screwdriver. And some of them need to … Read more

Favorite blog posts, May 2020

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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, May 2020 edition.

Let audiences applaud at your classical music concerts. Or don’t.

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The question of when to permit applause at a classical music performance has already been discussed to death. In summary, some people believe that you should encourage applause only after a complete work is finished, because: It allows the piece to be heard as a unified whole It’s respectful to the musicians and/or audience It’s … Read more

Interpreting wind articulation markings

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It’s easy to think of articulation markings as being black and white (and not just literally). But sometimes the instructions aren’t completely clear. For example, I think most people would see this marking… …and understand it to mean that the D gets some extra length, perhaps so much that there’s no silence between the D … Read more

Do I have to practice over the summer?

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As I send my students off to their summer plans, I know many of them are asking themselves the same question I used to ask: Do I have to practice? Your teacher might give you a summer assignment. I feel like I really can’t give my students official, enforceable assignments when they aren’t enrolled in … Read more

Favorite blog posts, April 2020

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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, April 2020 edition.

Wind playing and contagious diseases

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I’m not a (medical) doctor or disease expert of any kind, but I’ve been thinking a bit about the instruments I play and the risks of catching or spreading disease. (At the time of this writing, Covid-19 is foremost in many people’s minds.) I’m presenting a few thoughts here in hopes that people with real … Read more