- Rachel Yoder, clarinet: Clarinet Playing During the Postpartum Period: My Story
- bassoon blog (Betsy Sturdevant): The devil’s in the details (Columbus Symphony Russian Winter Festival II)
- Joffe Woodwinds: How to Approach a Lesson
- Clarinet Divas (Diana Haskell): Short List of Favorite Works for Clarinet by Female Composers
- Peter da Silva Music: At the Repair Shop: A Playtest Checklist for the Saxophone
- The Flute View (Caitlin Rose): Tools to Help Combat Burnout
- Bill Plake Music: When Practicing Is More Than Just “Practicing”
- ProneOboe (Jennet Ingle): Shaq and the Oboe
Do I need a college degree for my instrumental music career plans?
While college study may not be the right choice for every instrumentalist, it’s hard to beat for a well-rounded musical education (with performance study, music theory, music history, and more), plus life skills, networking, and enhanced employability in the general job market.
10 ways to strengthen your embouchure right now!
You don’t need a “strong” embouchure, you need a relaxed embouchure.
Woodwind doubling and saxophone problems
It’s very common for woodwind doublers to be saxophonists first, and approach the other woodwinds later, often because of the demands of flute/clarinet doubling in jazz big band music. So advice for woodwind doublers is often really advice for saxophonists playing secondary instruments. But when players of other woodwind instruments pick up the saxophone, there … Read more
Favorite blog posts, December 2019
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, December 2019 edition.
Triplets don’t swing
It’s common among non-jazz musicians to think of “swing” rhythms as having a triplet-like feel, and it’s equally common among jazz players to regard that as hopelessly incorrect. That conflict over swing style has been widely discussed elsewhere, so I won’t rehash it here. But there’s another layer to the swing/triplets issue: It’s important to … Read more
The right clarinet or saxophone reed strength “for you”
How do you pick the clarinet or saxophone reed that is the right strength “for you?” You mostly don’t, really. It’s important that the reed be a good match to the mouthpiece. In most cases the primary consideration is the mouthpiece’s facing curve and resultant tip opening. Generally, a shorter curve and/or wider opening require … Read more
Favorite blog posts, November 2019
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, November 2019 edition.
Review: Duets for the ‘Double-Reed Doubler’ by Gene Kaplan
A few years ago I reviewed Gene Kaplan’s Duos for Doublers, a set of duets for woodwind doublers playing flute, clarinet, and saxophone. I was pleased to hear from Gene again recently about his new Duets for the ‘Double-Reed Doubler.’ It contains seven duets in a variety of styles, with one doubler playing oboe, clarinet, … Read more
Sharp, flat, and natural symbols on Android and iOS devices
There are lots of ways to handle music symbols like sharps (♯), flats (♭), and naturals (♮) on iPhone/iPad and Android devices: Not recommended: Use a pound/hash/number sign for sharp, and a lower-case b for flat. It’s ugly and unprofessional, and in some cases unclear, plus there’s not an obvious solution for natural. Spell it … Read more