Favorite blog posts, June 2015

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Interesting things from the woodwind blogosphere in June:

All of my favorite blog authors from June are ones I’ve featured previously, some many times. That’s fine by me but I’m always anxious to check out ones I haven’t been reading already. If you think I might be overlooking some, please get in touch! I’m in the process of updating my blogroll, and happy to add new woodwind-related blogs.

Playing in tune: five factors

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One of the first “technical” things I wrote on this blog was about playing in tune. I ran across that now-embarrassing post recently and decided it is time to revisit that topic since my thinking about it has crystallized a bit more. To play a woodwind instrument in tune, there are five factors to address: … Read more

Fingering Diagram Builder, version 0.7

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I have released version 0.7 of the Fingering Diagram Builder. Mostly it supports some new instruments. Let me know if you run into bugs or have suggestions or feature requests. Here’s what’s new: I fixed a bug that was preventing saving custom presets. Not sure if anybody noticed. Viennese oboe diagrams. German clarinet diagrams, in … Read more

Review: D’Addario Select Jazz alto saxophone mouthpieces

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I like mouthpieces that are easy to play, especially in terms of response and tuning. But I also really like something easy to replace; I don’t like the idea of a mouthpiece that is so expensive, variable, or rare that if I drop it I can’t just order a new one, have it in a … Read more

Favorite blog posts, May 2015

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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, May 2015 edition.

Clarinet and saxophone embouchures and the “chin”

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The chin is much-discussed in clarinet pedagogy. Keith Stein suggests a “stretching” of the chin, making it feel “long and pointed” and “rather hard.” David Pino, a student of Stein’s, echoes this. Jane Ellsworth describes a chin that is “drawn downward” (while the jaw provides a “controlled” “upward pressure.” Michele Gingras advocates a “flat” chin. … Read more

Subdivision, long notes, and slowing the tempo

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As my students get better at reading more complicated rhythms, often it is the “easy” notes that emerge as the ones still lacking in precision. Master the technique of subdivision for greater precision and control of tempo.

“Next” steps in preparing repertoire

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I think many aspiring musicians pass through a phase in their development where they have “learned” fingerings, music reading skills, and other fundamentals at a basic degree of mastery, and turn their attention to developing sufficiently fluent technique (mostly finger technique) to tackle the instrument’s standard literature. Once they acquire that fluency and tackle that … Read more

Favorite blog posts, April 2015

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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, April 2015 edition.

Sparking creative inspiration

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It’s tempting sometimes to see my students as either left-brained or right-brained players—either the precise, technically-oriented type or the creative, intuitive type. The reality, of course, is that they are all some of each, but may have greater strengths in one area or the other. And good musicians need both. Trying to get the more … Read more