Clarinet Links

The clarinet (and the saxophone) is a woodwind instrument which uses a single reed, that is attached to the instrument with traditionally string wound round the mouthpiece, or as is usually the case, a ligature to hold it in place. It was invented about 1690 by a German called Johann Denner. It quickly achieved prominence, being used by both Joseph Haydn and Mozart in their orchestral works. Mozart in fact wrote the pre-eminent concerto for clarinet in 1791 at the height of his maturity. By blowing between the reed and the mouthpiece, one hopefully produces the pleasant sounds of the Clarinet. However therein lies the crunch, as it is not as easy as you might think to produce warm pleasant sounds on the instrument. It takes great patience from both student (parent!) and teacher to achieve the sort of sounds associated with the instruments.The clarinet is an instrument which has great fluency and can sound very expressive. It was widely used in the 19th century because these qualities were valued highly by the composers of what is called the Romantic Era in music. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the clarinet has also been used for jazz as well as 20th century 'art' music. It is a highly flexible instrument, capable of dynamic extremes and has a wide pitch range from low to high. The instrument pictured here is a photo of my Yamaha CS clarinet, the instrument that I have jsut replaced (I use a pair of Yamaha SEV instruments).

Teaching music or teaching a musical instrument requires more than merely showing a person notes or theory about an instrument. It requires one to teach the 'whole person' . Playing ANY musical instrument requires concentration, relaxation and (in the case of woodwind and brass instruments at least) good knowledge of breathing techniques.

For example, try this exercise....
Imagine that you are putting on lipstick or chapstick on your bottom lip. Hold that tension in your lip and seal the corners of your lips until you have only a small aperture in the centre of your lips through which you can blow. Try to imagine yourself blowing through this small aperture onto a candle which is about 15 centimetres (6 inches) away from your mouth. You don't want to blow the candle out, but you want to make the flame bend away from you and stay quite still as you keep blowing. If you now add to that mouth position (it is called 'embouchure') the thought that you now have to read the music, move your fingers at the correct moment and somehow make the result sound musical, then you have some idea of the difficulties that beset you when you try to play the clarinet.

As a teacher the difficulties are not so much the mechanics of playing the instrument, but the way in which you explain things, or in some cases, use different techniques to ensure the best results for different students. I have searched for places on the internet, which can provide background information for teachers of clarinet and 'support' resources, which can help the clarinet teacher or player. The sites I discuss here are not meant to be a place where one obtains tuition, but more a place where obtains knowledge, which can help others to become better players.

These are some of the top sites that I have found of interest for clarinet teachers and players....along with a short introduction to each site. These sites are in no particular order.

Clarinet Repertoire
This site is concerned mostly with Clarinet repertoire. It contains a list of publisher links so that you can visit the publisher's web site to peruse the available music. It also has a small list of clarinet-related books.
"Michael Moors", "Clarinet Repertoire" (Online), (Retrieved: 17/08/2006), Available: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4535/material.htm

Michael Moors Clarinet Page
This site is the homepage of Michael Moors, a clarinet player in the USA. It has a long list of clarinet links.
"Michael Moors", "Michael Moors Clarinet Page" (Online), (Retrieved: 17/08/2006), Available: http://edcen.ehhs.cmich.edu/~mmoors

The Clarinet Pages
A large site with extensive resources for the clarinet player and teacher, including a link to join the Klarinet mailing list and many links to other clarinet sites. THE site to see if you want to find clarinet resources.
"Mark Charette", "The Clarinet Pages", (online) (Published 1/10/96, Retrieved 17/08/2006), Available: http://www.sneezy.org "

The International Clarinet Association
The site run by the International Clarinet Association, with information on joining, notices and a few archival articles taken from their magazine.
"Author: No author", "The International Clarinet Association" (Online) (retrieved 17/08/2006), Available; http://www.clarinet.org"

ET's Clarinet Studio
ET's Clarinet Studio offers helpful information and tips on clarinet playing, study, clarinet performance, klezmer music and classical music.
"Eric Tishkoff", "ET Studio", (Online)(Retrieved: 17/08/2006) Available: http://www.tishkoff.com/index.htm

Anne Bell's Clarinet Page
This page has a lot of information - mostly web links to many clarinet and music-related sites.
"Anne Bell", " Anne Bell's Clarinet Website Index", (Online) (Retrieved 17/08/2006) Available: http://www.anne-bell.woodwind.org/

The Clarinet family.
A site featuring the instruments and history of the clarinet family...including some good soundclips.
"Erik Ahlgren", "The Clarinet Family" (Online) (Retrieved: 17/08/2006), Available: http://hem.passagen.se/eriahl/clarinet.htm"

The Australian Clarinet and Saxophone Society site.
This includes information about the society and some past articles from the society's magazine which are of interest to players of both instruments. There are a few articles about the clarinet and it is good to see some news from somewhere relatively close to New Zealand.
"Queensland Clarinet and Saxophone Society", "Australian Clarinet and Saxophone Societies", (Online), (Retrieved: 17/08/2006), Available: http://www.clarinet-saxophone.asn.au/

Oliver's Clarinet Music page
This site consists mainly of good quality midi files of music for, or including, the clarinet, with some pieces which are difficult to find in hard copy. This is the most complete non-commercial site I have found and the files are provided in both midi format and Finale(.mus) format. There is a mirror site on The Clarinet Pages which has pdf files as well.
"Oliver Seely", "Oliver's Clarinet Music page", (Online), (Retrieved: 17/08/2006), Available: http://www.csudh.edu/oliver/clarmusi/clarmusi.htm

World Clarinet Alliance
This site is a relatively new site with a great deal of information about clarinettists players and teachers. While still growing, it deserves support if you are interested int he growth of clarinet performance around the world.
"Mike Getsin", "World Clarinet Alliance", (Online), (Retrieved 12/01/2004), Available:
http://www.wka-clarinet.org

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