The ICA (International Clarinet Association) held an online virtual conference last month called Plays On. I enjoyed listening to and learning from all of the excellent sessions. Here are my notes from the sessions I was able to attend. The ICA also unveiled a new and improved website. Thank you to Jessica Harrie and Jenny Maclay for their tremendous work on organizing and hosting each of the sessions. If you missed a session, you can access all of this great content on ICA TV, through the ICA YouTube Channel.

Finding Digital Resources and Directing Students

Jonathan Cohler, John Bruce Yeh, Nicholas Cox

Andy’s Licorice Talks

Nicholas’s Resource list:

The Mozart Forgeries by Dan Leeson,

Historical Mozart

It wasn’t until 1992 that it was discovered what the Bassett clarinet looked like, with its bulbous bell and crooked shape. Controversial about which way the bell should face. Also, controversial if Stadler was playing with reed on top or reed on bottom at this point. The sound comes out of the top of the bell. The Mozart concerto manuscript was lost in the early 1800s and the Stadler’s instrument was also lost. 199 bars of a sketch in Windertore Switzerland, a manuscript sketch. Started out in G, and then changes to A major. Bar Hierarchy: Four beats in a bar. 1–3–2–4. (Classical period phrasing.) Slurs equal diminuendo. Method books from the classical period. Leopold Mozart, Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing. Teaches about basics of music and classical phrasing. CPE Bach Johann Quantz — “Wind cadenza’s should be done in one breath.” Gricolla? Singing treatise.

Reinhard Wieser, Orchestral Excerpts

Opening with solo from Tosca, Puccini. Standard procedure for practicing and preparing orchestral excerpts.

1. Listen to at least five recordings of the piece, with different orchestras, and with the country of the composer. With opera, listen to Italian opera orchestras. Listen to the whole piece, not only the passage of the excerpt.
2. Get the whole score and not only the clarinet part. Check for mistakes in the your edition of the clarinet part and score.
3. Follow the instructions and markings from the composer.
4. Read about the history of the piece and the composer.
5. See if the excerpt is performed somewhere else in the piece. (For example, Tosca the melody in the clarinet is played before by the woodwinds. Does this first entrance affect the solo excerpt. What is different? Who else are you playing with?) How does the text from the opera influence your solo?
6. If you apply for a certain orchestra, attend a concert of that orchestra and listen to their recordings.
7. Check the musical situation of the excerpt. How does your dynamic marking match the rest of the orchestra? Symphonie Fantastique is marked mp but you have to play very loud.
8. Big difference between audition and actual orchestra playing. The audition is the most difficult situation. Playing in a the orchestra section you are playing with your friends, and so it is a different situation. Still high expectations. Some passages that look easy are very difficult, others that look hard aren’t as difficult when played with the orchestra.
9. Now we come to the actual practicing part. Before practicing, analyze why the passage is an audition passage. What is the point of the passage? Is it about articulation, tone quality, rhythm, etc…
10. Use your metronome to have a clear idea of tempo.
11. Use your piano for matching intonation. For altissimo use a tuner to keep the intonation accurate.
12. Prepare to play the excerpt perfectly ten times in a row.

Beethoven 6

• play second entrance a bit louder.
• know that you are with the bassoon.
• Ending of first movement. The 16ths are small melodies. Play the dolce a little longer. Make a big difference at the forte mark. Play dominant a little louder and the resolution a little software. And, keep the tempo consistent.
• 2nd movement. Don’t be too slow with the grace notes. Phrase to the middle of the bar.
• 3rd movement. Big crescendo coming down, go for it. Switch to double tonguing if you need to. Can be tricky to switch from single to double tonguing.

Mendelssohn Scherzo Beethoven 4th Brahms 3 Shostakovich 9 Tosca

Process of orchestra auditions in Europe. First round with Mozart concerto and 1 of 2 excerpts. 2nd round. 3rd round. Finals. Now, the number of applicants are increasing. We are now doing video auditions for the first round. This is becoming more common. Student round, those with limited experience go through a preliminary round. 15–30 applicants in the main round. In USA, there are more applicants. Become a member

Practice Suggestions:

• When we practice, we learn. It is like learning a language. We need to give our body and brain enough time to learn the right movements. It is very important that we practice the correct movements.
• Choose a 2 or 3 note group for an improvement zone. Define this for yourself. Vary the rhythm.
• Make your imaginary circle bigger to expand the practice section. Vary these notes in many ways, different combinations of rhythms. Change the articulation, displace the accent.
• Only after you master the phrase, do you get faster.
• Practice on A or bass clarinet, B-flat excerpts.
• Notch by notch, playing it 3 times perfectly in a row.
• Add a note before or after, making the passage longer.
• Emotional method. Build phrases within the passage.
• Memorize the passage.
• Record yourself and listen back.
• Perform the passage for a friend.
• Mental practice. Play the passage in your mind, without the instrument.
• Relaxed method. Play the passage totally relaxed, not concerned with mistakes.

Paula Corley, Teaching Beginners

When teaching tonguing, start with a fast rhythm first so that the tongue doesn’t pull away from the mouthpiece too far. Better for a beginner to tongue faster, at their natural speed.

Here-Tee to start. This helps a student to start tonguing with an air start, only briefly, to prevent the tickle sensation.

Low b-flat is a good note to get to as soon as possible, to teach right hand position.

First notes: E D C low B-flat. After B-flat speaks, do a register key check to see if F comes out.

Focus on slurred melodies. Let the students create and make up their own melodies. Avoid melodies with rests and complex rhythms.

Causes of poor tone:

• Student not gripping the mouthpiece with the top teeth. Not biting, but a grip.
• Airspeed is too slow.
• Tongue position is too low.
• Other physical limitations.

Pinky Finger Gymnastics: (Helps with keeping low G cover)

Alternating right hand pinky keys in a game. Then left pinky. (This is a pre-requisite to before crossing the break.)

Teaching Chromatics:

Teaching Register Change

• Emphasize new notes, not new fingerings.
• Teach C to G, then descending scale.
• Teach low E to B, then scale.
• Teach tiny crescendo into the register change.
• Teach right hand down and low f key.

End of first year.

• 2 octave major scales
• Chromatic scale low E to high C

Selin Gürol, Turkish clarinetist, Extended Techniques

The air support is the most common problem that I see in producing extending techniques. Keep the core muscles engaged while you exhale and while you play.

Slow motion fuzzy tongue exercise.

What syllable to use for a light double tongue staccato. Think everything on the tip of the tongue. Kuh is difficult. Instead say guh. Too-goo. Goo is more forward in the mouth, closer to the tip of the tongue.

If reed is too soft, it will squeak, and if your reed is too hard it is also difficult. Reed needs to be very responsive.

If you need triplets. Practice all of the triple tonguing combinations. If there is a high note in the middle of the phrase it will need to have the Too.

How to start and how to practice double tongue. Metronome on 60. G major scale. Alternating Too-Goo in quarter notes two octaves. Don’t try high notes at first.

You must be very light on the reed, and very strong air support. If you struggle double tonguing in the upper register, it is because you are not light enough, and you don’t have enough air support.

Beethoven 6, mvt. 3 — start the descending arpeggio, with double Too to get the accent on the beat.

Franz Klein staccato etudes