QuickStart Clarinet Blog

Every beginning clarinetist makes mistakes. That's completely normal, and it's part of learning. But some mistakes are so common that I see them come up over and over again with students at every level, and a lot of them are completely avoidable once you know what to look for.

Here are the ten most...

You've made a great sound. You've played Hot Cross Buns. Now what?

Here's the honest truth about getting better at clarinet: it comes down to a very small number of things practiced consistently and practiced well. The same things that professional clarinetists work on every single day are the same...

You can make a sound. You understand how air, tongue, and embouchure work together. Now it's time to actually play some music.

In this post, we're going to learn Hot Cross Buns on the clarinet. Yes, that Hot Cross Buns. And by the time you're done, you'll understand not just how to play it, but why...

Your clarinet is assembled. Your reed is on. Now comes the moment of truth: actually making a sound.

Here's something I tell every new student: making a great sound on the clarinet is a skill, and it's a skill you can absolutely learn. But it starts with understanding what's actually happening when...

Photo by Eleonora Paolino on Unsplash

So you've got your clarinet. Now what? Before you can play a single note, you have to put the thing together, and if you've never done it before, it can feel a little intimidating with all those keys and joints staring back at you.

The good news is that assemb...

If you're brand new to the clarinet and not sure what you actually need to get started, you've come to the right place. Before you can play a single note, you have to have the right gear. And honestly, this part trips a lot of beginners up because there's so much confusing and contradictory informat...

It’s time to complete your evolution!

 I hope that you have enjoyed my rhythm tips and exercises over the past few posts, and have a better understanding of the difference between faking rhythm and truly mastering it.

I also hope that this is just the beginning of your journey to True Rhythm...

You’ve surely been told to practice with a metronome before (like in yesterday's blog!), and I bet you have tried several times but got frustrated feeling like it was doing more harm than good, which over time led to dreading that distracting click.

But what if we could learn to love it? What if...

If you’re a Rhythm Faker, then I bet your practice often looks like pulling up a piece you struggled with in rehearsal and running through some bits trying to get your fingers familiar with the notes.

Maybe going slow (and out of time) so you can hit the notes, or trying to play up to tempo with...

In my last blog, you learned that you may have been taught rhythm wrong, by starting with reading note values without the context of hearing it or feeling how it connects to the beat.

That’s why the metronome is so frustrating! It totally throws off your sense of note values by forcing you to be...