QuickStart Clarinet Blog

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...

According to Music Learning Theory, we should learn music the same way we would learn any native language, by hearing it first, then speaking, then reading and writing.

That’s why you are able to get the rhythm if you hear it first or are following along with the people around you (assuming they...

If you…

• Can’t play something until you hear it
• Follow rather than lead when playing with others
• Get lost or fall behind in rehearsal
• Can write in counting, but can’t confidently execute it
• Absolutely loathe the metronome

Then you are likely what I call a Rhythm Faker!

And if you are...

I recently submitted an entry to the International Clarinet Association's Young Artist Competition. I have no idea how competitive my recordings were, but I know I was not in the top 3. Even though I didn't win, I learned some valuable lessons on what it takes to win that I think are worth sharing.

After talking about the ICA video on warm-ups, it made me want to share another exciting warm-up resource that I do.

Each Monday morning (central time morning), I go live on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram to go over a warm-up exercise, and challenge my viewers to do it as well and see what they c...