QuickStart Clarinet Blog

If your clarinet sound has that breathy, fuzzy quality to it, where the tone feels more like air than actual note, you are definitely not alone. It's one of the most common complaints I hear from players at all levels.

The good news is that a fuzzy or airy sound is a fixable problem. Once you under...

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...

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...