Clarinet 101: Simple Steps to Improve Your Clarinet Section by Dr. Gail Lehto Zugger

While at the conference, I attended a clinic focussing strictly on the clarinet. I learned some pretty cool tricks to help young clarinetists sound great. I learned that elementary and middle school clarinet players tend to lean their right elbow on their thighs which is not good. Additionally, they usually have their chins pointed down which cuts off the amount of air they can get through the instrument. The clinician gave a great idea for explaining just how much breath is needed for good air support in clarinet playing. She told us to tell the students that they need to pretend they are 100 years old and that they need to be able to take a deep enough breath to blow out 100 candles.

A question I asked was how to handle clarinet playing with students who have braces. When playing a clarinet, the lower lip should curl in over the lower teeth, but if you have braces in the way, what do you do? The clinician was stumped! Someone in the audience told us all her method, which was to take a shammy and wash it in the washer, cut it up into small length pieces, then place the small piece on the lower lip. This adds thickness to the lower lip so the student will not have to hurt themselves rubbing his/her lip against the braces.

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