How To Tell You Don't Have The Melody

So, were at church today and where we go we have a worship band.  Not an orchestra...I'm not bitter, but an orchestra and traditional service would be nice every now and then (only because I could play in it.)  We've got a Bass Player that plays with the group almost every week.  He's actually a really good player, but he's a little too impressed with himself and it's starting to get on my nerves.

He plays a lot of extra mess on top on the Bass movements that he is supposed to be supporting and it bothers me because I can't hear anything when he's going crazy every other bar.  Listen people and listen good.  The Bass Line is not something to be trifled with.  The Bass Line is not the melody.  Here's how you can tell:

1)  When you are playing something that obviously is not the melody, but you can't really hear the true melody...you're in the wrong.  I think people who use electronic equipment and point monitors at themselves forget this all too often.  You can really tell a pro because they either don't use a monitor at all, or they use an ear piece and not a huge monitor, turn it up too loud and get way too INTO their playing.  If I can hear your mess over the tune, you're wrong.  If you're constantly playing with the volume controls on your equipment, you're wrong.

2)  If you play an acoustic instrument and you can clearly hear yourself, you're probably wrong.  Rarely does a Bass Line also act as a melodic line or fragment.  I could spend all day citing examples of Bass Lines in literature that are also melodic fragments or melodies themselves.  Here's an easy way to tell....you're exposed...nothing else is going on.  When other people are trying to do their thing too, you're not the melody.

3)  If you have all these "great ideas" in your head...keep them to yourself.  Here's an assignment for you:

     a)  Buy any FUEL album.  Something Like Human, Sunburn, Natural Selection, whatever and listen.  The Bassist play solid, firm, Bass Lines.  He rarely plays extra stuff and when he does it actually a melodic fragment that will come up later or is a supporting countermelody.  It is NOT random stuff but, rather, quite calculated. 

     b)  Listen to the "Screamers" album by the Eastman Wind Ensemble.  It's a great collection of Circus Marches.  Now tell me how much of the Bass movement in those pieces is melodic and, if it is, tell me how much of it sounds random.  I bet your answer will be zero.

     c)  Start listening to Bass Lines in popular music and tell me how random all of it sounds.  It doesn't.

We've got to be better consumers of music if we're going to be better performers.  If you're listening to music you like and you don't know they part you would be playing then you're not consuming the music very well.  Everything I own, every CD, I can sing along to the Bass Movements in the music, because it's MY part.  I'm consuming something that is improving my playing.  If you only know melodies and words and you play a Bass instrument you're going to play like someone who has the melody or the words.  Not helpful.  Not helpful at all.

Think about it.  Think about how much time could be saved if every listened with their part in mind.  We could change the world...well, not really, but you get the idea.

 

Playing by "feel"

This morning I was going through my Basses again to make sure the backing I put on a pad had actually taken and I played through each of my Basses with my 11 year old Clark Fobes "Basso Nova" mouthpiece. Yes, it is THAT old and yes he used to call it "Basso Nova"...(I know, I like the Bossa Nova reference to.)

So, the mouthpiece responded beautifully, as always. A Side Note:

I've got a Fobes Debut on my Soprano Clarinets (and it works great) I have a Nova Mouthpiece for my Alto Clarinet and I have my old Fobes "Basso Nova" with my Basses. He's the man. Check him out at www.clarkwfobes.com

Anyways, I'm playing through my horns and I started with my un-extended instruments. Let me tell you, they feel like they weigh nothing when I play them. It's almost like playing Bb Clarinet, they're that light to the touch.

This is an odd phenomenon because my '59 Leblanc 400 is a heavy instrument for its size, but I've never thought of it as heavy and today it felt especially light. When I play those instruments and then move on to my extended Bass it also feels quite light in hand. Typically it doesn't work this way. You give a Clarinet player a Bass and they're like "Geez, this thing is so heavy!" So, it stands to reason that going from smaller Bass to larger Bass would be slightly uncomfortable regardless of how experienced you are.

It would seem to me that your approach to instrument colors significantly how the instrument feels and responds in your hands.

Think about that the next time you play. Are you walking up to your Bass and saying "Man, you're a big clunky instrument!" If so, you might not be having the best time. If you're a Band Director and you make regular comments like that then chances are you have clunky, heavy sounds coming from the Bass Clarinets and Low Woodwinds.

This same assumption prevents students who play big instruments from getting technically difficult parts. Really it's avoidance. Then, they never acquire technique because the don't need to. That's bad.

Coincidence? I think not!

Private Lessons: The Agony and The Ecstasy

Today I'm gearing up for 4 private lessons with my 4 summer students on my side of town.  I have a Senior Bass Clarinetist who made All-State last year, his 9th Grade sister, a Senior Clarinetist who is a monster player, and a 10th Grade Bass Clarinetist who is developing.

In each case the students are very different and relatively easy in the motivation department.  We have issues ranging from tension, hand position, and embouchure all the way to reading, retention and fundamentals.

In each case the kids are coming from a similar stance:  "What do I do now?"

The kids who have the upper hand and are very good did not start out that way.  I've been teaching my Senior Bass Clarinetist since the summer after his Freshman year.  In that time he's gone from the bottom of the Section to the top.  He does exactly what he's asked and doesn't complain.  My younger students may move slower, but they will get there.  

I spend alot of time reminding people that this is a process.  I've grown tired of the idea that everyone will just get it if we yell at them enough.  There's a big difference between lazy students and students who don't get it yet.  Kids who don't get it yet are working hard and not progressing at the rate they'd like to.  No big deal, we can't ask them for more and no amount of complaining is going to change that.  

Lazy students, on the other hand, DO need some less-than-subtle motivation to allow them to grow.  Perhaps they've never worked under pressure before and they just don't realize how much effort is required to get a satisfactory result.  Either way, there's two different kinds of kids at the bottom.

What drives me nuts is when people assume that the decent hard-working kid will get there with yelling and other tactics that should be reserved for time-wasters.  I just can't teach that way.

So, everyone is starting today with scales, fundamentals, some kind of rudimentary exercise (that's on their level) and then working on whatever it is we're working on.  Scales are a killer, but you have to keep hammering them until they get there.  I have no problem working the same stuff time and again and again and again and again until it's right.  We do other stuff too, but those fundamentals aren't going away.

Everyone is working on some kind of literature, be it etudes of actual complete works, but everyone is doing some kind of music that requires thought, reading and interpretation.

This is where I differ from alot of people.  I spend a ton of time on interpretation and reading.  How to read, how to see patterns, how to relate the music to fundamentals that you already know, how to take and give time, how to express yourself, how to remain tonally equal throughout the entire horn, etc.  Most kids don't understand these concepts or don't get them until it's way too late to use them.  I'm not sure I can count the number of people I met in college and beyond who didn't know how to do this stuff.  It's like they never were taught anything but fast notes and loud/soft.  Yikes!

So, the Agony is realizing I've got to do this stuff and knowing I'll never have enough time to do it all.  The Ecstasy is knowing that I'm doing and doing it right.  (And occasionally, it results in kids getting recognition for their hard work.)

Peace.

Private Lessons Here In Atlanta Now Open For Business

This should end up being the commerical message of all commercial messages.

Being that I titled my blog "The Bass Clarinet Guru" one would think that I teach.  Well, I do.

I teach privately here in the Metro Atlanta area and would love to have as many students as I can stand.  I teach at home and I travel to the homes of students and I quite enjoy it.

Alot of people I know teach privately, but begrudgingly.  They do it for money (which I do as well) but they hate it.  I love it.

Working one on one with a kid is fun.  Preparing them for auditions is quite a task, but it's something I'm good at.  Preparing kids to move from one grade to the next is a challenging task, but one that I do happily.

Sometimes private teachers only teach one area of the instrument.  I endeavor to tackle the whole kid and the whole experience.  How to pass an audition, how to win a challenge, how to survive band class, all of it.

So, if you're in Atlanta I'd love to teach you.  Please feel free to contact me for more information.  I charge fair rates and have a good time teaching.

Peace.

Selmer/Bundy vs. Leblanc/Vito: a.k.a. "The Setup"

So, the other day I was getting my things ready for the beginning of the school year and I pulled out my plastic Bass  to make sure everything was still in order.  After, backing a couple pads everything was fine and I began to do a little warm-up just to check the horn out.  Then something occurred to me:

I play this instrument different than my others.  

In case this matters to anyone I play a:

1997 Leblanc 430

1959 Leblanc 400

& a very old Selmer/Bundy Plastic Bass

So, I've got the polar opposites in the Bass Clarinet world in my studio.  Selmer and Leblanc.  These two titans tangled for many a year dominating the Bass Clarinet landscape while Buffet killed them with the R13 Soprano.

Selmers are slightly finer to the touch.  Selmers are light in the hand.  The bore is slightly smaller than a Leblanc.  The cupped plateau keys provide a slightly lower key level and produce a slightly slower key action than a Leblanc.

Leblancs are hefty instruments.  You could throw a Leblanc off a building(in theory, do not try this at home.  I'm what you would call, a professional) and still pick it up and play it.  Leblancs have gigantic bores.  The keys are plated multiple times and the wood is thicker, making the instrument quite heavy.  Leblancs "talk" to you.  They are NOT delicate.

Now I must point out some things that neither of these horns are:

-  "Squirelly" in the upper register.  Anyone who is complaining about this problem either has a badly broken instrument or an inability to play in the upper register consistently.

-  "Stuffy" in any register.  An instrument is stuffy when it is badly out of adjustment or you happen to be playing the wrong mouthpiece/reed combination for your embouchure and air flow level.

-  "Unresponsive" in the upper register.  If the upper register is unresponsive it's because you aren't very good at playing in the upper register or you have a broken instrument.

Some things that individual instruments may tend to do:

-  Some instruments sound Middle B and Middle C differently than others.  That depends on the instrument, brand, the placement of the keys, placement of the register mechanism, etc, etc, etc, etc.

-  Some instruments sound Low Eb differently than others.  The size and shape of the bell, the placement of the Eb Pad (on or off the bell), the presence or lack of an extension all combine to produce the specific tonal profile of Eb on your instrument.

Some things to keep in mind:

-  Your setup is vital to your success, but it does not have to be fancy.  Case in point:

            *  I won 42 auditions in 6 years and for 2/3 of that time I play a Yamaha 4C mouthpiece               and a 2.5 Hemke Tenor Sax Reed.

            *  The point at which I had to go up a size in reed strength is when I started to play                         noticeably flat.  If you aren't doing that then you don't need harder reeds.

            *  I only acquired a fancy ligature at the end of my college career.  Prior to that I played a             Bonade Inverted.

            *  I didn't start using a Selmer D until then end of my college career.  This means that I                 did all the hard work on what most people would call an "inferior" mouthpiece.  I call it                   inexpensive and user friendly.

            *  I ALWAYS used a neckstrap.  Sitting, standing, it didn't matter.  When you're sitting                   use a peg and a strap.  When you're standing you MUST have a strap on.

            *  I DO use a fancy neckstrap.  Why?  Because my hand position is everything.  Without                 the proper support I'm doomed.  Personally, I use DeJacques straps.  Back in the day                     they were $35.  Now I think they're $95.  Still worth it in my opinion.  

            *  I adjust my own reeds by hand.  I keep two reed knives, sandpaper, emery paper, a                   reed clipper, reed rush and I adjust the reeds according to an adjustment chart. 

From the beginning, the beginning of this Guru thing, around 1994, I've always said that the difference between Selmer and Leblanc is personal preference.  I got my first Leblanc (the '59 400 series) in '94 and I've stuck with them ever since.  You could just as easily get a Selmer and enjoy them and stick with them.  Were it me, I'd never flinch in the face of a Leblanc.

Leblancs are hefty instruments, as I said before, and they provide a sturdier platform to produce the sort of tone that I enjoy on Bass Clarinet.  You can do just about the same work on Selmer, but I just like the feel of Leblancs better.

Notice that we did talk about Selmers and Leblancs, but we also talked alot about your setup.  Your setup determines so much more than your horn.  Without a proper setup (for you) you won't have the privelege of being picky about what kind of horn you play.

One should also note that I did not mention Buffet or Yamaha.  For good reason.  Yamahas are copies of the easiest to spot characteristics of Selmers and Leblancs and thrown together into one instrument, but that doesn't work.  "Frankenhorn" isn't going to do anything for you.  Buffets just don't hold up.  I've never met a Buffet that didn't go out of adjustment simply at the sight of a performer.  You can find message boards filled with horror stories of professionals taking their Buffets on planes or to different climates and their instrument just NOT working.  Yikes people!

I once took my two Leblancs to NJ.  When I left Atlanta it was 60 degrees outside and a slight breeze.  There was a blizzard in NY/NJ and had nary a problem with either instrument the whole time I was up there.  You see my point I think.

Quesrions, comments?  Anything at all, the Guru is in.

So, why are we here?

The Guru is in.

About 15 years ago I was given the moniker "The Bass Clarinet Guru".  Aptly enough, it was given to me by a teacher, not a peer.  I never really thought there was anything to it except that I knew I was very good at playing Bass.  I recent set of circumstances has brought me to the conclusion that I need to start living up to the moniker "The Bass Clarinet Guru".  

I suppose the easiest part of that is knowing that I'm not like Howard Stern and I didn't give myself the name, but that it was actually given to me by someone I respect who is a far greater musician than me.

I have imported posts from another blog of mine to get all my current Bass Clarinet content in here.  I plan on updating frequently about every topic imaginable:  sitting, standing, marching, playing, equipment, literature, you name it.

I WELCOME questions and comments.  The only real way we can begin to grow a community of people who are talking honestly about the instrument is to have HONEST questions followed by HONEST answers.  This is not a forum where some overgrown amateur is going to tell you to go out and spend $300 on a mouthpiece or $500 getting your horn adjusted after you just bought it.  No one telling you that Alto Clarinet just isn't going to work so don't bother.  No one telling you that the plastic Vito Contra your school has isn't good enough to play on.  We'll cover all subjects concerning Alto, Bass and Contra Clarinets. Please jump in, the water's fine!

I'm talking about real answers for real players.  I hope that students feel comfortable here and I hope that you are the majority of my readers.  Of course, adults are welcome, but I want kids to feel like they can get some honest answers and feedback here.

I have alot of things on tap for the Bass Clarinet Community, so please stay tuned.

Peace.