Day 26: March 7

I have been having a difficult time brining myself to continue. I need to play with another person who knows how to play the clarinet. I have many questions on technique that I am unable to answer online! For example: I feel tention in my neck when I play. Why? And what do I need to do to fix the problem? *Sigh. I'm getting discouraged and it's slowing me down.

Day 25: February 29

A friend of mine suggested the brand “vandoren” for clarinet reeds. But I am shocked to find out the prices! On amazon, $18.47 - $26.45! ...My budget is about $3.

In desperation to fix my reed, I found a piece of sand paper in the basement with a grit of 220; very fine. I really hope that girl on yahoo answers knew what she was talking about!

In the practice room of school I sanded down my reed, but I may have rounded my edge a bit too much. I’ll just have to keep playing and hope it doesn’t affect the instrument.

Left: sanded reed; Right: brand new reed cracked on 2-17

You are the BEST Eben!!! Thanks for the encouragment! <3

Day 24: February 20

Today, I went in search of a new reed with no success.  It was, however, due to poor store selection. Although I left empty handed I still had fun with Eben. Going to a music store is like instrument play time!

Day 23: February 18

I now have 2 broken reeds. Solution:

I wish it was that easy.

Day 22: February 17

I did NOT have a good practice today. At first I questioned if I was playing poorly because my reed needs to be replaced. Although I got some good advice about reeds from yahoo answers, I replaced the reed regardless. However, my playing did not improve. …frustration.

Apparently I’m just aweful at this instrument! My clarinetting is actually clarinothing.

( “you can also take sand paper and lightly brush the top of the reed evenly to shorten it and make it hard again.” http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100918161939AAVMEoC)

Day 21: February 15

I have been searching videos to help me be able to understand and play properly the final two notes in the C scale. While looking around online, I watched a tutorial which said that the clarinet squeaks because I have the reed too far in my mouth; good to know. (From: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNeexe01t10&feature=related )

The finger positions in my right hand is what I was having trouble with the most. I found this great video; thank you to youtube user adamconnellymusic for the help!  P.S. Love the accent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPUakhI3Lmo&feature=related

...Sorry about the appearance of decapitation...

Day 20: February 13

I watched a video today of a guy improvising. He said that when improvising, you play within the key the song is in; which makes memorization of scales very important.

(For anyone interested here’s the link to the video I watched. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx0XMH41vd0&feature=related )

For today’s practice I decided to focus on memorizing a scale. The C scale seems like the most obvious choice. It is very easy until you get to the B and C at the top.  I guess I would eventually like to be able to improvise. ...But I put a lot of emphasis on the word eventually.

I need to find out when it is appropriate to replace your reed. Mine has a small chip at the top of it but I don’t know if that’s normal. I’m going to make it last as long as possible for expense purposes.

Chipped reed