Day 2: January 3

I felt like such a big wig today when I opened up the case and knew how to put the clarinet together. I felt like a military solder putting together his riffle – click, click, swipe, snap and BAM! – a clarinet!

Ariana Lamon-Anderson, from the monkeysee video set showed me how to play 3 notes: E, D and C. But clearly my 1 day clarinet skills are very advanced and are capable of handling far more than a mere 3 notes. So I Googled “clarinet finger chart” and found this diagram:

Along with the 3 notes from the video, I will also practice from the chart the notes F and G.

Things to work on:

            Focus on breath control

            Focus on breathing into the clarinet with an even flow of air

            Focus on focusing

I learned online today about the importance of cleaning and putting your clarinet away properly (Don’t tell, but I didn’t do any of that stuff last time). I removed the cleaning cloth from it’s protective baggy and there’s a giant weighted shoe lace hanging from it! So check this out – you drop the lace into the horn end and pull the rag all the way through the mouth piece! Someone out there is a genius. I wish I could clean my ears that way.