Like most people I had a hard time learning all of my scales. In particular I remember B major and Eb minor (especially in 3rds) giving me a really hard time. Now as a teacher I try to help my students learn their scales, but inevitably they run into trouble. Part of the problem is that they have a hard time remembering how many sharps or flats are in a scale or in what order the accidentals go. So, here are a few different ways to remember your scales.
Now I Know My…
The first thing to remember is that all major and minor scales will use every letter in the alphabet between A and G. We frequently have to start in a different place (e.g. D) but there are no other letters to remember. You’ll also never repeat a letter in a major or minor scale. This means you’ll never have G next to G#. Rather it will be G then Ab. Obviously this rule does not apply to the chromatic scale or other types of scales (e.g. diminished scales). A quick note about the chromatic scale. Always use sharps going up and flats going down.
The Battle.
Way back when I was in high school I learned a very simple mnemonic device for remembering the order of flats or sharps in a key signature. When composers write out a key signature in a piece, whether in flats or sharps, it’s always presented in the same order.
Feel free to make up your own, but this one has never failed me.
The Rule of 7
Now that we’ve got a way to remember the order of sharps and flats in a key signature, let’s make sure we can always figure out how many sharps and flats should be in a key signature. The easiest way to do this is simply to remember the number 7. We’ll just use major scales in this example.
C, 0 #’s/b’s – C#/Cb, 7 #’s/b’s
G, 1 # Gb, 6 b’s
D, 2#’s Db, 5 b’s
A, 3#’s Ab, 4 b’s
E, 4#’s Eb, 3 b’s
B, 5#’s Bb, 2 b’s
F#, 6#’s F, 1 b
As you can see, all of the numbers add up to 7. Even if you don’t know how many flats are in Gb major, you most likely know that there’s only 1 sharp in G major.
Relatives
For clarinet players, figuring out relative major and minor scales is really simple. Here’s how I learned. Let’s say we’re trying to find the relative minor of C major.
Imagine fingering a low C on the clarinet
Imagine that you add the register key. That gives us G.
Imagine going up one more whole step.
A minor is the relative key for C major.
The same process can be used in reverse as well. Just make sure that you always use the correct range of the clarinet. For this little exercise, the tonic of the major scale should be in the chalumeau register and the tonic of the minor should be in the clarion register.
So I’m in sunny California and now that the jet lag is clearing up a bit I thought it would be a good time to go to a concert. I stopped in to hear the two pieces at a recital that looked interesting. First was a performance by the Fountain City Ensemble. They performed Workers Union by Louis Andriessen while excerpts of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis were projected. The combination (conceived of by percussionist Paul Vaillancourt) was simply stunning. Andriessen’s work is written such that each performer gets a single line of rhythms and then is left to improvise the pitches. Much like Lang’s film the piece combines “individual freedom and severe discipline”. The next piece was Matti Kovler’s Shoresh Nishmat for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano. which he loosely translates as Root Searching. It was performed by Margaret Thornhill, John Walz, and Twyla Meyer. For all the severity of the Andriessen, Kovler’s work proved to be an excellent contrast. The outer two movements were diaphanous with beautiful harmonies and wonderful combinations of timbre. The central section was a dance that moved along with grace and lightness. After that, I went to see the Research Competition presentations. Those were very interesting. Among other things I learned that there are 16 editions of Poulenc’s Clarinet Sonata! I also learned about the clarinet repertoire of Hindemith’s students. Some of those pieces look great. Then there was a presentation on music for clarinet and electronics given by Rachel Yoder a topic near and dear to my heart! Afterward’s I ran into Sheri Rolf. I had hoped to see Sheri’s presentation but had missed it so this was a great opportunity. She’s got a tremendous idea for teaching proper hand position. Basically what she’s done is taken a small ball (e.g. racket ball or hand ball) and attached a long strip of velcro to it! This creates the ideal shape for the hand while still allowing mobility of the fingers. A great teaching and learning technique. Tomorrow I present so wish me luck!
I feel like I’ve been away from this site for an unacceptably long time. Life, babies, and new houses have a way of doing that though so I hope you can find it in you to forgive my absence. In order to get things back on track, I’m going to dip into the hallowed tradition of bloggers everywhere….the interesting list. So here we go. There’s one to listen to, one to read, and one to see.
1. Spotify. This service has completely changed how I listen to music. There are a huge number of clarinet recordings and repertoire on it. I’ve been compiling a playlist of essential pieces for my students that I hope to play for them in lessons. I know I could do that with an ipod, but because you can also stream music if something comes up that I hadn’t prepared for I’ll be covered. In the US, it’s still an invitation only party for now. However that’s only for the free service. Putting up some money lets you cut the line. My username is adamjberkowitz if you want to sign up and want to see my public playlists.
2. Listen to This.New Yorker columnist, music critic, and author Alex Ross’ second book. His first, The Rest is Noise, is an indispensable guide to the history of contemporary music. Listen to This is a collection of critical essays on an unbelievably wide range of topics and personalities such as: music education, the Chinese classical music scene, Bjork and Radiohead, and Verdi. As if that kind of breadth isn’t enough to appeal, the writing is so incisive and passionate that I have found myself diving into pop music that I’d never considered before and listening with fresh ears to many of my old favorites.
3. Some videos. Watch them. You won’t be disappointed.
Well the good news is that there’s a new post. The bad news is that I’ve packed all my recording equipment so I can’t finish the examples I wanted to do for the next one on Copland. So in the meantime I thought we’d shift gears and think about how to practice when you’re away from your instrument. As you may or (likely) may not know I’ve been taking a Kenpo Karate class at a nearby JCC. Sadly I have a problem common to many of my own students which is that I don’t set aside enough time to practice. Fortunately at the same class I was reminded of how to fix that problem.
Practice while you’re not practicing.
I’ve heard every excuse in the book about why students didn’t have time to practice. There are so many that I won’t even bother to enumerate them here (cause I’ve used most of them myself). So instead let’s focus on solutions to common problems.
Rhythm!
While walking, subdivide your steps. The great thing about walking is it nearly always happens at a nice, easy practice tempo. Once you get good at eighths, triplets, and sixteenths, add in groups of 5, 6, and 7. You can say the rhythms out loud or in your head. You can also go back and forth changing the subdivision on each “beat” for an added challenge.
Breathing!
While doing something else (like writing a blog post) remember to use your best “clarinet” breathing. While sitting or standing comfortably, focus the air deep into the lungs. If you remember to keep your shoulders and upper chest relaxed you’ll gain an additional benefit.
Sit with the score and try to memorize a small section. Then write it out on a piece of paper. If you don’t have staff paper handy, make a text map of the piece. For example take the first Rose Etude. You might write out 1. Start w/ C Maj arpeggio. 2. Add D and go to F. etc… Or you could sing through the repertoire you’re working on.
Fingers!
For dexterity you can touch your fingers to your thumb one after the next. Sounds easy right? Try some of these variations.
Alternate every other finger (as if doing thirds)
Start on one hand and then switch to the other
Use both hands at the same time either in opposing directions (easy) or the same (hard)
Just got asked an interesting question on Twitter about why clarinets don’t have even numbered partials. This particular “feature” of the clarinet causes innumerable problems for some people. On the other hand, it can be extremely useful under certain circumstances. As soon as I’ve got a few minutes to write, I’ll elaborate.
Quickly find minor keys (start on a low note/tonic, add register key, go up one step – instant minor)
Play in key signatures you’re not used to. My favorite is using the first octave of E major to get up to B major.
Learn the chromatic scale from low E to C above the staff in less than 20 minutes. (Good for teaching beginners)
Here’s a video of one of Sam Sadigursky’s25 Etudes for Clarinet: Book 1. This one is called Beautiful and focuses on evenness of sound and phrasing. I hope you enjoy it!
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything on this site and I feel bad about that. Three months ago my wife and I had a second baby and now we’re planning to move (not far, but still). So while I’ve had ample time to think about music, I’ve had next to no time to write about it. Hopefully, this post will get me back on track. Now without further ado…
Aaron Copland by candlelight, studio in the Berkshires, September, 1946 Mrs. Victor Kraft, 90 Edgewood Avenue, Cranston, RI 02905-1344
Copland’s Clarinet Concerto really stands out for me as a one of the best modern concerti for clarinet. It’s challenging and fun to play, has a simple sound which belies its complexity, and has a rich history. Additionally, you can find the entire autograph score (and sketches, correspondence, etc… it’s amazing!) through the Library of Congress. Plus, one of my students is learning it right now, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to write about it. I’ve got a plan to write a few posts on this piece, but for now I want to focus on an exercise which I think helps with the beginning of the Concerto.
The beautiful, long lines of the opening with their leaps have always presented a challenge to me. First, because they need to sound easy and graceful, but at the same time require great stamina to get through. Second, the leaps can feel treacherous to get across if the technique isn’t solid at all times. So I’ll share this with you. I can’t honestly remember who I learned this from (so if one of my teachers would care to remind me that’d be great!).
Here I’ve combined two similar exercises into one example. You can obviously do them individually. Both should continue chromatically taking up as much of the range as you can handle. Once the octave jumps get too high, you can eliminate them and just focus on the other aspects of the warmup.
A few things to consider while playing this.
As you get better, slow down the tempo so that it’s always a challenge.
Make sure that the sound at the top of the range is very clear and pure. As you descend, work to keep that same sound through each register.
Practice at a comfortable dynamic. However, once you’re ready, try each one at p instead of mf to give an added challenge.
Next time, I’ll be back with a few thoughts about the phrasing and structure of the opening section of the Concerto.
Pretty soon it’s time to go to the dress rehearsal for tonight’s concert. If you’re in New York and want to hear some great contemporary music, go to St. Peter’s Church near 54th and Lexington. You can expect a new post after I get my wisdom teeth pulled out next Monday. Not something I’m looking forward to, but it has to be done.
Starting now, you’ll be able to buy the full text of my book for $19.95, individual chapters, or just the etudes for $5.95 each. Each chapter comes with everything you’d find in the full book including the etude that accompanies it. If you’ve been waiting to buy a copy or unsure if you want the whole book now’s a great time to take another look. So, head on over to the Shop and try something new!
