The Clarinetist's Checklist

I've been catching some bad habits lately: excessive body movement, slouching, and a collapsing embouchure. A framework I use is not to fix bad habits but to continually remind myself of and to reinforce good habits (1).

The following checklist will be mentally run through before I play the first note of whatever I'm playing.

Checklist

1. Feel the 'sit bones' (2)
2. Sit up straight with my head on top of a the spinal column 
3. Form my embouchure (3)
4. Breath well (4)
5. Insert clarinet, feeling the lip pressure all around the mouthpiece

References:
(1) - Arnold Jacob
(2) - See Embouchure Building
(3) - See Embouchure Building
(4) - Maria Callas at her masterclasses at Julliard often said "Take the time to breath well." There are, of course, hundreds of ways thinking about and accomplishing this -- again, I refer to Embouchure Building and Arnold Jacobs for guidance.

Don't let anyone get bored

Glenn Dicterow, the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, is in residence at the Music Academy of the West for 3 weeks this year. In his first week, he gave a masterclass and in the second he performed the Debussy Violin Sonata. 

I took away the following idea from the masterclass: the audience has a short attention span, they want to check their email, play a game on their phone, or leaf through the program and it's your job as a performer to not let that happen. He said, "Don't let anyone get bored with anything you play." 

His performance of the Debussy Sonata tonight embodied the belief that it's the job of the artist to hold the audience's attention. Many performers want to paint with a thousand colors (I have at my disposal a couple dozen) but he actually does! Some people make a reputation with a beautiful tone, others with virtuosic technique, but what makes Mr. Dicterow so great is his creativity in finding a color for every nuance in every phrase.

John de Lancie

"If you are intellectualizing, and the goal is perfection, the result cannot help but to be inspiring."
- John de Lancie