More Playing Pointers

“You can have oodles of technique, but if you've got no tone, it's not going to be attractive to the person hearing it. First is hearing it in your head; the other part is your heart -- having this innate part of our soul that needs to express itself. Music is not just the black dots on the white paper -- it's what happens when those black dots on the white paper go into your heart, and come out again.”

~ Phil Smith
 
Some suggestions for better tone production:

Clarinet: From Ms. Miller (CMSS)

- Be sure that the reed is intact, working and that the mouthpiece is clean and not chipped.

- Position the reed correctly on the mouthpiece.

- If possible, play on a quality mouthpiece (the best student mouthpiece is a Vandoren 5RV Lyre 13)

- Use quality reeds - Rico Reserve, Rico Royal, Grand Concert, VanDoren V12

- Reed strength should be 2.5 or 3

- The basic embouchure is crucial for good tone. i.e., stretched, pointed chin, sides of mouth forward, open throat.

- Practice breathing slowly in and out. Let the exhale be effortless. The breath contains the energy for there to be tone. Let the ribs move out and in during breathing - they are the key to good breathing.

- Play one tone as long as you can in one breath. Follow the sound and breath. Listen and watch where the tone vibrates in your body. The tone will sound "centered". Direct the tone outward.

- Another excercise: play 4 beat notes followed by 4 beats of rest. Don't always play a familiar "scale" pattern. Then connect 2 tones  (slurred) together. (Again, watching the breath, being mindful to where the tone vibrates in your body, moving the breath, moving the energy of the breath, through the notes.)

- Stay in the low register.

Saxophone: from Mr. Dean

- Warm air = warm sound.

- Good tone comes from warm air.

- The sound has to be supported.

- Keep the throat open.

- Keep the mouth set when playing because if there is a lot of jaw movement the reed won't vibrate consistently.

Flute: from Ms. Brodeur

- Relax the lips.

- Never push the flute into the lips but very lightly rest on the mouth.

- Angle the air up to the tip of the nose.

- Practice with just the head joint in front of a mirror. Adjust the placement of the lips on the mouthpiece for the best possible sound.

- Air should be fairly quiet when  it passes through the lips. The lips could be too tense if you hear too much air.