Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • April 2013
17
Monitor the right hand position for curved fingers (example 6) and the
lifting and dropping motion from the back knuckle for maximum efficiency
of the fingers (example 7).
Many times it is difficult for the student to analyze if their fingers, or
“biting” with the embouchure, is the cause of response failures in the low
register. At this point I will turn the clarinet “around” and finger the passage
as the student blows. If the response is good, with a full sound, then I have
convinced the student that their fingers are not covering properly.
F inger movement and the air stream
How many times have we said, “as the notes get faster,
the speed of the air column must be faster!” Many students
decay, or decrease, the intensity of the air stream when
playing intervals and directional change of the finger motion.
The Klose mechanism study is a great exercise to teach the
development of a fast, steady air column during intervals and
change of note direction. Example 8 is another exercise by
Gaetano Labanchi that changes directions often, allowing the
air column to remain steady, under fast compression, with a
firm embouchure that does not move during the intervals.
To quote Kalmen Opperman, “it is a matter of time,
patience, and intelligent practice.”
Clarinet Fundamentals . . . Revisi ted !
example 6
example 7
example 8