Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • April 2014
13
Clarinet Clarity:
An Interview with Julie DeRoche
Dr. Mary El len Cavi tt
Julie DeRoche is Chair of the Music
Performance Department and Clarinet
Professor at DePaul University in Chicago
and has performed frequently in the clarinet
section of the Chicago Symphony. After
having read many of her clarinet pedagogy
articles over the years, I was excited to
be selected to be in an administrative
development program with her last summer
at Harvard University. What follows is
a discussion we had about clarinet skill
development. I hope you enjoy!
—Dr. Mary Ellen Cavitt
MEC:
I wanted to start out by
speaking with you about various
component skills of clarinet
playing. There are some things that
are different about clarinet playing
position than other instruments.
Can you discuss your views on
clarinet playing position?
JD:
For me, the goal is to try
to get into as natural a position as
possible, whether you’re standing
or sitting. Because the instrument
is so big in the beginning, most of
the time young kids are going to
be sitting. I think the main thing
is to get the weight on the “sit
bones,” not back on the tail bone,
and then let the spine just have its
natural curve so that the body isn’t
rounded. This is probably typical of
any wind instrument and keeps you
from cutting off your wind supply.
The shoulders should be relaxed
and the upper arms basically just
hanging down at the sides, not
allowing the elbows to poke up
in any way. The hands will form
sort of in a tent shape, one on top
of the other. The upper arms are
naturally picking the clarinet up,
moving it toward the face and the
mouth. There’s not a lot of tension
through the arm. The wrists have
to be to the side of the clarinet,
but moving slightly toward under,
so they’re not lifted. If the wrist
is bent too far in or too far out,
it creates an unnatural position.
Any time you extend it too far one
way or another, tendonitis issues
may start to show. I always like to
say, “put your hands in a position
similar to praying, relax the arms,
and the heels of your hands come
away from each other, and then
put one on top of the other,” and
that’s pretty good. The key is to
keep yourself erect on your spine,
otherwise fairly relaxed.
MEC:
Sometimes you see pro-
fessionals with their legs crossed
and their bell on their knees. How
do you feel about that?
JD:
I think it’s a bad habit.
MEC:
Is it because their top lip
isn’t doing any work?
JD:
It’s because the clarinet gets
heavy after a while, and I think it
gives them an extra bit of security.
I confess that sometimes when I
have had a really technical passage
and I just want the bell to be more
still, I have done that. The problem
is the knees will muffle some of
the sound. It really does affect
the sound, but a lot of clarinet
players would not like me to say
that. And, because you’re kind
of bent down, it doesn’t facilitate
breathing. However, I hate neck
straps. If students with small hands
need to use their knees, I’d rather
they did that than use a neck strap.
MEC:
Why don’t you like the
neck strap?
JD :
To me, it doesn’t solve
the intended concern. Usually a
neck strap is used because of the
potential for tendonitis, but that
comes from incorrect hand, wrist
or body position, rather than from
the weight of the clarinet. Instead
of thinking of hanging the clarinet
on the right thumb, you actually
want to have both hands hold the
clarinet, taking the weight of the
clarinet and balancing it between
the two hands. You use enough
grip so that you’re actually holding
on. I wouldn’t really play this way,
but I can take my right hand away
from the instrument and play a C,
D or E (on bottom of the staff),
Part One.
This interview will be continued in the June
issue of the
Bandmasters Review.