hi peoples. anyway, i'm solo chair in my school's band, and in a few pieces we've been working on, i have solos involving some high notes that i can't play. the highest note i can play confidently and without any bad sound whatsoever is C above the staff. i have problems getting out c-sharp and d (and those are the highest notes i can play, period). It takes time and a lot of blowing to get those notes out(and the solos go by pretty fast). some of my solos involve going even higher. i play on a size 4 reed and plastic clarinet. could that have anything to do with it? or is it my embouchure?

Size 4 reed.. I would try going down to a 3.5 or 3 with a different (beter) brand. I've found that anything more than a 3 or 3.5 is just ridiculous, and in high school bands almost unnecessary.

Rememeber don't blow from you cheeks. A lot of people try doing that when going high and never realise (according to my tutor).

If you can't fix it try going down the octave. Most conductors are pretty nice about it if they realise you've been practising and playing to your full ablity and still can't play the piece. Or.. give up your position and allow a more competent player to play the solo (JK).

so, size 3 vandoren is ok? i'll try it. i'll try taking it down an octave as well. unfortunately, i couldn't give up my chair because we had to audition for them and then challenge if we wanted to. i didn't want the chair, and neither did anyone else. so, i got kind of "stuck" with it. but since our clarinet section is kind of weak (we're a freshman concert band), he lets some older wind ensemble people come and play. maybe one of them could take it for me.

thanks. i'll talk to my director about it.

Actually I would say, it was your embrouchure, but it has pretty much to do with which reed you play

I think I would get myself some different sizes of reeds and then try it out. Maybe you should try looking at the "D above the staff"-post. Some of the posts are actually helpful (try Dennis' post). And then a thing my teacher always told me: Don't think about how high the notes are. Just play with the same embrouchure you would do in the lower register.

That's very great advice from Ida. Also, you might want to switch brands of reeds. To tell the truth....if you are a freshman, you might not be able to tell the difference between the good vandoren reeds and the bad. You get about half and half out of each box. Try Mitchell Lurie 3.5's or 3's. They are a better brand IMHO, and definitely have a better good reed ratio per box. Also, remember to pull your chin back (not move it back, but actually pull the muscles back to kind of flatten your chin). I would also read my post in "D above the staff" as Ida mentioned. Use those tips for your embochure. Another recommendation once you have the embochure down is to play G-D chromatically and with all sorts of articulations (I.E. all slurred, all tongued, Two slurred two tongued, two tongued two slurred, one tongued two slurred one tongued, etc.). If you play this with a metronome and increase your speed once you feel confident you will get it down in now time, and be the star of the band. Remember to hear the note before you play it. It sounds horribly corny, but it works.

Aside from the topic actually...does anyone ever play something that is insanely hard, but find a recording and then put the recording on repeat all night long while you're sleeping, and wake up and know the part? I do this all the time and it helps me to "hear" the solo or the melody or whatever I was having problems with. Maybe I'm just a quack, but don't you need to be a PhD or MD to be a certified quack?

<Added>

I meant "NO time" not now time!

-Dennis

I also wanted to mention that in my freshman year I was first chair, but sophomore year I didn't want it. This other girl didn't want it either...but she would have gotten it if it didn't. Well, I was strategically absent on audition day...so I automatically got last chair! Then I challenged for Solo Third Clarinet. People were like...you went from 1st chair to 10th chair?! It was so much more fun!! I think it might have made the band look better because I took a Clarinet solo, duet, trio, quartet and quintet to Solo and Ensemble that year. They all assumed I was 1st chair...I would just smile and proudly have to correct them. That totally shocked the judges! I think I took 9 pieces to S&E that year. That was craziness for me!! I don't recommend that. TOO MUCH PRACTICING!!!

-Dennis

How high can everyone get?

I know its possible to reach the C three above middle C, but I have only been able to get comfortably to the A just below that.

Well, comfortably I can chromatically reach up to the F# above the Triple C (7 lines above the staff). You have to make sure to have a really airtight embochure. Bb is really easy from High A...Just remove your thumb hole and LH ring finger (but the thumb must stay on the register key). The fingering is R-2-|---- Where R is the register key without the thumbhole covered. Unlike High A...this note is not an overblow (A is an overblown E, G# is an overblown D#). Just using the fingering and a correct embochure should net fantastic results for you. Good Luck!

-Dennis

anyone add me in his/her msn to exchange clarinet info... thx