How to Learn Clarinet at Home by Yourself
The clarinet can be found in a number of different genres of music including classical, orchestral and jazz. This member of the wind family of instruments produces a unique sound. The sound is generated by blowing into the mouthpiece which in turn vibrates a piece of material inside known as the reed.
Learning to play the clarinet can be accomplished in a number of ways today. In this article, we will be discussing five of the most popular methods today. The one thing that all of them have in common is that they all use one or more of today’s advanced technologies in order to make them much more convenient. Below you will find some details about each of the five top methods for learning how to play the clarinet on your own. We also included some helpful tips that we hope that you can.
5 Methods on How to Learn Clarinet at Home by Yourself
1) One on One Online Tutoring
One on one tutoring is one of the most preferred ways to learn how to play a musical instrument such as the clarinet. One reason why is because it is far more convenient today thanks to technology. Unlike in the past when you had to go to a tutor’s place or they would come to you, online tutoring uses digital communications such as Skype and Apple’s Facetime. This means you can work with a tutor who just might be halfway around the world. Unfortunately, this is likely the most expensive since you will have to negotiate the price with each individual tutor.
2) Digital Instructional Guides
For many years people would either have to pay a music instructor to teach them how to play a musical instrument or find an instruction book that had pictures, diagrams, and sheet music if they wanted to learn how to play an instrument like the clarinet. Today, thanks to advanced digital technology you can go online and download a digital e-book of the same type of guidebook that covers how to learn to play the clarinet without having to leave your house.
ArtistWorks.com is a website with an extensive library of music lessons on video from hundreds of the top musicians in the world. The founder of ArtistWorks is constantly recruiting more musicians who play a wide range of musical instruments. One of those musicians is Ricardo Morales and he happens to be a very well-known and very respected clarinet player. He has made hundreds of lessons on video and as a member of ArtistWorks, you will have full access to them.
4) Udemy Clarinet Online Lessons
Udemy is an online website that was created to offer training courses that cover a wide range of topics that includes how to learn how to place the clarinet. Udemy is set up like a university in that you order and pay for any course. Each of the courses is made up of lessons on video and as a paid student you will have full access to all of the course material. As long as you have a reliable Internet connection you can access the lessons.
5) How-To Videos of Playing the Clarinet Online
By far the cheapest and easiest ways to learn how to do most anything that you have ever wanted to do is “How-To” videos. The most popular of all places to go to find videos like this is a website called YouTube.com. With billions of video clips made by ordinary people who are looking to help others do things, they are able to do for themselves. By simply typing “playing the clarinet” you will likely find hundreds if not thousands of easy to watch and follow video clips showing you how to play.
8 Tips for playing better Clarinet
- More air is better
Since the clarinet is a member of the wind family of instruments the sound that comes out of it directly related to the air that is introduced into. This means that if you are wanting to be sure that you are getting the best sound possible you want to be sure that you are blowing as much air as possible into the mouthpiece.
- Proper mouthing is important
The sound of the clarinet is produced from the vibrating of the reed in the mouthpiece. The proper placement of your mouth on the mouthpiece has a direct impact on the way that the sound is produced by the clarinet. When first learning to play it is recommended that you use a piece of tape on the mouthpiece to ensure proper placement.
- Don’t bite too hard
While mouthing the mouthpiece is very important, having the right amount of teeth pressure on the mouthpiece is equally important. Since the sound that is produced by the clarinet is directly related to the vibration of the reed in the mouthpiece too much pressure on the outside when biting onto the mouthpiece will directly affect the quality of the sound coming out.
- Holding your instrument properly is important
Being careful that you are holding the clarinet is a good position will go along ways in helping you produce the highest quality sound. Holding the clarinet too far away or too close to your body will have a marked effect on the vibration of the reed that produces the sound. It is highly recommended by many people who play the clarinet to use a 45-degree angle away from your body as a guideline.
- Using the proper reed is important
The reed is one of the most important parts of the clarinet as the sound is created by the vibrating of the reed material. The material used to make the reed will lead directly to whether you have a soft or hard reed. You should determine which of the two that works best for you in order to be sure that you get the best results from your playing.
- Use proper embouchure
It is very important to ensure that you use the proper embouchure (alignment of the lips, facial muscles, and jawbones) when it comes to playing any wind instrument like the clarinet. When you are first starting out you should use a mirror to ensure that you are using the correct embouchure while playing.
- Avoid a heavy tongue
The positioning of your tongue is equally important as it can easily affect the quality of vibration being produced from the reed. By pressing your tongue onto the reed at specific times you can control the start and end of the sound that you are making. Using a unique method (making a tee, tee, tee) sound will make it easier to control the vibration of the reed.
- Relax your throat
To ensure that you are blowing the right amount of air into the mouthpiece of the clarinet you need to be sure that your throat is both relaxed and in the correct position. By keeping your throat in its most relaxed state you will be sure that you are producing the most amount of air and to ensure that it can be directed into the mouthpiece of the clarinet.
Steps to Self-Taught Clarinet
Today’s advanced digital technology has made learning how to play any musical instrument like the clarinet so much easier and in some cases cheaper. For this article, we did quite a bit of extensive research in order to find some valuable information covering both learning how to play and some tips on how to play better. We hope that all of the information that we have included in this article was useful for you. We further hope that it was easy enough for you to read and understand.