Do I HAVE to play scales??
We got an email that I passed along to Katherine to answer — seemed like the right person for the job, since she is a seasoned middle- and high-school music teacher. So, without further ado, here's the exchange with someone who wrote in about one of the more tedious parts of learning the clarinet: SCALES!
Dear Michael, I was wondering if you'd be able to make a video on how to practice – specifically how to improve but not have to keep practicing scales for 5 years.
And Katherine's response:
Dear Benn,
Michael and I received your email and we can certainly sympathize!
What grade are you in?
So, here’s the thing. You have to play your scales, period, end of story, forever, as long as you play the clarinet.
BUT… there are lots of different books for them and some are less annoying than others!
For young students, we do NOT recommend jumping right into the Baermann Book 3. That is a lot.
Try Paula Beck Corley’s Book Daily Workouts for Clarinet.This book has all the warm-ups that a middle or high school student would need as you begin the process of getting serious about playing. There are several pages of Long Tones by three masters of old school clarinet teaching (including two that were my teachers). Do one or two lines of each page a day, and do them SLOWLY.
Then come the scales and exercises. I start my students with a "Key of the Week," and we go in order through the book. As they get better, we turn that into a key of the day. Once they’re good at that we move on to a more complex scale book.
As you get started, don’t try to do too much at once. Do the long tones, and go to C Major. It has a lot of explanations. READ THEM. Then do two or three exercises to start. As you get used to it, add a little more. If your practice time is 30 minutes a day, spend 10 on Warmups, 10 on band music for school, and 10 on fun stuff for you!
I hope this helps and wish you a very Happy New Year and productive practicing!
-Katherine