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Lilly Haley, D.M. Collaboration with colleagues is one of the most crucial aspects of cultivating musicianship, but traditional ensemble rehearsals are nearly impossible to replicate online. This time at home can be an opportunity to look for inspiration outside of the practice space. Researching the work of artists in other mediums is an effective tool for approaching our practice in more creative and rewarding ways.  jewishreviewofbooks.com Arnold Shoenberg, one of the fathers of atonal composition methods, was also an avid painter. He is pictured here with some of his self-portraits. Schoenberg shared a close relationship with painter Wassily Kandisnky, as each found meaning in the other's work that they strove to produce in their own mediums. Striving to sustain my motivation in the current climate of self-isolation, I thought back to a paper I wrote several years ago comparing a painting by Wassily Kandinsky and Pierre Boulez’s Éclat for orchestra. Looking at the score of Éclat as someone unfamiliar with Boulez’s compositional language, you really don’t even know where to begin. Odd symbols, disparate chunks of music, and performance notes (in French) litter the page, and there is no discernable road map. The element of chance is an important component, so it never sounds the same way twice, making the score even more difficult to follow.  Paul Klee "Red Balloon" wikiart.org It wasn’t until my music theory professor took the class to the art department for a lecture on Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, two influential abstract painters, that Boulez started to make any sense to me. I started to think about the music in the abstract—in gestures, velocity, and contrast—and considered how those elements could translate visually to Kandinsky’s painting. The relationships between visual space and silence, articulation and use of line, intensity of color saturation and musical dynamics, shape and tempo, all enhanced the effect of both the painting and the composition to the extent that it seemed to me one could not exist independently of the other: Six black lines run from the bottom left corner to the center of the painting. If the viewer imagines that these lines were not actually lines but a three dimensional shape, they begin to take on the form of a piano, and towards the center the first four lines from the left are cut off by a dark blue shape which looks like the arms of a pianist playing at the low end of the keyboard. This is quite a dramatic angle and viewpoint from which to observe the pianist, and the eyes seem to accelerate down the keyboard and collide with the figure just as Boulez’s opening piano cadenza crescendos and accelerates into Figure 1 where the other instruments begin their trills.  Wassily Kandinsky "Improvisation 26" wikiart.org Try encouraging students to explore these types of relationships in their repertoire, or even incorporate some of their own creative outlets into their approach to music making. Inspiration can come from paintings, sculpture, fiber arts, science, photography, cooking, other genres of music, literature, anywhere! I have found these endeavors to be an excellent method of clearing out the musical autopilot areas of my brain and re-engaging them to produce art, not just notes. This video is a documentary which includes interviews and a performance of Éclat with Boulez coaching the players. At minute 29:00 Boulez discusses inspiration he gleaned from the painter Paul Klee. We'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below to share your experiences with these ideas, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
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 Online lessons can be difficult, so why not take this time to experiment with some new and creative approaches to fostering musicianship in your students? During my treatise research into aspects of jazz pedagogy that can be adapted for classical lessons, I was introduced to methods that address aural skills, improvisation, and more. I’ve compiled some exercises here that may be fun to try with your students and that work for varying ability levels. They are organized into categories of patterns, improvisation, and aural skills. Sources from which the exercises were taken are included where appropriate. Read to the end for an interview with Jeffrey Agrell, professional horn player and author of nine books on turning improvisation into a game-based approach for classical musicians. Contact me directly if you have success with these exercises and would like a copy of my research! -Lilly Haley, D.M. patterns and matching pitchChoose one octave of a scale. Alternate playing and singing each note of the scale: sing “do,” play “re,” sing “mi” etc. Nicole Brockmann, From Sight to Sound: Improvisational Games for Classical Musicians, 27. Students practice patterns with more areas of their brain engaged. Singing helps them to internalize the pitches and understand voicing, and muscle memory is built as the fingers must follow along during the sung notes. For students who have a particularly difficult time memorizing scale patterns, this exercise provides a different and, for some people, more efficient approach than unfocused repetition. Play technical patterns or exercises for students and vary the articulation pattern, rhythmic grouping, or other musical element. Have the student repeat the pattern with the varied element. (Klug suggests focusing on only one element per lesson). Howard Klug, Professor of Clarinet at Indiana University. Students become familiar with how to listen for and respond to elements other than melody. They also become more comfortable with awkward or uncommon iterations of these elements, such as a tongue-two-slur-two articulation pattern.  Practice matching pitches. Begin by playing one note at a time for the student and gradually lengthen the pattern as they correctly match the pitches. Have the student focus on listening for the tone and timbre of your note and try to blend within your sound. Jerry Coker, Improvising Jazz, 37. Matching the pitch of another person who is playing the same instrument helps students develop a sense of relative pitch and the ability to associate individual timbres with notes on their instrument. Enhancing this relationship between kinesthetic awareness and aural skills that is essential to jazz improvisers benefits classical students because of the connection it fosters between multiple senses. The ability to blend with another player is crucial to success in any ensemble setting from a duet to learning to play second parts in orchestra to being a member of a large section within a band. This is also a great exercise for practical application of interval identification. improvisationCreate improvisations based on environmental inspiration. Examples include aural stimuli such as mechanical humming or buzzing, sounds produced by nature, people, or wildlife; visual stimuli such as color, shapes, movement, light and shadow; and emotional stimuli based on the mood or ambiance of the environment. The student learns to be an active observer and instills the habit of maintaining awareness of all parts when playing with others, regardless of the size of the ensemble. The student will also learn to react rather than passively observe (or overlook) what is going on around them.  "Improvisation 28 (second version)" by Wassily Kandinsky, from Guggenheim.org Record a vocal improvisation, periodically leaving long spaces in the music. Play along with the recording and fill in the rests with instrumental improvisations to complement the vocal ones. (This can also be accomplished by having the teacher and student trade phrases in a live setting). Eugene Friesen, Improvisation for Classical Musicians, 5. Classical students spend a great deal of time practicing and learning music alone. This exercise is an opportunity for them to create meaningful musical dialogue and practice reacting to an external stimulus when there are no other people around to provide those factors. The exercise also trains students to listen carefully to other parts when they are playing with piano or in an ensemble and to consider their own line as a relationship with those voices rather than as solo and accompaniment.  From Scribie Blog by Rajiv Poddar May 11, 2011 Choose a melody from a piece or etude on which the student is currently working. Play the melody in unison until both players have memorized it. One person continues to play the melody while the second player improvises a countermelody around it. Eventually, begin to add ornamentation and rhythmic freedom to the main melody. Jeffrey Agrell, Improvisation Duets for Classical Musicians, 15. Ornamenting a familiar melody is less intimidating for many students than improvising their own, and this can be an effective exercise to ease them into creating their own music. The freedom to manipulate the main melody also invites more dialogue with the countermelody improviser. aural skills - auditory before visualTranscribe solo pieces by ear and learn them directly on the instrument rather than notating them on paper or looking at sheet music first. Begin with slow, simple passages and progress to more difficult solos. Jerry Coker, Improvising Jazz, 37. While classical players’ standard repertoire is already written out and their study involves preservation and authenticity of multiple styles, transcribing recordings of pieces is just as advantageous to classical musicians as to disciples of jazz. The goal at first is not to make innovations to the music, but rather reinforce the kinesthetic-aural relationship described in previous exercises. In addition, learning a piece by ear provides the student a strong mental model (as opposed to only the visual representation of sheet music) with which to compare their own progress. They can efficiently learn to manipulate tone color, be flexible with time, use emphasis, dynamic range, articulation and air to craft a meaningful phrase using the aural models provided by recordings. Print out several blank copies of a passage from a standard piece. These copies should be devoid of dynamic, articulation, phrasing, and other markings. Listen to different recordings and transcribe these elements into the parts. Students actively compare the interpretations of different players. Usually performers are reacting to a visual stimulus (printed music) by producing an aural stimulus (making a crescendo, accent, etc.). This exercise encourages the opposite: assigning a visual representation to an auditory stimulus. Here are my top six unaccompanied solos for this period of self-isolation. I'm revisiting a few old favorites and taking on some new challenges! Lilly Haley, D.M.  Dancing Solo - Libby Larsen I've spent a lot of time with this one in the past, but it's so rewarding to listen back to my masterclass recordings with Larsen and keep trying to pull out new characters and contrasts, toying with the concept of dancing alone. Watch the masterclass performance below to gain an insight into the composer's intentions. Gryphon - Theresa Martin I was recently introduced to this composer's music, and I'm hooked! This piece is so dynamic, exciting to listen to, and provides some much needed exercise in extended techniques. The Moon in My Window - Eric Mandat It is always a pleasure to talk with Dr. Mandat both personally and musically. I was completely enchanted by this piece when I heard him perform it live, and had to add it to my library. Striving to inhabit the imagination of a child during this time is a perfect isolation exercise! Three Studies in Flight - Russell Riepe This is close to the top of my list of favorite pieces to play. It highlights the incredible versatility of the clarinet, and never fails to bring me joy. A Tune from Childhood - Bright Sheng Adapted by the composer from "Concertino for Clarinet and String Quartet," this short solo is a musical gold mine. With a calm, Stravinsky-esque introduction transitioning into a fiery middle section and back in just a few minutes, this piece captures so many of the clarinet's best qualities. Gra - Elliott Carter A fantastic exercise in rhythmic precision, it is just plain fun to play. The title means "game" in Polish, a concept evident in the dynamic and register acrobatics that permeate the piece. Performance at Florida State University College of Music, International Women's Day 2018  Aloha,
Like most of you, we are spending a lot more time at home as we deal with the current global pandemic. Although we will be staying in Hawai'i during this time of social distancing, we are committed to growing our clarinet 'ohana (family) through this blog. As a clarinet couple with a background in clarinet performance, education, and manufacturing, we will be sharing our love for and knowledge of all things clarinet. Please join us on this journey as we release articles and videos that we think will be helpful, wether you are an amateur student, professional player, or just a life-long clarinet lover. Subscribe to our newsletter using the box on this page to receive occasional blog updates, promotions, and news on innovative clarinet products. Mahalo Lilly and Brian |