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James Ford: private lessons in Newburgh, Abernethy & Lindores, Fife Clarinet:This is a good instrument to learn. It can lead to the sax
if you wish, & if you learn the clarinet first, you’ll
be multi-talented. Clarinet / sax players can be quite sought after. But it stands
on it’s own as a great classical, jazz & klezmer instrument.
A clarinet is generally a bit cheaper too & comes in a nice
wee case you can carry without thinking about it - unlike a baritone
sax. A clarinet is quite quiet – so if you’ve got thin
walls, it’s better than a sax. |
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James on Clarinet: MP3-1 & MP3-9 in his own composition from a short film. James plays all instruments MP3/film page Faff with your lips! When you play you’re clarinet, there’s a lot you can do to the sound by tightening & particularly slackening your lips. Low notes in both registers are harder to do this with but a top C can be bent down to a G! That’s a hell of a lot of bending & depending on your musical tastes can be useful - & great fun to use. Of-course jazz is where it can be used to it’s best. |
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Something else they didn’t
tell me for too long: (maybe they didn't want me to have too much
fun). A clarinet has 3 registers That means
you play from the bottom note to the top note on register one –
then press a special thumb key & do it all over again for your
second register – .........
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Acker Bilk
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Bath! (not included as part of a lesson!) Once you can play a few nice clean notes on your instrument get the Radox out & crank the sounds up. Play so you can predominately hear the Hi-fi. This way you can relax & faff around with your instrument. Hopefully... you'll get sudden urges to play along... |
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Like singing in the bath, it just sounds great whatever you play…. well almost. You may wreck your instrument eventually, but the value of being able to play it well could be higher than keeping it nice & shiny. I tend to buy a new (second hand) clarinet every 3-4 years as the springs rust & pads swell up. If you dry it properly, oil the springs & use a ‘pad saver’ (a fluffy stick you shove up the inside) after your bath, it’ll last a lot longer. Click on the tap for more info... |
| James:
This was my first instrument & remains one I’m most comfortable with. It’s where ‘it’ all started! It’s one of the few instruments I have consistently ‘practiced’ after discovering the pleasures of playing it in the bath - which is just incredible fun! In the years up to 2006 it has been the most versatile & played instrument with the outfit Floozie Soo. This is a wee jazzy trio & somehow the haunting quality & purity of sound of a clarinet gives it the edge over the saxophone which can be too dominant.James took grade 8 on the clarinet at the age of 16 |
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| HOME | Weavers Hall, Bank Close, Newburgh, Fife |
email: james
mobile: 07970 744986 |
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