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James At the Eastgate Theatre, Peebles October 2005 |
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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.
If you start on the sax, you’ll probably never learn the clarinet
because it is trickier.
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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Sax
or clarinet?
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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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Using the lips you can do ‘vibrato’ on your clarinet
like an opera singer. Wavering the note up & down
It adds interest
whilst you simply hold a single note. Dinny do it all the
time – like the Leslie on a Hammond Organ, (the spinning
speaker) the best bit is when it’s coming in or when
it’s disappearing. It’s the transition between
clean note & wavering vibrato that’s so wonderful.
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Acker Bilk uses a technique like vibrato which sounds like wavering – but is in fact a wavering of volume, not pitch. Using your lips for vibrato alters the pitch but Acker alters the speed & pressure of the air entering the instrument so it pulsates. This technique is more commonly used with great effect on the flute.
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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 – .........
but
take your first finger away & you have your third register
giving you almost another octave. This gives the clarinet one
of the biggest ranges in the orchestra. |
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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... |
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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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Weavers Hall, Bank Close, Newburgh, Fife
KY14 6EG
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email: james
mobile: 07970 744986
landline:01337 842434 |
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