I'll be a clarinet performer soon ;-)

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

Overblowing and "quick" (quick is relative;)) changes between e.g. a' and c''. Still a problem, but again realized I don't need to put my fingers somewhere into the air, but better keep them close to the holes. Asked for a new piece to play, and he gave me Sibelius - Finlandia (the victorious melody in the end which also became national anthem of some African state).
Hmm, the orchestral piece starts d'-c'-d'-d#'... which is easy to play as a whole, but eek I have to play it h''-a'-h''-c'' so a lot of register changes - demanding. Not sure btw. if you english spesking folks say "h" to that specific note.

Had a lot of fun playing the clarinet to my favorite rendition of the piece, which is Rozhdestvensky with London SO.

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

Easy to play: RVW - Tallis. But breathing is a problem here due to loong notes...

[Karl Henning]

Is it a clarinet choir transcription of the Fantasia?

When I was a mere slip of a clarinet student, the transcription which was the great challenge to breathing (because, a transcription of a string piece, like the RVW) was the Barber Adagio.

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

No, no sheet music, no transcription. My favourite Tallis Fantasia (Judd/New Zealand SO) CD playback accompanied by me (the Tallis melody part of it). I tried to play exactly after the main strings lines. Breathing is something I still have to do more "organized", I'm simply not focused on that currently. Well I'll try the Barber Adagio for strings, thx for the hint.
In my clarinet lessons we're currently playing Finlandia and some Christmas songs. At home, if I'm sick of those, I just crawl through my favourite classical music and try to play the melodies after it. They shouldn't be too fast in general and register changes are still very difficult, a matter of "search+cover holes".

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

but eek I have to play it h''-a'-h''-c'' so a lot of register changes - demanding. Not sure btw. if you english spesking folks say "h" to that specific note.

"In parts of Europe, including Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Norway, Finland, and Russia, the natural symbol transformed into the letter H (possibly for hart, German for hard): in German music notation, H is B♮ (B-natural) and B is B♭ (B-flat). Occasionally, music written in German for international use will use H for B-natural and Bb for B-flat (with a modern-script lowercase b instead of a flat sign). Since a Bes or B♭ in Northern Europe (i.e. a B elsewhere) is both rare and unorthodox (more likely to be expressed as Heses), it is generally clear what this notation means."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

"In parts of Europe, including Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Norway, Finland, and Russia, the natural symbol transformed into the letter H (possibly for hart, German for hard): in German music notation, H is B♮ (B-natural) and B is B♭ (B-flat). Occasionally, music written in German for international use will use H for B-natural and Bb for B-flat (with a modern-script lowercase b instead of a flat sign). Since a Bes or B♭ in Northern Europe (i.e. a B elsewhere) is both rare and unorthodox (more likely to be expressed as Heses), it is generally clear what this notation means."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note

Thanks. BTW in sheet music, they use # for the sharp and ♭ for the flat notes - is this just a convention, or does ♭ stand for "below" here?

And: Why do I own a B♭ clarinet? What makes it B♭?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

It's all to be found on Wikipedia: 1. Clarinet, 2. Flat (music) and 3. Sharp (music)....

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

[2011-12-22]
We played christmas songs directly from sheet (partly unknown songs for me!), which worked pretty well. Register change works better now.. not perfect, but better. For whatever reason I'm often confusing c' and b' and need to hold my left hand a bit differently in order to easier cover all holes. Christmas I'll play christmas songs with the clarinet at home while the others sing - Everything will be far from perfection I'm sure, but hopefully fun.

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

[2012-02-02]
More emphasis on beinig correct in binding notes/staccato, also breathing at the appropriate time. Currently all that exceeds my concentration span when playing after sheet with not well known music.

Players!
The 2nd Bb (Bb'?) on a b clarinet -> http://www.mstm.de/Klarinette/aisb1.html - is that a problematic key to press? On two different clarinets, I realized if I play G-A-Bb-B-C then from G to Bb, with the same amount of breath, the Bb sound is very poor, and it gets better (free, louder) with B natural and C again. The Bb really is the poorest sounding key!

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

[2012-03-16]
A waltz with emphasis on which E' minor keys to press in different situations.

[mc ukrneal]

I really enjoy reading about your progress. I wish I could help you, but my saxophone experience is not exactly applicable.

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

I really enjoy reading about your progress.

BTW, my goal mentioned in the first posting ("playing a simple melody") of course is already achieved.
I think I'm gonna perform Autechre - Gantz Graf on the clarinet now. 

http://www.youtube.com/v/AyJfHU4GoOQ

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

Oh, I should write more. Still technical problems with tones b' and higher, I tend to often create high beeps or maybe press the reed too much...

Music: Oh, an easy Klezmer piece called Sameah Tesamach. Wasn't into that kind of music but I like the way the melodies are built. Nice mood, good fun to play.

[snyprrr]

I recently tried to make a sound on the clarinet for probably the first time. Wow is it hard! Every now and then I'd accidentally get it right and then I could flutter the keys blindly, but for the most part it was just a lot of pffft pffft, pffft pffft!! It wasn't a very good instrument, maybe better ones are easier?,... but this was real work.

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

Yes, beginning is hard  . You know that the reed must not be dry? If you learn the blowing technique, use the mouthpiece only because you avoid all 10000 other possible mistakes (not fully covered holes etc...)

[david johnson]

Oh, I should write more. Still technical problems with tones b' and higher, I tend to often create high beeps or maybe press the reed too much...

Music: Oh, an easy Klezmer piece called Sameah Tesamach. Wasn't into that kind of music but I like the way the melodies are built. Nice mood, good fun to play.

push the mouthpiece up firmly against your top teeth, keep the corners of your mouth firm, higher pitches can benefit from slightly more mouthpiece in the mouth, press fingertips over holes firmly

[snyprrr]

Yes, beginning is hard  . You know that the reed must not be dry? If you learn the blowing technique, use the mouthpiece only because you avoid all 10000 other possible mistakes (not fully covered holes etc...)

that could have been it.

what, only 1000 possible mistakes? piece o cake!!!

[North Star]

that could have been it.

what, only 1000 possible mistakes? piece o cake!!!

Don't try to make things look easier than they are. 10000 mistakes, not 1000 !!! 
But, it's still only 16 in decimal system, and a quite reasonable number.

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

Oh, important information, for the next ~10 sessions, I have a teacherette  , she's a music student completing an internship[1]. My clarinet teacher is mostly just sitting there in his complete wisdom, giving hints sporadically.
She already tortured me because she demands me to already close the three lower holes whenever I play F#', G', A', G#' or Bb' (when overblowing follows). So more one thing to take care of... that tortures my brain ... It's said to sound better and of course I'm better prepared for, say B', C'' etc...

[1] This is what http://www.dict.cc/ translates for me.

Don't try to make things look easier than they are. 10000 mistakes, not 1000 !!! 
But, it's still only 16 in decimal system, and a quite reasonable number.

Base 2? Nonono, when it comes to possible clarinet problems you at least need a decimal base in order to not get ultra long numbers.

[snyprrr]

So, the oboe is the easy one to play?