Low Register Speed Challenge: Week Two!
Hi everyone, Heather here :)
Welcome to Week Two of our Low Register Speed Challenge!
This week we are working on Exercises 3 and 4 from our PDF. You might now be getting a better sense of what starting metronome marking works best for you when learning one of these exercises.
Please (unless you use your phone as your metronome) keep your metronome on when you post your videos - and share with us what metronome marking you started at and where you got to so that we can all cheer you on :)
Exercise 3:
- Definitely good to start with a metronome mark that marks the 8th notes rather than the quarter notes - something like 100 to start, really focus on the connection between the notes as possible as the leaps are quite wide in that low register.
- Galper helpfully lets you know which pinky fingers to use, which will be necessary unless you have a left hand G# (which not all clarinets have!)
Exercise 4:
- Watch out for those D#s coming back across the bar!
- It might be helpful to isolate bars 1-2 and 5-6 - and then bar 8 - otherwise this exercise has some repetitions in the second line which will hopefully help you to get into a nice flow with your practicing... and your speeeeeed.
Please post your videos by Sunday for feedback and so that we can come back and admire them at the end of week four!
10 replies
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Welcome to the community, ! If you'd like to jump in and join us on a challenge, you'd be very welcome to start with Week Two of the Low Register Speed Challenge :)
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Here’s my not very sensitive “let’s get this party started” pair of early/week recordings. #3 is a plodding 60; #4 is at 72. I was thinking more about air than fingers (and it shows).
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Once again, I’m using these exercises as a “reacquainting my fingers with key locations on E flat” game. Today, I put the metronome on 8th note counts to see if that helps. (Hmm.) Exercise 3 is at 66 to the quarter, 132 to the eighth; exercise 4 is at 69/138.
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Hi Heather, Sorry I'm late to check in with week one Low R speed. Its been a great challenge on exercises 1 & 2. Although I'm a little disappointed with not achieving huge speed gains, I have increased ex 1 by 5 clicks and ex 2 by 35 clicks. I will continue to work these and add ex 3 & 4 this week. Thanks for your encouragement to give it a go.
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Back on B flat again, now that the E flat antics have subsided. Both etudes are at 76 to the quarter today, and I’m really noticing how much air support affects steadiness: if I keep my air consistent, my fingers can do the work!
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Thanks for the encouragement Heater re small changes. I have to keep reminding myself that it is the learning journey that matters and any increase in speed, (or not) is still learning. For me I find that just becoming more fluent and error free at the same speed for a week is improvement. Once I have the familiarity and fluency, I can then build speed but it takes longer than a two week period of time for me. I'm keen to move onto new exercises each fortnight for the sight reading experience and finger dexterity, and then continuing to build speed over them all as I incorporate them into my warm up sessions. Thank you for the time and passion you put into your role at Tone base, from someone from the other side of the world, I am enjoying the teaching very much.