clariNET secrets

Learn special effects on the clarinet including quarter-tones, multiphonics, slap tonguing, flutter tonguing, teeth-on-reed, vocal sounds, growing, whistling, lip buzzing, and much more!

This 11 minute movie produced by Michele Gingras, illustrates all the steps to achieve circular breathing on the clarinet.

Circular breathing is a technique used for different purposes throughout musical times. Middle Eastern double reed players produce a drone with continuous and uninterrupted airflow, and Scottish bagpipers use an air sack to store air to create a continuous sound.

Technically, circular breathing is the production of a continuous sound by using the cheeks as an air reservoir and breathing through the nose while the stored air is forced from the mouth into the instrument. In traditional repertoire, it is almost always possible to find a place to breathe, although some long virtuoso passages could be played with this technique. Circular breathing also produces spectacular effects in contemporary music.

Follow the instructions on this video, and you should be able to play this technique within a week or two.

Please note that Prof. Gingras uses the word "expulse" instead of "expel" in the video (too much French this summer!). This will be corrected in a future video.

Good luck!

Learn glissando technique (also called portamento).

Learn how to install your own neck-strap ring for under 1 dollar.

Learn a very quick and inexpensive way to balance reeds. The only thing needed is reed rush and your reed sitting on your mouthpiece!

Learn a new fingering that helps in making the clarinet feel more stable while playing C in the clarion register.

Learn proper Inhaling and Exhaling to enhance tone.

An interesting challenge on the clarinet is that although the little fingers are the smallest and relatively weakest fingers, they active the largest amount of keys. This exercise is the key to gain agility with both little fingers. This 8-minute film shows the steps to take to master Secret 22 (from my book "Clarinet Secrets" Scarecrow Press, 2004): The Little Finger Exercise.

Learn high register fingerings to simplify and perfect chromatic and diatonic scale patterns.

Learn how to play smoother intervals from fow to high registers by using the left index finger.