Some practice tips for students

getjamming · Apr 10, 2014

Hi all,
I thought I would share a few elementary practice tips I use with my students.
Hopefully you may find some ideas useful.

http://getjammingbooks.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/practise-tips.html

jbtsax · Apr 10, 2014

Very well thought out advice. A few other ideas I use with my students in addition to your excellent suggestions are to use a La Voz reed guard to store the reed while it dries on its own, and to practice tonguing on a single note using a metronome as part of a "warm up".

getjamming · Apr 11, 2014

Thanks jbtsax
Can't agree more - the la voz Reed guard is a must have.
Your warm up exercise is a great idea.

Dave McLaughlin · Apr 11, 2014

jbtsax said:
Very well thought out advice. A few other ideas I use with my students in addition to your excellent suggestions are to use a La Voz reed guard to store the reed while it dries on its own, and to practice tonguing on a single note using a metronome as part of a "warm up".

getjamming said:
Thanks jbtsax
Can't agree more - the la voz Reed guard is a must have.
Your warm up exercise is a great idea.

I use one that holds ten assorted tenor, alto and clarinet reeds (though I could see the sense in having a separate case in each instrument case). The face of the reed sits against a ribbed surface that allows it to dry out.

jbtsax · Apr 11, 2014

Dave McLaughlin said:
I use one of these. It holds ten assorted tenor, alto and clarinet reeds (though I could see the sense in having a separate case in each instrument case). The face of the reed sits against a ribbed surface that allows it to dry out.

To me the advantage of the LaVoz (Rico) design is that it presses the end of the reed flat as it is stored and doesn't allow the tip to get wavy. My system for wetting a reed is to take it out of the Reed Guard, place it in my mouth for a few seconds, and then return it to the Reed Guard while I assemble the instrument. In the time it takes to assemble the instrument, the reed has absorbed the ideal amount of moisture, has a very straight tip and is ready to be put on the mouthpiece and played. This is especially useful if one is setting up several instruments at a gig.