Mrs. Pino's Music Classes: Clarinet Blog Post

Online

Hottest Clarinetist of the decade

When’s the last time you heard a musician slap you in the face with not their hands, but their soothing music? Been a long time huh? For you music fanatics, we have the perfect musician for you. I have searched every corner of the U.S to find the perfect musician for your ears… ClANAnett- or Ana- is a 20-year-old clarinetist from Iowa.

I discovered her YouTube channel two months ago and was blown out of the water by her originals and her covers. A fan favorite is the covers she does every week. She has done everything from Problem by Arianna Grande to All of Me by John Legend. She’s not bad at what she does either… On Saturday, I analyzed a few of her covers and made a few pointers about how she did…

Shake It Off by. Taylor Swift	Ø Straight Posture Ø Quick Finger Movement Ø Stays On Beat Ø Uses Articulations Ø Many Whole Notes
Rolling In The Deep by. Adele	Ø Very nice slurs Ø Breathes between notes Ø No squeaking Ø Many Counter Melodies Ø Melody Ø Plays Forte
All Of Me by. John Legend	Ø Many natural notes Ø Tempo is Andante Ø Melody Ø Mezzo forte Ø No rests Ø Pitch varies from high to low

I also interviewed her about her tips for beginner clarinetist out there in America. I wrote every tip down and asked her a few questions about her music and her tips and her experiences. She gave me solid advice considering that I, myself, am a beginner clarinetist and only want to be as successful as she is today…

Reeds:

Do NOT bite on your reeds… try to get rid of the habit as quickly as possible because it not good for your reeds and your music.

ü Chipped reeds make playing some notes harder. It can also make your sound quality sound worse.

ü Get into the habit of switching out your reeds daily (Day 1- reed #1, Day 2- reed #2… etc.)

ü Wet reed for about 10 seconds. (Water, Saliva)

ü Recommend starting off with ½ reeds, then building your way up.

ü Avoid eating candy and or anything sugary… or just all foods in general. (Can get inside of your clarinet and deteriorate the inside)

Tuning:

ü Pull out barrel when a sharp sound plays. (Loosen lips)

ü Bite or put pressure on your mouth piece. (Not reed)

ü Relax your mouth, but not too much!

ü If your sound is flat, push in barrel

Breathing:

ü Breathe in from diaphragm (Stomach should expand, not your shoulders)

ü Breathe through mouth.

ü Your shoulders shouldn’t go up when you inhale.

Scales:

ü Know your scales around high school year (chromatic scale)

· “Nothing ruins a song more than when someone plays the wrong note…”

· “I feel like if you do not clean the spit out of your clarinet, the spit will deteriorate the inside like sugar.”

· Try not to puff your (beginners) cheek when you play… you have to build your cheek muscles”

These were just some of the things that I pulled from our meet. She is an extremely funny girl and is amazing and I recommend going to check her out!! She plays a lot of covers and even makes originals. If I had to give her a rate out of five stars…