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Post by Zi on Jan 26, 2023 11:26:51 GMT
I've said elsewhere that I'm learning the clarinet this year. I'm doing no more than 20 minutes a day partly because 20 minutes of me on the clarinet is enough for anyone - the villagers might appear with pitchforks - partly because after 20 minutes I begin to ache and vibrate but mostly because I'm curious how far I can get in 20 minutes a day. I have a vague goal of being able to play carols in a jazzy style by Christmas. If I don't achieve it this Christmas I'll head for 2024 or 5 or 6! Anyone else care to join? You know - all those instruments in that cupboard - the bassoon you always thought you'd play, the serpent you bought for a laugh, the accordion - yes that one! Why not dust them off and tell us how far you get? Daily/weekly/monthly/yearly reports all welcome!
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Post by keff on Jan 26, 2023 12:13:46 GMT
I am going to give myself a week and between ten and twenty minutes per day to see if learning violin is viable. Any advice from violin players is most welcome.
I have always had an inkling about learning trumpet or cornet but I doubt these days if I have the puff and other half says if I get a trumpet I'm practising in the shed.
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Post by evergreen on Jan 26, 2023 13:09:54 GMT
Ponders. Shall I dust off my clarinet, or will it mean less practice on the piano. Hmmmm. Goes off to ponder some more...
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Post by keff on Jan 27, 2023 9:25:37 GMT
I had been playing table tennis yesterday afternoon so came home tired and was wondering if I would get in my 10-20 mins on the violin. I did indeed and turned the page in the Eta Cohen book 1 violin tutor to find Twinkle Little Star in D. Five more days of seven remaining to prove viability...perhaps I will just practise Twinkle and in five days record and post the results. What do you think?
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Post by Zi on Jan 27, 2023 10:14:17 GMT
It would be brilliant. I will try (very hard) to find some courage to post me accompanying our collie who has an avant-garde attitude to music and especially harmonics. I don't think I've reached the lofty heights of Twinkle Twinkle yet... I had a go at adding three more notes yesterday to give me a complete octave but it was a disaster on so many levels. One of them being that the lower notes cause our collie to demonstrate that as well as reaching soprano she can do bass. You have no idea how bad this beginner on a clarinet sounds when accompanying a dog. Actually, this beginner is bad playing solo! edited to add - re trumpet - I'd love to have ago at a brass instrument. I have Peter Gammond's Bluffer's Guide To Music (if you know those guides - hilarious!) He said something about if a French Horn was straightened out it wouldn't fit on a bus but he says you mustn't do that because it is an expensive instrument. Every since then, I've always wanted to have a go at one!
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Post by keff on Jan 27, 2023 10:37:10 GMT
I have an idea how difficult a clarinet is to play as a friend brought one around to our house and I couldn't get a squeak out of it.
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Post by Zi on Jan 27, 2023 11:49:19 GMT
Squeaks I can do - it's the thing more challenging than squeaks that's the problem. It's about concentrating air through the reed so far as I can make out and you need to work out just how much mouthpiece to get in your mouth. I find tonguing the clarinet really difficult - I'm pretty sure I'd be accused of huffing. I had two nasty accidents over the last few years. One I tripped over the lead to an electric blanket and bent a couple of fingers back on my right hand. They've never totally recovered. The other even more serious was I tripped(?) when mowing the 'lawn' - it was up a steep slope and I damaged my left wrist. I couldn't move it or use it for ages. It was during Covid lockdown or it would have been a hospital job. Anyway, strangely that healed rather more successfully but it means my hands aren't as strong as they were... being 70 this year probably doesn't help. So, I get tired holding the clarinet. I've tried resting it on my knee but I think I have a strange mouth to knee ratio or something because it's not entirely successful. I have a sling but it's worse than a dog halti for trying to understand the topography. I gave up on the dog halti because the dog understands it better than I do and aims her nose in the right direction if ever I need to use it. Sadly, she isn't interested in figuring out the clarinet sling thing for me so it languishes. I'm extremely good proof that humans don't like manuals so rather than try to figure out the one I have, I'm really tempted to buy one I understand before it arrives. I bought this one when I bought the clarinet and had no idea that there were different sorts. Pavane is the clarinet expert and he's helped me a lot. I bought the clarinet around about the time I had the serious accident so never played it. I didn't play the recorders for a year either because of my accident - I started them again just before Christmas on and off but seriously in January. Why I think it's a good idea to restart the descant recorder, learn the treble recorder and the clarinet all at once I have no idea as I'm not exactly naturally gifted musically... In fact, out of all the art things I do, playing musical instruments is definitely the worst! I'm in the 'tries hard' but has 'no natural ability' group! But I do find it interesting and it's fun.
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Post by Zi on Jan 27, 2023 12:16:42 GMT
Ponders. Shall I dust off my clarinet, or will it mean less practice on the piano. Hmmmm. Goes off to ponder some more...
Have you found a duster?
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Post by keff on Jan 28, 2023 8:07:44 GMT
Sorry to hear about your injuries Zi. The worst I have had, touch wood, is spinal age degradation which left the forefinger of my right hand slightly numb. That was twenty years ago but as you may know nerve damage takes a very long time to heal. I can still feel a little numbness although it has almost gone.
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Post by Zi on Jan 28, 2023 9:18:36 GMT
Sorry to hear about your injuries Zi. The worst I have had, touch wood, is spinal age degradation which left the forefinger of my right hand slightly numb. That was twenty years ago but as you may know nerve damage takes a very long time to heal. I can still feel a little numbness although it has almost gone. Yes - it does! I have residual neuropathy from chemo which makes me a tad clumsy - hence the falls. I can use all these excuses for playing the clarinet badly! How is the violin coming along? I skipped ahead to find how soon I can play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - and it's a while yet. It needs a higher A which is really awkward to play. I am reducing my expectations to one octave so I don't get all disappointed in me! The good news is that I figured out the harness though the clips which attach to a waistband are so strong I can't open and close them so my husband has to help. It takes about 5 minutes to get me ready to play - then there's the clarinet to assemble. I can't play longer than 15 minutes without my thumb hurting and then I need help to undo the clips; and I disassemble the clarinet. It is not a good instrument for impatient people like me! Next instrument I learn to play will be something that's ready to go. Tambourine challenge maybe?
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Post by keff on Jan 28, 2023 9:37:26 GMT
I managed about twenty minutes on the violin yesterday and am hoping to record on either Tuesday, after practice or before any practice on Wednesday. I am aiming for a one take recording warts and all without any nervousness because the expectation will be to play wrong notes. My version of the tune starts on the D next to piano middle C.
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Post by pavane on Jan 28, 2023 11:30:33 GMT
Pavane is the clarinet expert and he's helped me a lot. I thought I'd start by saying thank you for the kind words but I would like to point out that "expert" is a relative term, and in this context should be read in the "one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind" sense - I'm only an expert inasmuch as I've watched more youtube videos about clarinet than Zi has. I can't actually play the wretched instrument. A propos a trying-something-completely-different challenge, I think that would be fun, but for me there would be some genuine problems to overcome. One would be that almost anything I've ever thought "it might be good to play that" I have actually tried already. Another would be that I don't have a dusty old bassoon, unfortunately. There was an accordian in the loft but we gave it away to a local school recently, and I'm not buying another one. The room I (try to) play in isn't very large so bass vibraphone is probably out of the question. Finally, Mrs Pavane is very understanding about the racket I make with the recorder and clarinet so I don't want to trespass on her goodwill too much. Somewhere in the house there is a pair of clapsticks but hard to imagine those going down well. Any suggestions for small instruments that don't cost much and don't make much noise??
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Post by Zi on Jan 28, 2023 15:04:29 GMT
Any suggestions for small instruments that don't cost much and don't make much noise?? I'm really hoping other people will suggest something, Pavane. I know how much you want to join in but in the meantime I suggest the penny whistle. Readily available - I bet you have one or two knocking about the house. If you don't then they're cheap and small and you can look for a quieter model or buy Mrs P some ear protectors. I even have a suggestion as to which piece of music I think you should aim for and it's this. Perfect!
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Post by pavane on Jan 28, 2023 18:27:45 GMT
I suppose I could transcribe it for whistle
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Post by keff on Jan 28, 2023 21:43:18 GMT
Harmonica perhaps but even those are unlikely to come cheaply.
Edit. Gear4Music sell a plastic trumpet mouth piece for £6ish so a slightly different challenge would be make a trumpet from said mouthpiece, a length of hosepipe and a plastic filter funnel. Could be a challenge I might be interested in myself!
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