No. 10 -- J.S. Bach

This is another duet that I was given in class to work on. This is a very easy piece of music in regard with the notes, but the problem is that it is fast and you dont have time to breathe. This duet has to be worked out slowly, playing it at the accurate speed, and placing breath marks were you consider where they should go, according to how much air you can hold in order to get a nice sound, and in order that it is enough time to pick up the rest of the notes you have left. In class we worked out some of the breath marks, but some are still to be placed. I think that this is the main issue of the song, because the notes are not hard, they stay in a register where im comfortable playing, and the notes are not varying that much. What I like is that the notes are in the same range, and that makes it easier to play because you can sort of know that suddenly its not going to make you go up another register. This song is not hard and its hard at the same time, I think that its not hard because the notes are very basic and the rhythms too, but at the same time its hard, because you really dont have many places were you can breathe, because the rhythm is too fasts and there are only eighth notes in most of the song. I think that I can work this song out if I sit one day and try to do it with dedication, not in a rush, thi shas to be worked out with patience. I know that it will probably sound a little rough when its worked out at first, because you need to get used to breathe short and not make the sound uneven. That is another problem, that you may have a lot of air at first and then at the end of a phrase you dont have enough air and it will sound terrible. I can work this out when I sit down with patience and dedication to do it. Maybe during the break, I will try to have the whole thing done by the end of the year.

Chamber Music

The book of Chamber music is a very good book, because it had short pieces of music, that are designed so that three clarinets play it. From this book the plan is to choose some songs and play them as a project for me in class. Over the past classes I have chosen some of the songs that i want to play from the book, which arent many, because some of them are not great in the first part of the clarinet, so I want it to be special to play and that it sounds nice. Here is a list of the ones Ive chosed:

• March from Partita in F from Faber.
• Minuet 1 from Partita in F from Faber.
• Allegro from Mozart.
• March from Fischer.
• Old German Dance which is traditional music.
• Sailor's Dance which is traditional music.
• Ecossaise from Hummel.
• Menuet from Trio No.3, Op.57, from Bouffil.

Those songs, I have played them once or twice with the help of my teacher just to see how they sounded, and if they were easy in every part. This songs are actually very easy, it has basic rhythms, they are not hard, and the notes are basic, they dont go up to a register that people cant reach, it is a good book that is simple to play.

No.1 -- J.S. Bach

This is a duet, I was given last class in school, so that my teacher and I can play it. This duet is not hard at all, it is just tricky in the part of the changing from 16th notes to 8th notes to quarter notes. This is tricky in my opinion because you start the song fast because of the 16th notes, and suddenly decrease the speed because of the 8th notes, this part is ease because its just a little bit slower than the 16th notes. But then you get to a part were there is a note that I can never play, because I dont remember the rhythm, so everytime that I have to play it, I mess it up and have to restart again. For me the most challenging thing is counting when the other clarinet is playing the response, because I just dont count, and watch the notes as he plays them, so if I lose track of where I am I get lost and have to restart it again from the same place we started before. This is very frustrating, because I should be able to play it without stoping because it isnt a hard song, it is pretty simple, the notes are simple, and are all in my register, the only problem in the song for me is counting. I just dont count and get lost half the time. i really need to sit down with a pencil and write down marks so Im able to know where to start counting or playing again.

C.P.E Bach Solfeggietto

This piece of music, is perhaps one of the most challeging things Ive played so far in my years of band because of certain notes, that are still out of my register, and I cant quite master. This notes are on the fourth phrase of the song, which are an E, G, F, of the highest register, that is listed in my book. I think that this notes are hard because of the position of the fingers, which is still weird for me, because I can move them fast enough to reach to the note on time, so there is a lot of squeaks when I play this notes. I still cant get my posture right, so that also influences the fact that I cant play the notes. I have noticed that if I sit a little bit forward in the chair and my back is in a good position the note starts to sound a little bit better, but I still have to work on those with patience, note by note, until the sound is fine, and not squeaking. Another thing that is challenging in this song, is the fact that everything is slured, this makes playing harder because even though you can just play the notes in a continous manner, the sound has to be right, and moving the fingers is "harder" because you dont have like a steady harsh beat that just makes you move the fingers with. The problem with the slurs, is that the notes have to be together, but have to sound even, like you just cant play less of a note because it is slured or if it isnt, they have to be even. So far I have been able to work out the first 3 phrases, and then skip the fourth, and move on to the ninth phrase, they are worked out note by note, I still cant played them in a slur because Im still not used to playing them fast or together. I will probably be able to work them out, if I sit with patience and do them over and over again, so that they get their proper sound and tone quality, for this I still have to work on my posture. I am setting an objective that by teh end of the third quarter I am able to play it completely, so for this I have to practice almost every day, sit down and get the upper register notes perfectly.