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It's another Wednesday, First name / Friend! 
 
Our question for you today is a good one: 
 
Are you playing SMALL? 
 
“I don't want to sound harsh”
“I don't want to sound shrill” 
“I don't want to sound honky” 
“I don't want to push my reed too much”
 
There's a lot of fear around not sounding refined or "pretty" enough, using our full voice, expressing our musical intention (or having one!). 
 
You're not alone! A lot of us have felt this way. But do you want to know what does end up happening when you play “defensive” and fearful? Our sound and our music get small. Besides being terribly uninteresting, it's non-communicative, and ends up being non-engaging and well, puny. You end up boxing in the sound but more importantly, your voice in the music.
 
Here's a checklist for you, that'll get you playing with resonance, musicality and heart: 
  1. We're wind players. You've heard ad nauseam that “you need more air”, but it's more than that. You need to activate and manipulate the air you are applying!
     
  2. Are you breathing in with depth and in the character of the musical sound you're about to make?
     
  3. Are you allowing all those spaces in the body to vibrate too? As you direct the sound outward, are you also feeling the vibration in your lungs, chest and sinus cavities?
     
  4. We're singers. Clarinetists must vocalize our sound! Can you sing the phrase you're about to play? When you sing, you are truly connecting to that inner voice.
     
  5. Are you vibrating the whole room? Direct your sound toward the four corners of the room. Better yet, imagine your sound swirling 360-degrees around the space!
When you connect to what you WANT to say, and when you allow your body to SUPPORT that idea, it gets easier to EXPRESS it through your sound. Then you really start making music!  
 
 

 
// Expand on it. //
 
Speaking of 360 spaces…  your clarinet playing is just one slice of the pie. Your clarinet playing is not separate from the totality of who you are, so how you approach the rest of your life can either elevate or or lower your music!  
 
We're always pulling the best ideas in to help you reach your goals, and this fall line-up is no exception! Tiffany and I are excited to be teaching but we're really pumped about this group of specialists coming in to work with you!  Take a peek at just some of what's coming up: 
 
Kensley Behel: Performance Anxiety & Hearing Health (9/15, 7:30pm ET) 
Tiffany Valvo: Goal Setting for Success (9/17, 11am ET)
Ixi Chen: Clarinet Masterclass (9/25, 7pm ET) 
Dominic Giardino: Early Clarinet & Historical Performance Practice (10/8 + 15)
Seunghee Lee: Letting go of Perfectionism (11/13, 5pm ET)
 
These are all part of our Thrive program where you can be a member or just join us for single classes. Of course, membership has awesome perks and a fun community of great people so we invite you to check it out! 
 
 
Go forth and find your power, First name / Friend! Stop playing small and start playing FULL OUT! 
 
Ixi & Tiffany
 
 

 
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