Video- Opening clarinet solo from Rhapsody in Blue

rhapsody_blue_image

We had a great live concert tonight as part of our AEP Pops series. It was an all Gershwin program entitled “The Gershwins- Here to Stay”, with my excellent colleagues of the Columbus Symphony, Peter Stafford Wilson conducting, and staring Kevin Cole on very Gershwinesque piano, Sylvia McNair (a Columbus native) on gorgeous vocals, and Ryan VanDenBoom on vocals and fantastic tap dancing. Here is a video demonstration and tips on learning the famous opening clarinet solo in George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

Read more »

Video- Clarinet Finger Love Fest in Brahms Schoenberg Giant Orchestration

Brahms Schoenberg Orchestral Clarinet Excerpts

This past weekend the Columbus Symphony played a ring dinger of a piece, both musically and technically; the Schoenberg arrangement/transcription of the Brahms Piano Quartet Opus 25. It’s like...

Read more »

Nutcracker Clarinet solos; demonstration with practice tips.

Nutcracker Clarinet solos, an introduction with tips

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! What better way to celebrate the season than to talk about The Nutcracker clarinet solos! Enjoy.

Read more »

On words, music, and serendipity, too.

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to All! It’s been awhile since I posted actual words here. The past five “posts” have been videos of me playing, something I plan...

Read more »

Long phrased beginning of Strauss Duett concertino

strauss_stillphoto

I’ll be playing this wonderful and little known piece in November, a late work of Richard Strauss, his Duett Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon with strings and harp accompaniment....

Read more »

My Funny Valentine, Late night moods

myfunnyvalentine2

My Funny Valentine Sweet Comic Valentine You Make Me Smile With My Heart You’re Looks Are Laughable, Unphotographable Yet You’re My Favorite Work Of Art Is Your Figure Less...

Read more »

Last solo clarinet line of Higdon Blue Cathedral

higdon_snap

Warming up for tonight’s concert with the Columbus Symphony. The program includes Jeniffer Higdon’s ravishing tone poem, Blue Cathedral, followed by Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. The Higdon piece ends...

Read more »

Rachmaninoff Vocalise – for Mom

Rach_vocalise_image

Rachmaninoff Vocalise Op. 34, NO. 14. Video of my practice today. Great piece for working on phrasing and breath control. Mom loves this piece (and has sung it) and...

Read more »

While waiting to begin my practice I strayed…

After returning home again two nights ago post-two-week-trip to visit family and friends, local life and living required extra attention to catch up. Plans to meditate and practice clarinet...

Read more »

Brett Sheehy bursts classical music’s cultural bubble

“Classical music is a “tyrannical” term, implying music written by dead white men. When I do present an older classical work, I want to present it through a 21st-century...

Read more »

Is technology harming classical music? – latimes.com

technology and classical music

Freedom is the real issue. Is the role of technology to open us to new possibilities or is it, as more and more in Silicon Valley are trying to...

Read more »

X-Ray Video of Dancing Tongue in Clarinetist’s Mouth – Not what you expect.

xray_mouth

Clarinetist and teacher Ray Wheeler (1930-2006) shocked the clarinet world in the early 70s with his x-ray film of what happens inside a clarinetist’s mouth while playing. (Video link...

Read more »

Sandow and Midgette on audience decline for classical music

music dance rhythm

The institution of live classical music concerts continues to flounder, and the water isn’t getting any calmer.  Can you teach an old fish to swim upstream? But the origins...

Read more »

I highly recommend…

Podcast interview with me

User Login

Would you like to share practice ideas with other musicians? You could do so at the Practice Café.

Classical Music is Radically Delicious Click to go to Radically Delicious Shirts
.