It’s been a LONG time since I’ve made one of these posts, and I’ve got to apologize. Getting back to college, plus dealing with some health things, kinda kicked my fanny. But I made the decision that playing the clarinet was going to be part of my self-care, even if it was just five minutes a day. I put it on my to do list, track it in my planner, and somehow that just makes it seem all the more helpful.
So what am I working on? Right now I’m still in the beginning parts of my Klose books. I’m on page 10 and playing with the chromatic scale and some of the exercises to help limber up my fingers. One of the things I’m noticing is that as my fibromyalgia gets worse, the family tremor is increasing. This isn’t an issue when my fingers are moving, but when holding sustained notes, then my hand starts to tremble, giving me an involuntary vibrato to the notes. I’ve been thinking I’ll have to video this.
So what about that reed disappointment? I’m an adventurer (or maybe a glutton for punishment) and so I like to try various cheap reeds. (I have a reed “addiction”. I’ve talked about it before. I love experimenting with different brands.) I bought Goloho 2.5 filed cut reeds. I use 2.5 strength reeds now, and thought nothing of it. Well these reeds were stiff as a board. Like my lips and mouth felt as if I’d tried to play on my 3.5 or 4 reeds I’d used in high school. Can you lose muscle strength in your mouth?
Suffice to say, I could hardly get any sound out of them. It’s okay. I’ve put them back for the proverbial rainy day. It’s possible they’re stronger than indicated or they just aren’t filed right. Or, it’s possible they’re more durable and thicker than some of the other cheap reeds I’ve been playing on. I’ll try later, but it was a disappointment.
Of course if I could get a reed manufacturer to sponsor me *winks* that’d be great. I also suspect I’d have to do a lot more with my music for that to happen.
Would you like to tip/support my work for these music posts? Check out my music wish list where you can see what reeds I have on my "wish list" (Most are under $10/pkg. I'm a daredevil that way.) as well as some books and other accessories. If you have questions or issues you'd like me to cover in my music blogs, I very much would like to hear from you. Just use the contact form above!
Or, check out my Ko-Fi! (For monthly recurring support starting at $1, please check out my Patreon below.
