Chop Busting Clarinet books

[Nefertiti]

Sorry guys, I didn't write down the recommendations. What are some great books for clarinet technique? Those of you who posted please do so again. Thanks

[Bootman]

Langenus or Thurston Tutor. Try Coltrane or Parker on clarinet, this is great for the technique.

[John Scorgie]

The classic clarinet method book is Klose, Parts I and II. The best edition is Bellison, published in New York by Carl Fisher. It is probably OOP but you can usually pick up a copy on ebay because there are so many of them out there.

My personal favorite is the Langenus method mentioned by Bootman. It comes in three parts. Third Langenus is the most famous. I especially like Langenus Part II for a sax player with a pop, rock or jazz background because it has lots of text explaining things like mordants, grupetti, cadenzas etc. The Klose method also has a fair amount of explanatory text on such matters.

The Lazarus method Part II is also good. Try to get the "modern" edition edited by Gustave Langenus and published by Cundy Bettoney in Boston. This one contains the famous Cavallini 30 Caprices. (How did he ever play that music on a clarinet with no rings and only 6 keys?)

If you ask the classical clarinet snobs you will probably be told that Third Baermann is the only way to go for technical studies.

The Rose 40 studies and 32 studies are in a class by themselves, but you really need a knowledgeable coach to explain what they are all about. 99 out of 100 college level clarinet players will claim to be able to play the Rose studies yet only about 1 in 100 can play them properly and musically.

For works which are virtually impossible for us mere mortals to play, look up the Stark, Kroepsch or Jettel studies or the Labanchi method.

The trouble I find with most of the technical studies is that they are of little or no musical value. That is why I really like Bootman's suggestion to use the Coltrane or Bird works as technical studies. Prevents boredom and keeps the focus on proper rhythm and the melodic line. After all, technique is worthless unless and until it is employed in the service of the music.

[Merlin]

The book I suggested was Advanced Studies for Clarinet by Victor Polatschek, published by G. Schirmer/Hal Leonard

[BATMAN]

I do recommend the Baermann if you REALLY want to know your scales inside and out! It's a tough book, for sure....

I agree....the Kloser is the standard book for clarinet. Plenty of material to keep you working for a few months/years and has a very nice fingering chart. Take heed with the mechanism excercises....they are a lot more useful than many people give them credit for. The Bellison edition (huge orange book) is the only edition I can find consistently...you should have no problem getting it.

Any of the Kal Opperman stuff is great for technique. I'm on the advanced velocity studies...fun stuff! Contemporary Chordal techniques is also nice, and can be applied for jazz too.

The Rose etudes....tough to play properly. Some are pretty technical, but the most important thing is to play them musically. That's the point most people miss. Make sure you have someone help you with the interpretations on these if you check them out.

Other good books are the Jean-Jean etudes or Cavallini caprices. The Jean-Jean especially gets very tough, especially book II. The Cavallini will probably be more accessible though, and it has it's fair share of difficult passages. It's not as hard as the Jean-Jean, but it's a great book nonetheless.

If you could only buy one book, the Klose method would probably be the best bet. There's plenty of material there, and has a healthy mix of technical and musical material. Again....pay close attention to the mechanism excercises. They are pretty boring, but are indispensable for developing a nice even technique/finger action.

[Anonymous]

Kroepesch(spell?), Vol. 1 & 2 are great, difficult, but not the same old scale crap. Each page or two is a great workout in a different key, some actually playable, others really tough, but all are worth working on.

[Ken]

Old thread, I know but Nerfititi, if you see this, did you find a suitable book?

Also, I came across "Hand in Hand with Hanon" (http://www.encoremusic.com/clarinet/1060125_alt_ge.html) by Buddy DeFranco. If anyone has tried this I'd be interested to know your opinion. It's actually based on piano:!: fingering exercises by Hanon.

Anyway, since he's a jazz musician, I was thinking it could be more applicable for jazz technique?

Thanks

[Tim Price]

Opperman Elementary Velocity Studies

Opperman Intermediate Velocity Studies

Opperman Virtuoso Velocity Studies

Opperman Contemporary Chordal Sequences

Opperman Advanced Velocity Studies

Opperman Master Studies for the Clarinet

Those are some great newer books by my teacher Kal Opperman.

There's a " Fingering Index Book" out of Kals, that is THE ULTIMATE.

Any book of his is a must to play.
When you see his name on a book- BUY IT.

[Ken]

Opperman...

Any book of his is a must to play.
When you see his name on a book- BUY IT.
Thanks for that Tim. I will check them out.

btw I just googled and found this snippet about him "... three of the most revered clarinetists and teachers of the 20th century -- Gervase De Peyer, Kalmen Opperman, Leon Russianoff --"

[Wicked Good]

For phrasing work, I suggest "Rhythmical Articlation" by Bona, published by G. Schirmer. Although it's really a book for vocalists, it is eminently transferable to wind instruments and provides many ways to work on phrasing, breathing and articulation.

The Baermann 3rd Division, Opperman studies (see Tim Price's post above), Rose 32 and 40 etudes, Jeanjean 16 etudes, and the Bona book (and of course performance pieces) provided the bulk of my woodshed material while a clarinet performance major in college.

[Ken]

Thanks Wicked Good. I've heard quite a bit about the Baermann book. Some refer to this as the technique "bible" for the clarinet. I understand these are scale studies in 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, etc. How are they different from say just playing these scales up and down your instrument?

Hite has a saxophone version of this also.

[UNTplayer]

Baermann #3 and Klose #1 and 2 are the standards. The Rose books are more interesting, and you can get an accompaniment CD for the 32 etudes.
Others are Kroepsch, Stievenard, Cavallini and Polatschek.

For a real challenge, play them on sax (involves some octave transpositions).

[Saxhound]

The Cavallini Caprices are (or were?) available transcribed for sax / oboe by Gerardo Iasilli in a 2 volume set (Carl Fischer #'s 03776 & 03777).

[singlereed]

http://www.saxtetpublications.com/catalogue/samples/302.htm

Clarinetics by Stephen Davies is a bit of a roast-up. You can see a sample here is you have the Scorch plug-in