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Clarinet Playing Tips & Advice (Part 2/2)

31st October 2022

We recently hosted Peter Cigleris for a Backun Clarinet event here at Dawkes Music. This is part 2 of our follow up blog showcasing some clarinet playing tips & advice from Peter.

clarinet playing

In this second blog we’ve picked out some snippets of advice & tips around ‘Practice Techniques’ and ‘Embouchure Development’ to help your clarinet playing. Hopefully you’ll find some small nuggets of information and inspiration to help you with your practice.

Practice Techniques

In this video Peter discusses a couple of important practice tips. Firstly playing with a metronome to promote good tempo, secondly is how to introduce different rhythms into your routine.

For example, taking a standard scale and changing the rhythms when you practice it. This can be a simple yet effective way to train your mind and fingers across various patterns. The example he gives mentions an excerpt from Weber.

Embouchure Development

What is the correct pressure for your embouchure? Peter gives a simple practical example of how to picture your embouchure tension to ensure you have enough support without restriction.

There are various muscles that can be developed to help support your embouchure and Peter gives an example of a double-lip exercise you can do to develop that strength.

We hope you enjoyed these tips & tricks from Peter and found them useful for your Clarinet playing exploits. Ongoing effective practice is the key to build stamina and good tone quality – go for it!

Choice of Equipment

We had some questions on the day about Peter’s equipment so please see below his clarinet playing set-up:

  • Clarinets: Backun Lumiere Cocobolo Bb & A Clarinet (more info)
  • Mouthpiece: D’Addario Reserve Evolution Marble Mouthpiece (more info)
  • Reeds: D’Addario Reserve Evolution #3.5 and #3.5+ Reeds (more info)

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