Clarinet Secrets - book and podcast, includes Klezmer

whew, it's been a long weekend. Sorry for the lack of posts. My wife and I took the wigglers to visit a cousin out of state and I made and kept one of my infrequent "no-laptop-on-vacation" promises. But I'm back and my fingers are itching for some blogging, so....

Most of my posts and resources links are directed more at music fans than at musicians. The book and podcast Clarinet Secrets, though, has a delightfully 'wanna-be' feeling that makes it worth sharing. (You know what I mean, "You can play clarinet", "You can make your own bite valve hydration system", "You can make parsley soda"*) While Clarinet Secrets podcast has lots of serious content, it also has episodes titled "Learn how to install your own neck-strap ring for under 1 dollar," Imitating Nature," and "The Chin Exercise." I played clarinet a bit when I was a kid. No one ever taught me "The Chin Exercise." I feel cheated.

The Clarinet Secrets podcast is hosted by "clarinet pedagogue Michele Gingras from Miami University (OH)" to accompany / promote her book recently published by Scarecrow Press. My giggles over chin exercises not withstanding, Gingras' book is subtitled "52 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Clarinetists" and is pretty serious. This isn't another Mel Bay Clarinet Primer.

The podcast and book have sections on Klezmer, including presentation repertoire, techniques, and ornamentation. I'm looking forward to listening to them.

* For lots more delightful "You can do its", visit www.instructables.com If you think I've got too much time on my hands, I ain't got nothing on the folks who write for Instructables. They actually build that stuff.