Just like beginning with any acoustic musical instrument, beginning the clarinet is a learning process that is going to involve both a great amount of achievement, and also the occasional setback. However, if the beginning clarinet player, or clarinetist, follows a few basic tips relating to proper clarinet playing and clarinet care, then the number [...]

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The Ocarina is a somewhat obscure woodwind instrument, pronounced awk-uh-reen-uh. It is a wind instrument derived from ancient flutes. While there are several different variations of the ocarina concept, the typical ocarina is an oval-shaped instrument with between four and twelve finger holes and a tubular mouth piece that projects out away from the body. [...]

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… Flexatone continued. It is fixed at the wide end to a metal frame that is approximately 30 cm or 12 in in length that possesses rubber beater or wooden beaters at the lower end, attached to rods. The player will wave the flexatone instrument around so that the beaters are made to hit the [...]

Continue reading → Metal Instruments 101 pt 2

The Harp is an acoustic musical instrument which is made up stings that are held stretched under tension, which will produce harmonics when plucked with the fingers, a pick or a similar device. There are two primary kinds of harps, bow and angle. Bow harps are so named after the discovery that bow strings would [...]

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The saxophone is an interesting musical instrument that has become well appreciated through the years in a wide variety of different musical genres, including but not limited to jazz music, rock music and pop music as well. For saxophone players, there are a number of add on pieces like mouth pieces that are absolutely essential [...]

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Bucking – Bucking is characterized by the cancellation of one frequency component or signal by another signal that has the equal amount of amplitude but an opposite polarity. Capo – Short for capotasto, a Capo is a moveable bar that is attached to the finger board of any fretted instrument which allows the pitch of [...]

Continue reading → Acoustic Musical Instruments Glossary, pt 2

Interval – An interval is described as a difference in pitch from one tone to another, and intervals are most commonly measured as the difference between the lower tone and the higher tone. Intonation – Intonation, in its most literal form, means either pitch or using pitch. One who speaks with intonation uses pitch variation [...]

Continue reading → Acoustic Musical Instrument Glossary pt 3

The saxophone, which is also commonly known as the sax, is a musical instrument that is crafted from brass and played with the use of a reed mouthpiece. The saxophone can vary significantly in its size, and it can range from fifteen centimeters to two meters in size based on the type of saxophone and [...]

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Acoustic musical instruments are musical instruments that are capable of creating sounds entirely via acoustic means as opposed to by way of electronic means. Before electronic instruments came along, there was no need to define instruments as being acoustic as every instrument was acoustic by nature. Acoustic music, or generally anything with acoustic placed in [...]

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Purchasing a brand new clarinet, regardless of whether it is your first or an attempt to step up to a newer instrument, is a very large decision that involves many different facets that need to be considered. The clarinet family includes a number of different models, including a contra alto model and a bass model. [...]

Continue reading → Clarinet Guide Part 1