Feeling Low? 6 Reasons Why a Clarinetist Has Flat Pitch and How to Solve It

Dr. Levana Cohen is a Vandoren Artist-Clinician. The goal for the Vandoren Artist Clinician program is to enhance the quality of the music experience through education and the assistance of Vandoren. These highly trained professional educators and performers will engage your students through educational and fun sessions. The clinics they conduct cover a broad spectrum of topics and, based on your input, can be customized to fit the needs of your students. Contact us today to arrange your free Vandoren clinic.

Is your clarinet pitch bringing you down in band? Got flatness?!! Check these 6 variables to lift your spirits and your pitch.

1. Too Much Mouthpiece

The player is playing with too much mouthpiece in their mouth.

2. Angle

The angle of clarinet is too far from the players body.

3. Reed Strength

The player is using too soft of a reed.

4. Flat Chin

The player’s lower lip is not tucked in enough and the chin is not flat and pointy. To encourage the student to maintain a flat chin- Paula Corley suggests in her book, So You Want to Play the Clarinet, that you have the student pinch their chin with one hand and then stretch the chin flat by pushing the lower lip in with the mouthpiece.

5. Lower Lip Placement

The player’s lower lip is too far down the reed. A natural overbite (top teeth over bottom teeth) should be encouraged.

• This can be difficult to change depending on the student’s natural bite.
• Have the student slide their top teeth down the mouthpiece.
• Dr. Julianne Kirk-Doyle inserts a business card in between the reed and the mouthpiece. Where the business card stops is where the lower lip should be placed. Draw a line on the reed to help students remember where to place their lower lip.

6. Tongue Position

Tongue position inside mouth should be Eee, Thee, Lee, Hee- hiss like a cat, say shhhh.

• Michael Lowenstern often speaks about the tongue elevator to help students feel what a proper tongue position feels like. He explains that the top floor (floor 3) of the tongue elevator is when you say “Eeee”, floor 2 is when you say “Eh”, floor 1 is when you say “Ahh” and the basement is when you say “Uh”. Have the student say “Eee”, “Eh”, “Ah”, “Uh” so they can feel all 4 positions. Then explain that to achieve proper voicing and intonation on the clarinet, students should maintain the Eeeee position for every register of the instrument.
• Flatness in the altissimo register is also an issue with many players. First, make sure that the student’s right Eb key is depressed for the notes higher than C# above the staff. If the student’s Eb key is depressed and they are still experiencing flatness they can experiment with the above suggestions as well as my whisper tone exercise as described briefly below:

Whisper Tone Exercise to improve your voicing/tongue position on the clarinet

• Have the student start a high note (C above the staff or higher) with their air by saying Hhheeeee. The note should be “whispered” out or as quiet as possible almost no sound at all.
• This will not be possible if the student is not voicing properly/keeping their tongue high enough.
• This exercise is a wonderful long tone exercise.

Some notes on voicing/ tongue position

• Think of the tongue as a lever that controls airspeed. The higher the players tongue, the faster the air will travel.
• To keep the pitch up, it is especially necessary to maintain a high tongue position (fast airspeed) in the throat tone and altissimo registers.

Some notes on equipment

• Proper mouthpiece, ligature and reed selection can also play a big part in a player’s intonation.
• Students should be encouraged to upgrade from stock mouthpieces as soon as possible.
• Most reputable equipment dealers (local music stores) will allow players to make an appointment to try out mouthpieces and equipment.
• My favorite mouthpiece options for beginners are the Vandoren M13 Lyre, and the 5RV Lyre paired with the M|O black ligature. Intermediate players might like the M15 while advanced players might try the BD5 or B40. This is a starting point for your selection process- there are MANY options available. Ideally, the player will find a set up that improves intonation, tone, and ease of playability.

About Dr. Levana Cohen

Seattle born clarinetist, Levana Cohen is an avid performer and music educator. Her performances have taken her to some of the most prestigious concert halls including, Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose hall, the Koussevitzky Music Shed and Ozawa hall of Tanglewood, Benaroya Hall, Symphony Space, The DiMenna Center, Flushing Town Hall and the 92ndY sharing the stage and performing with such artists as Frank Morelli, William Purvis, Steven Taylor, Shlomo Mintz and the Emerson String Quartet to name a few. Levana's life as a NY based freelance musician has made her into an extremely versatile musician performing and teaching in a multitude of different genres. In performance, these genres include the ballet, pit orchestra, opera, chamber music (both in the concert hall and for house parties), studio musician (recording for TV and radio), and the occasional concerto. Currently, Levana perform as the Principal Clarinetist for the Astoria Symphony Orchestra and appears at universities nation-wide leading masterclasses, clinics and performing recitals and concertos.

As a committed and devoted music educator, Dr. Cohen enjoys teaching students of all ages. At this time, she teaches Clarinet and Woodwind Methods at LIU Post, is the Clarinet Instructor at Suffolk County Community College, and operates her own private teaching studio in Port Washington NY. Apart from helping her students find their true, unique voice on their instrument, one of her highest priorities at the college level is to prepare her students for successful careers in music. Dr. Cohen also enjoys her work as a clinician with the Vandoren Regional Artist program, Woodwind Specialist and coach with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestras of New York, as a chamber music coach for Stony Brook University, and as director of the Port Washington Clarinet Choir.

Levana holds both a Master of Music degree and a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University under the tutelage of Daniel Gilbert. She performs on Buffet Tosca clarinets and uses Vandoren mouthpiece, ligature and reed products.

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