How to Master Technical Passages for Woodwind Players
by Mitchell Estrin
Date Posted: February 11, 2019
Establish a Plan
A question I am often posed by my students is how to approach and master difficult technical passages. Most often, they will simply go through difficult passages repetitively without a plan and hope that somehow the passage will come out respectably in a lesson or during a performance. This is not a good recipe for success.
As one learns a piece of music, it is important to assess which passages will require the most woodshedding. Start practicing these passages when beginning to study a piece. Nothing is more frustrating than understanding a piece of music, developing an overall interpretative concept, and then not being able to play the piece cleanly or up to tempo due to the inability to execute difficult technical passages. This approach will inhibit musical growth and, in the case of a wind instrumentalist, will disturb good phrasing. Taking slower tempos will often necessitate breathing in awkward and undesirable places.
You can try putting the music under your pillow before going to sleep in hopes that osmosis will take care of the problem. Unfortunately, this technique has never proven successful! There are no shortcuts and it is only through well-planned and systematic practice that technical security can be achieved.
Here are two tried and true techniques for mastering difficult technical passages.
"There are no shortcuts and it is only through well-planned and systematic practice that technical security can be achieved." - Mitchell Estrin
Rule of 10
Establish the goal tempo for the piece you are preparing. Identify a difficult technical passage. Using a metronome, go back 10 notches from the goal tempo to begin your practice.
As an example, if your goal tempo is quarter note =120, go back 10 notches to 80 (116, 112, 108, 104, 100, 96, 92, 88, 84, 80). This is the tempo you will set to begin to practice the passage.
Using the metronome, play the passage at 80. Be sure to include all of the notated musical nuances – dynamics, articulations, accents, etc. Once you can execute the passage three times in a row perfectly, you can move the metronome up to 84. If you make a mistake on any of the three attempts, go back to zero and start over. Be very picky and insistent of absolute accuracy!
Do not try to achieve all ten metronome speeds in one practice session.
Spend 10-15 minutes maximum in each practice session and notate in your music (in pencil) what was the last speed you could execute the passage three times in a row perfectly. The next time you practice this passage, begin one tempo notch slower than where you left off. (Example: You achieved 96 in your last session, so begin this session at 92 – basically playing a game of musical leap frog!) Continue practicing this way until you reach your goal tempo three times in a row flawlessly. This can take days and even weeks to achieve for just a single passage. Don’t set a time limit – only be satisfied with perfect execution at each tempo.
PRO TIP – Aim to go one speed beyond your goal tempo if you possibly can. In our example the goal tempo was quarter note =120 – so work to get 126 three times in a row flawlessly. Executing the passage at 120 (by comparison) will seem easy! Also, by exceeding the goal tempo, it will be easier to stay in control of the technique during the adrenaline rush and nervousness prevalent at auditions and performances.
Altering the Rhythms
This practice technique is particularly effective when working on groupings of repeated rhythmic patterns (eighth notes, triplets, sixteenth notes, sextuplets, etc.).
Isolate a passage and, while using the metronome, execute the passage utilizing a variety of altered rhythmic patterns. For instance, if you are working on a repeated sixteenth note passage (such as this one from the first movement of the Mozart clarinet concerto), utilize a variety of rhythmic patterns to help you achieve technical mastery.
Here are some of the patterns you can try:
Test your imagination and see how many more different and challenging rhythmic patterns you can come up with!
Remember, just as for the Rule of 10, establish a playable tempo and observe every indicated musical nuance of phrasing, dynamics, and articulation. Also, you must execute each pattern perfectly three times in a row in order to move on to the next pattern. If you miss anything it is back to zero! Practice a few varied patterns in each practice session and you will soon smooth out any bumps in the passage.
I hope these practice techniques will help you and your students to achieve greater technical mastery of difficult musical passages. Over time, these techniques will strengthen technique and assist in achieving more consistent musical results.
About the Author
Mitchell Estrin is Professor of Music Emeritus at the University of Florida where he was founder and music director of the University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble and a University of Florida Research Foundation Professor. He served as the Artistic Director of the Vandoren Clarinet Ensemble Festival and was founder of the Buffet Crampon USA Summer Clarinet Academy. Prof. Estrin was the 20th President of the International Clarinet Association (ICA). He is the author of the biography Stanley Drucker, Clarinet Master published by Carl Fischer and Writing the Vandoren WAVE published by CAMco. His critical edition of the Weber Concertino for Clarinet, Op. 26 is published by Jeanné.
Prof. Estrin is a 2023 recipient of Honorary Membership in the International Clarinet Association. This accolade, marking the highest honor in the clarinet world, is said to acknowledge individuals with a distinguished background in the areas of professional service, teaching, performance, and lifetime achievements.
Mitchell Estrin studied clarinet with Stanley Drucker at The Juilliard School where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. His other influential teachers include Jerome Stowell, Walter Wollwage, Leon Russianoff, Larry Combs, Robert Bloom, and John Moses.
Prior to his academic appointments, he had a 25-year association with the New York Philharmonic. He performed in hundreds of concerts and on 19 international tours with the Philharmonic as principal, second, and E-flat clarinetist under music directors Alan Gilbert, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, Leonard Bernstein, and many distinguished guest conductors including Erich Leinsdorf, Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, Klaus Tennstedt, Andre Previn, Sir Colin Davis, and Leonard Slatkin. He performed on dozens of recordings with the Philharmonic and on numerous occasions performed with the orchestra on the PBS award winning series, Live From Lincoln Center.
As an international concert artist, Mitchell Estrin has performed in over 40 countries on 5 continents. He performed and recorded the world premiere of The Shadows of October for clarinet and orchestra by Michael Whalen with the Janacek Philharmonic.
“This beautiful and lushly scored tonal piece…. is performed by clarinetist Mitchell Estrin…. He plays beautifully with a lovely colored tone.”
The Clarinet
As a chamber musician, he has performed with such notable ensembles as The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New Arts Trio, American Chamber Winds, at the Newport Music Festival, and was a founding member of the Amadeus Ensemble.
Prof. Estrin has an extensive discography of solo and chamber music and recorded hundreds of television commercials and Hollywood motion-picture soundtracks. He has performed and recorded with many leading popular artists including Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Peter, Paul and Mary, Ray Charles, The Fugees, Wynton Marsalis, Benny Golson, Smashing Pumpkins, and Natalie Merchant. His motion picture soundtrack credits include recordings for Columbia, Walt Disney, Paramount, MGM, 20th Century Fox, United Artists, and Warner Brothers on feature films including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Alamo, Intolerable Cruelty, The Score, You’ve Got Mail, Primary Colors, Fargo, Batman Forever, Interview with the Vampire, Home Alone 2, Pocahontas, Doc Hollywood, Regarding Henry, The Untouchables, Reds, and Dressed to Kill. His television credits include recordings for ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, HBO, TBS, and ESPN. Prof. Estrin was principal clarinetist for the NBC 75th Anniversary Special; broadcast from the famed NBC Studio 8H in New York City. He has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Phil Donahue Show, the television series Nurse, and in Kramer vs. Kramer, the 1980 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture. His clarinet playing has also been heard on hundreds of television and radio commercials. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences recognized him as a Most Valuable Player nominee for his outstanding performances in the recording studio.
Prof. Estrin has presented recitals, masterclasses, workshops, and seminars at many prestigious educational conferences and institutions. This list includes the Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Arizona State University, Florida State University, University of Maryland, University of Alabama, University of Arizona, University of Illinois, University of Texas, Texas State University, Texas A&M University, Midwest Clinic, New York State School Music Association, Connecticut School Music Association, and Florida Music Educators Association. In 2019, he was a guest clinician in Australia at the University of Melbourne. He has performed in recital with clarinetists Stanley Drucker, Karl Leister, and Mark Nuccio.
Widely acclaimed as a conductor and proponent of the clarinet choir, Prof. Estrin has served as director of the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest® College, Festival, and Professors Clarinet Choirs, Texas State Clarinet Fiesta Clarinet Choir, Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium Clarinet Choir, Texas Clarinet Colloquium Clarinet Choir, and United States Navy Clarinet Choir. He held a Guinness World Record for conducting the world’s largest clarinet choir (367 members) in 2019. He has conducted the University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble throughout the United States and Europe, including three feature recitals at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest®. The ensemble has produced four critically acclaimed CD’s for Mark Masters, Christmas Clarinets (2016), Clarinet Choir Classics (2012), Clarinet Thunder (2009), and Wind in the Reeds (2006). Each of these recordings was selected for the Grammy Nomination eligibility list. Prof. Estrin has authored multiple articles on the history, development, repertoire, and logistics of the clarinet choir.
As a music producer and annotator, he has worked on projects with such renowned artists as trombonist Joseph Alessi, jazz pianist Lynne Arriale, and saxophonist Mike Smith. He has produced five clarinet choir CDs for Mark Recording.
Prof. Estrin’s students have performed with such prestigious ensembles as the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, New York Pops, United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own”, United States Army Field Band, and West Point Band. His students hold educational positions at several major universities including Indiana University, University of Arizona, University of Florida, and University of South Alabama.
Mitchell Estrin is a Buffet Crampon Legacy Artist and performs exclusively on the Buffet R13 clarinet. As a Vandoren Performing Artist, he endorses and performs exclusively on Vandoren reeds (V.12) and mouthpieces (BD2). Prof. Estrin’s educational articles are published regularly in the Vandoren WAVE and his biography is listed in Who’s Who in Classical Music, Who’s Who in American Music, and Who’s Who in International Music.