Either my playing has deteriorated dramatically over the last couple of weeks or my clarinet it becoming more and more difficult to blow!

Just before Christmas, I was beginning to feel quite pleased with my progress; I'd made some real progress with the upper altissimo register and was finally beginning to feel that I was getting somewhere. I've just finished this evenings' practise session and I have had difficulty in producing a good sound. This is a problem in all registers, not just high notes and when I blow into the clarinet, it actually feels as though it is blocked, as though I'm really having to push the air around something, rather than sending it straight down. Hope that makes sense!

I actually dropped a half strength in reed before Christmas and I'm sure it's not the reed - it's set in the right position and isn't dry or anything. Basically, I'm checked all the obvious things and can't come up with an answer. Can anyone suggest anything or has anyone had a similar problem?

I have a lesson on Saturday, so will ask my teacher to look at it and then probably book it in for a check over but grateful for any opinions in the meantime!

Oh and since this is my first post of 2010, a belated Happy New Year to everone!

Happy new year clarijo!

Could be a whole number of things. The ones that immediately come to mind are...

* a fault with a pad or pads, particularly the large ones down the bottom of the clari

* dirt in one or more toneholes

* the little screw on top of the A key is too tight (if it's really tight, you'll get no meaningful noise at all)

* problems with the link keys between top and bottom joint

* a broken/damaged mouthpiece

* bent/misaligned keys (trill keys may be at fault here, or something again down the bottom of the clari)

I'd say first stop, if your clari teacher doesn't diagnose your problem, is to take your clarinet to your friendly repairer.

If you get some cigarette papers, you can test whether it's any of the pads which have become worn. Slip the cigarette paper under the pad when you close the hole and then try pulling it out. There should be resistance, and the the resistance should be equal for every pad. If there's any one pad which is loose*, you may be able to do a minor adjustment yourself.

(I've read on here about someone who couldn't get a sound out of their clarinet and it turned out they'd left the cleaning cloth inside the bell )


* Correction - I don't mean that the pad itself would be loose, in the sense of it hanging off... I meant if the connection between the pad and the hole is loose.

Many thanks for your replies. I'm minded to think that it's more likely to be a problem with the keywork, rather than the pads. The join between the upper and lower joint has always been an extremely tight one and no amount of cork grease seems to ease this. Although I'm very careful, I think it's quite likely that something has been gradually knocked out of alignment somewhere - this might explain why it seems to be a problem which has just got worse over time, rather than suddenly appeared. I'll let you know how I get on!

Cigarette papers and dry pads aren't a happy combination, and you'd have to be really adept at using the same pressure on each pad : it's a difficult way to test for leaks, in my opinion. Also, you have a small risk of hurting pads.

I'd be inclined to get a cork, or some blu-tack, bung up one end of each joint, and blow down the joint, making sure all the holes/pads are closed, and there's a complete seal on the other end with your mouth. It's then relatively easy to see if a pad is leaking. You can quite often see discolouration in pads, too.

It was advice I was given on here a while ago by an experienced clarinettist when I had a similar problem, and it enabled me to solve the problem very quickly. Granted it might not suit clarijo's problem.

Fair enough, but I think you've still got to be so, so, careful if you go about it that way, and I'd be far too scared that I'd damage perfectly serviceable pads that way...

Nothing more to suggest but hope you get it sorted clarijo and Happy new year.

PM me if you wish to arrange a play session as suggested before Christmas

Having a couple of issues with my clari at the moment too. mainly tuning and a possible leak. The guy that Banks Music (York) now use seems very knowledgeable and has actually cast a bit of doubt on the other repairer i took my clari to recently- seams he may not have done the best for me after all..... He's in on Weds this week and Thurs the week after when I am going in to see him. He's in from 10 am if that helps you at all Clarijo....

Ok - problem is clarinettist and not clarinet!

To cut a long story short, before Christmas I was experimenting a bit with the upper altissimo and found that anything above an E was flat. I think what I've done is try to overcompensate for this and the result of this is that everything below F# is now consistently sharp - as proved by my digital tuner!! Obviously, the movement of the reed has become quite restricted, hence the clarinet seeming difficult to blow and my poor tone.

My task is now to practise letting my jaw drop to lower the pitch and I'm practising this with just the mouthpiece and just the mouthpiece and barrel. At its worst, I'm a major third sharp with just the mouthpiece, although I've managed to improve this a bit this afternoon - been making some very strange wailing sounds, which husband and children have been really good to put up with! However, I'm not finding this easy, so I think it will take a while and lots of patience on my part!

In answer to your question, Dawn, yes I would love to meet up for a practise session but as I sound pretty hideous at the moment, I think it might be wise to leave it for a few weeks!! I now have a copy of the Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite and the Five Bagatelles. These only arrived on Thursday and I haven't touched the Bagatelles (though I can play the Carol!!) and have just started to look at the Prelude - it's absolutely beautiful but I will be working on it very slowly, phrase by phrase until I can make it sound the way it should!

To be honest, I'm torn between being relieved that it's not the clarinet and thinking that actually a leaking pad or sprained spring might have been easier to fix! I'll keep you posted on my progress!

All the best with this clarijo. Just PM me when you are good and ready for a play and don't be embarrassed - we all have things to work on Now my tuning issue may not be as bad as I thought - According to friend google my clari is tuned to A=442 not A=440 and when I calibrate my tuner to this the tuning is more consistent accross the range and is possibly a bit flat at times I'm always sharp at band though!!!! And I doubt everyone else is hideously flat

Finding the problem is half the battle clarijo. If you practice that in front of a mirror, you'll probably get there a lot quicker than you think. All the best.

Thanks for your supportive comments!