Self reflection is a GREAT practice technique Jul 07 '07    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Musical Instruments Sennheiser RS 120 Wireless Headphones From $51 Epiphone Les Paul-100 Electric Guitar From $249 The Bottom Line Looking at yourself in the mirror is a great way to insure proper hand position on clarinet and sax. On all the instruments I play, the hand position and fluency is a major component of technique. Clearly, great technique must be accompanied by maturity and skill, but development of technique is important for any serious musician. On saxophone, the optimal position for the hands is in contact with the mother-of-pearl receptacles for the fingertips. Whatever the dexterity level, a player will be faster if he or she can keep contact with the pearls or at least minimize the distance between the fingertips and the keys that the fingers must push down. Clarinet is a different matter. Most regular clarinets are open-holed. So, the fingers must cover certain holes when needed and also keep the certain holes open when the note played requires that. I work on this a lot with my students because I felt like my early teachers did not work on it with me enough. So, I continue to work correcting flaws that would have been more easily corrected when I was in high school. The best way for a player to identify hand/finger placement flaws is to study with a good private teacher. The group lessons or band rehearsals that school districts provide are likely not enough to identify flaws. However, there is a great technique available so players can self correct. Look in the mirror Yes, it can be a bit weird. It makes some students uncomfortable. However, for the student committed to improvement and honest and open enough to identify and correct errors, this works great. It is as simple as it seems . practice something in front of a mirror and look at the hands. This technique will identify things that need to be corrected. As a bonus, I’ve found with myself and my clarinet students that the act of looking in the mirror improves hand position just by doing it. One pitfall on clarinet is having hands come off the keys on the throat tones (G,A,Bb) and in going to the left hand pinky keys. I’ve found this technique useful for beginners and experienced players alike. I use it myself, too. Of course, once the flaw is identified, the key to correcting it is practicing the correct way consistently and thoroughly enough so that it becomes habitual. Looking in the mirror can also help identify whether the student is using a proper embouchure (how the mouthpiece is held in the mouth). I will cover the other component of hands, that is fluency in playing note sequences, in a future epinion. If any reader has any specific questions they would like me to answer, contact me through my member page. Please also check out my quartet CD through my web site, www.jazzobsession.com. Thanks for reading. God bless! Please check out some of my other epinions pertaining to music education: How to get your child started on an instrument Rent or buy your child’s first instrument How to buy a decent musical instrument on Ebay Improve Your Intonation Ear Training I - Beginning and Intermediate Players Ear Training II - Prelude to Improvisation Ear Training III: Time to Learn Tunes and PLAY My worst gig Putting a Jazz Band Together Being a one man band for fun and profit I compose the way I play What music has helped me learn about myself Fast fingers are important How I help my students learn new music I learned about a lot more than music from my music teachers Ode to my Selmer Saxophones

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