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A warm-up that exercises as many techniques as possible in a short
space of time is very useful for you and your pupils.
Sliver key
upper joint
Sliver key
lower joint
If you have this G sharp / D sharp key it
is a good idea to incorporate the use of
this into a daily warm up.

1. To begin, do some gentle stretching and physical warm-ups as recommended in
the  Athletic musician  .
2. Long notes  I suggest 5-10minutes daily.
3. Slow scales played to a tuning machine, for ear training.
4. Try to include Major, Minor; Whole Tone scales as well as Diminished Sevenths
and Broken Arpeggios. (As your pupils advance introduce scales in thirds and
possibly fourths and fifths and Octaves.)
5. Staccato studies  the one in this book is recommended but follow the
instructions very carefully.
6. Chromatic warm up. I suggest in addition to using the side keys, use the  Sliver
Keys" (these keys are rarely used by players these days). These keys were used
much more by players of the Simple or Albert system clarinet on which I
learned as a child. I find that they facilitate many difficult passages.
7. Incorporate the use of the G sharp / D sharp alternative key - it is not normally
fitted and takes time to learn to use if one is unfamiliar with it. Try to memorise
the chromatic study and use it as a standard warm up with the staccato exercise
every time you begin playing in a practise session or rehearsal. I often use these
as my warm up for orchestral rehearsals; they take just a few minutes each day,
start slowly and only do as much as you can play comfortably. The studies
become quite difficult so play them slowly and carefully, listening to quality of
tone, intonation, staccato and legato (in the chromatic).
8. Use music at site to improve sight reading.

If you have a warm up that you have memorised, it will prevent you from simply blowing
mindlessly and wasting effort. Concentrate on improving the warm up every time you start
a practise session.

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