The Hite Site
Clarinet playerA CLARINETIST'S STUDY GUIDE
by David Hite

LEVEL 3

A real sense of accomplishment comes with progress through level three. The player should become a good, competent member of the clarinet section in the school band. An interest in ensemble music could be developing. One hour a day practice sessions should be routine, and as a result, the fingers should become totally comfortable in the patterns of the most used keys. A higher level of technical advancement should allow more time for attention to musical expression. The importance of tonal development through effective long tone study should be emphasized.

The activities that support continued development should be cultivated. Reeds should be carefully selected for vibrancy, response, tonal clarity and good dynamic range. Playing on old worn out reeds should be avoided. At least three well adjusted, broken in reeds should be maintained at all times.

Technique basics
  • Improve reliable and accurate reading of music, making school band and ensemble music routine.
  • Develop a quicker, more self assured approach to newly assigned music.
  • Learn to sense proper tempos.
  • Continue to refine tone in three aspects: greater beauty and depth; more power and softer dynamics; agility to control crescendos and diminuendos.
  • Master all articulations, staccato, legato and slurring, in any combination.
  • Perform scale patterns in thirds.
  • Perform solos publicly.
Theory basics
  • Know all major and minor scales up to four sharps and four flats.
  • Understand the construction of the tonic, dominant and subdominant chords and how these chords relate to the scales; recognize the scales and chords in the music being studied.
  • Develop the ability to sing and\or recognize any ascending interval up to a fifth from a given note.
  • Expand vocabulary of terms, signs and tempos encountered in the music being performed.
  • Study phrasing including the recognition of phrases and how they relate to one another.
Recommended etudes for LEVEL 3
David Hite: Foundation Studies
Contents: Baermann Method, Part III

David Hite: Melodious and Progressive Studies,
  Book 1
    Contents:
  • Demnitz 18 Expressive Studies(based on scales)
  • Demnitz 18 Expressive Studies (based on chords)
  • Nocentini 24 Melodic Studies
  • Baermann 24 Melodic Studies(from bk. II)
  • Klose major and minor scales
  • Klose scales in thirds

David Hite: Melodious and Progressive Studies,
  Book 2
    Contents:
  • Gambaro 20 Caprices
  • Dont 124 Etudes
  • Misc. etudes for special problems

David Hite: 40 Progressive Melodies by A.M.R. Barret
    Contents:
  • Barret 40 Progressive Melodies
  • Dont 8 Progressive Exercises
  • Hite Scale studies
Recommended solos for LEVEL 3
Bach-Hite: Bouree
Baermann-Hite: Adagio (Attributed to Wagner)
Corelli-Hite: Adagio and Gigue
Debussy-Hite: La Fille Au Cheveux de Lin
Debussy-Hite: Petite Piece
Mozart-Hite: Larghetto from Clarinet Quintet
Study Guide:
Level 2		 Hite editions: Etudes Hite editions: Solos The Hite Site
HOMEPAGE		 Study Guide:
Level 4
THE HITE SITE, designed and maintained by Jean Hite.    Comments to: jean@jdhite.com
All contents copyright © 1997, David Hite, Inc.    All rights reserved.
Revised: March 5, 1997    URL: http://www.jdhite.com/study/clarinet/level3.htm