Flute, Accordion or Clarinet?. Jo Tomlinson

      Salkeld, C. (2008) ‘Music Therapy after Adoption: The Role of Family Therapy in Developing Secure Attachments in Adopted Children.’ In A. Oldfield and C. Flower (eds) Music Therapy with Children and Their Families. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

      Tomlinson, J., Derrington, P. and Oldfield, A. (2012) Music Therapy in Schools: Working with Children of all Ages in Mainstream and Special Education. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

      Tsui, L. (2011) The Use of Erhu in Music Therapy. Unpublished MA thesis, Anglia Ruskin University.

      CHAPTER 1

      The Clarinet

      Contributors: Henry Dunn, Amelia Oldfield (introduction

      and case vignette), Catrin Piears-Banton and Colette Salkeld

      Introduction

      Compared with other orchestral instruments, the clarinet is a relative newcomer. It was invented near the beginning of the 18th century and appeared increasingly often in orchestras throughout that century. As a result clarinettists do not have original parts to play in earlier music, although there are many successful transcriptions or arrangements where clarinets might play viola, oboe, French horn, trumpet and sometimes even violin or flute parts if these are not too high. The range of the modern B

clarinet is from D below middle C, to G two-and-a-half octaves above middle C (or higher depending on the player). It can sound smooth and mellow in the lower range, and more clear and piercing higher up. Composers who have written for the clarinet include Mozart, Brahms, Poulenc, Gershwin, Copland and Finzi. In addition to concertos and orchestral parts, the clarinet features in a wide range of chamber music, as well in wind band music, and clarinet choirs, which include bass and contrabass clarinets, alto clarinets and small high-pitched E

clarinets. The instrument is also prominent in jazz, folk music and traditional Klezmer music.

      The clarinet has a mouthpiece with a single reed, which has to be moist for the instrument to play effectively. When using the clarinet in music therapy, this can be a disadvantage if the music therapist wants to pick up the instrument to respond quickly to a client, as the reed might have dried out. It is possible to use plastic reeds to overcome this problem, but this changes the quality of the sound.

      Most clarinet playing music therapists use mainly B

instruments in their clinical work, although occasionally bass clarinets make an appearance because of their particularly appealing sound in the lower register. Henry Dunn mentions his interest in jazz improvisation in his contribution.

      The clarinet is a transposing instrument where, for example, on the B

instrument a written C sounds a tone lower: B

. In addition, unlike the flute or the oboe, the fingering is different in each octave. To deal with these problems orchestral and chamber music clarinet parts are often written for both B

and A clarinets, and most classical players will have a pair of instruments and can quickly swap from one to the other. However, since most music therapists only bring B

clarinets to sessions, when improvising they have to get used to transposing as well as overcoming the technical difficulties of using different fingerings in different octaves. It is also possible to get clarinets in C, but these are comparatively rare.

      Figure 1.1 Clarinet range (B

, A and E

)

      The clarinet is a popular instrument and is played by many music therapists, so it has not been difficult to find contributors for this chapter. Both Salkeld (2008) and Oldfield (2006a and 2006b) have written before about how they have used the clarinet in their clinical music therapy practice. Salkeld matches her client’s energetic and loud music on the buffalo drum by playing a bright melody in C major on the clarinet and marching around the room with him. After this he appeared more confident, not needing to hide any more (Salkeld 2008, p.151). Oldfield writes about many different uses of the clarinet when working with children and families at a child development centre (Oldfield 2006a) and when working in child and family psychiatry (Oldfield 2006b). She lists a number of reasons why she feels the clarinet is invaluable in her work (Oldfield 2006a, pp.34–35), and many of these overlap with the ‘Clarinet characteristics in music therapy practice’ described at the end of this chapter. When describing her improvisation on the clarinet during music therapy sessions she writes:

      On the clarinet, I often play in A minor, which in reality is G minor as the clarinet is a transposing instrument in B

. This is because the reed horns that I have are pitched at G and C, and as I often offer these reed horns to children and parents while I am playing the clarinet, I have become accustomed to improvising in this key. Quite often, I might be moving around the room while I play, so my phrases might be quite long and flowing with no predictable rhythms to accommodate the child’s unpredictable movements. At other times I use quite jazzy styles and rhythms as the clarinet is well suited to this style. (Oldfield 2006a, p.33)

      Forging connections with the clarinet

      Catrin Piears-Banton

      I was inspired to learn the clarinet after seeing Emma Johnson win Young Musician of the Year in 1984. I met her at a concert the following year when I had already started lessons, and we have been in touch ever since. Emma’s clarinet playing spoke volumes to me, she showed confidence and communicated such emotion in her playing; there was something about the sound of the rich tones of the clarinet that I wanted to experience. As a shy and tentative young girl, Emma’s gentle demeanour and quietly spoken words of support gave me, as a shy and tentative young girl, hope that I too could express a world of difference in my clarinet playing.

      As a music therapist, playing the clarinet in my clinical work gives me access to a variety of characteristic sounds across a wide pitch range: from the rounded, smooth resonance of the chalumeau register to the soaring, vibrant higher notes. This type of music can communicate humour, joy, drama, pain, sympathy, melancholia, as if I am truly speaking the emotion through my breath. My facial expression may stay similarly pursed as I play but the sounds produced can speak more than words and penetrate deeply within the shared musical experience.

      Case vignette: Ben

      Ben, a six-year-old child on the autistic spectrum, was referred to music therapy for help with his frustration at not being understood and to support him with difficulties in turn-taking and sharing.

      Figure 1.2 Clarinet hide-and-seek

      (photo by Dr. Alan Robson FRPS)

      From our first few sessions, I noticed that Ben responded vocally when I played my clarinet. Ben was most comfortable using his voice and he would experiment with a range of different sounds, as if exploring his capacity for vocal expression. My use of the clarinet could acknowledge something of his vocalisations without being too imitative.

      Ben sometimes came and touched the bell of the clarinet for a moment as I played, feeling the vibrations with his hand. At first, Ben would often move far away from me, sitting or standing with his back to me as he vocalised. It was my use of the clarinet that enabled us to play together and forge something of a connection. Ben’s vocal sounds were playful and rhythmic and he gained confidence