September, 2020 | Woodwind Geek

September 30, 2020September 30, 2020

How Does Playing a Woodwind Instrument Affect your Lungs?

When you play a woodwind instrument, you use your lungs a lot more than the average person. I have always been curious about what effect this could have on the lungs, good or bad. It is often said that wind musicians generally have a greater lung capacity than other people, but is this true, and could there be other effects on the lungs? I’ve had a look into this and have found out some interesting information.

September 29, 2020September 29, 2020

How Do You Find the Best Woodwind Teacher?

When you’re learning to play an instrument, your teacher is really important. You need to choose someone who really helps you progress well with your playing. But how are you supposed to find this person? There’s often a lot of conflicting advice around and people will want different things from a teacher so it’s important to get as much information as you can before making any decisions. I’ll list some of the things you should be considering when choosing your teacher.

September 27, 2020September 27, 2020

What is the Best Age to Learn An Instrument?

People of all ages take up musical instruments and some always seem to progress better than others. It’s true that we are able to learn things more quickly at different ages, so this will probably affect our ability to learn instruments too. I’ve looked into this topic in more detail to see if I can identify particular ages where learning ability on instruments is more successful than others.

September 26, 2020February 22, 2021

What is the Best Metal For an Instrument?

There are quite a few different materials that metal instruments can be made from. If you buy an instrument made from a more expensive metal, it will cost more money. It can be difficult to tell whether instruments made from more expensive metals are actually better, or whether it’s just a money-making scheme. I wanted to find this out so I looked into the physics of what is different when sound waves propagate through different materials to see whether there is a real difference in sound quality.

September 25, 2020February 22, 2021

Is the Volume of Notes Related to Frequency?

You might notice when you’re playing in a band that certain sounds carry better than others. You’ll often hear the high notes standing out over the rest of the band. On the other hand, if you’re living near someone who plays really loud music, the bit you usually hear is the bass. I’ve often wondered whether the pitch of the note has an impact on its volume so I decided to look into it in more detail.

September 24, 2020January 16, 2021

What is the Origin of the Word Flute?

If someone says the word flute, everyone knows straight away what they mean. Why is a flute called a flute though? The word itself doesn’t really give any clues – it’s just something we’ve learnt. All words come from somewhere, though, so I’ve been reading up on the origins of the word and how it came to mean the instrument we know today.

September 23, 2020September 23, 2020

Do Cane Reeds Play Better in Summer?

If you’ve been playing a reed instrument for quite a few years, you might think you start to notice trends between the time of year, i.e. the season, and how well the reeds play. I’ve found this before and thought it was probably just a coincidence. I decided to look into it and see if there was any science behind it and found some interesting points.

September 20, 2020September 20, 2020

What Strength Single Reed Do I Need?

One of the difficult things to work out as a single reed player is what strength reed you should buy. If you’re a beginner, you might not know where to start and it can really affect your playing if you end up with a reed that’s completely the wrong strength. There isn’t one right answer for everyone, but I’ll talk about the sort of thing you should pay attention to when choosing a reed and some of the best ways to go about it.

September 19, 2020September 20, 2020

When Should I Upgrade to a Wooden Clarinet?

If you’ve got a plastic clarinet that you’ve been playing for a few years, you might be thinking about upgrading to a wooden one. It’s important to think about this carefully before you do it, as it can be pretty expensive. I’ve outlined the reasons for upgrading and reasons why you might not want to upgrade, or could get away with sticking to the plastic clarinet you have.

September 18, 2020September 24, 2020

Is Grade 8 Comparably Hard on All Woodwind?

Having grown up playing a range of different woodwind instruments (and piano), I was always aware that I found some harder than others. I was never sure if this was me and that I was better at a particular instrument or if some actually were more difficult than others. I’ve had a look into what other people think and have tried to come up with some sensible answers on whether the difficulty level really does vary.