A few years ago, I posted a video on YouTube titled “Greatest jazz clarinet solo ever!” I expected it to get a couple of hundred views, and was shocked recently to realize that is has close to 100,000 views! One of the most requested things in the “Comments” section is a transcription of the solo, and while I have been reluctant to put my hard work out there for free, I also don’t think you can charge money for a transcription of someone else’s creative ideas. So here, for the first time, is John Graham’s solo from the Itchy Fingers track, Dakhut:
Month: July 2014
Cleaning Out the Moisture
I am a fairly obsessive person when it comes to caring for my clarinet. This will be particularly evident in a future post on preventing cracking in wooden clarinets, but for now, I just want to talk about keeping things clean and dry. The reason? Moisture can carry with it some nasty stuff like particles from your mouth (though you should be brushing your teeth beforehand, right?), cause the instrument to mold if left there too long, and on wood clarinets can increase the likelihood of cracking or warping. I take a little extra time when I pack up to make sure all of the moisture is gone. Some may think it’s overkill, but my clarinets look and play great, and my pads last for a very long time.