I feel like I made a lot of progress this week on my left hand. I'd say I'm keeping my index curved on the A and F# keys around 60-70% of the time now, which is a huge improvement over last week. I've also gotten a lot better at keeping the ring finger on the C hole.
This did bring out another problem to light: My pinky fingers on both hands. I don't know if it's the clarinet that just has slow action, or if my pinky just isn't pressing hard enough, but except for the C/F key, there is often a delay in the sound that comes from the key not being pressed all the way down right away. This happen most often when I'm using my left pinky (it doesn't really matter which note it is, which is why I think it's a problem with me and not the instrument).
The Rose 20 is doing better than last week, but I still can't really feel how this song goes for some odd reason. I'm not sure if I should move on to another one or keep going with it this week... it's just very awkward for me. At least the left index portion of this etude is doing a lot better.
As far as embouchure goes, I feel like I still have trouble getting the high notes to speak. It's not a really big deal anymore up to a high D, but E and up (especially F) are still rough. I notice this a lot when playing through the Albert D Major scale in thirds. I'm not entirely sure if this is a tongue position problem or a jaw problem... I think it's a mix of both.
The Sain-Saens is doing better this week, but the problems that occur due to the above are still apparent. I think I'm doing the tapers a little better, but they still need more work... they'll be easier to do when I get the jaw/tongue position straightened up I believe. As far as getting the 16th note sections musically, I think there is some improvement, but I won't really be able to master that until I master the fingerings completely... just one of those things that happen only some of the time. The second movement is doing much better I believe than last time you heard it. Some of the sections I used to have trouble with are still there, but they're at the point where I can get them about 65% of the time now I'd say overall.
On a side note, I got a neck strap this week, and that has helped me out a lot I feel. I never really realized how much tension the clarinet would cause on my right thumb until I got the neck strap. It doesn't solve problems on its own, but I think it was a good investment on my part (it's an elastic one, so it also helps me a bit on embouchure by pushing the clarinet up a bit for me, which was harder to do with just my hands). I also go a new ligature to try out, though I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it yet... I'll keep going with it for a bit to see how I like it once I get it broken in.
Oh, and I think I'm pretty much done with that cold I've had for the past two weeks finally!
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