Being a student of the clarinet is exciting. If you invest time at the beginning learning the basics of clarinet playing, you will reap rewards for many years to come. Practicing the exercises in this book can help you master the clarinet. the exercises will help you refine your tone, improve your technique, and enhance your musical expression. These are the cornerstones of great clarinet playing. Time spent with these exercises will make you more able to handle difficult passages and concentrate on the music rather than the technique.

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Notes for Clarinetists: A Guide to the Repertoire offers historic and analytical information concerning thirty major works for solo clarinet, clarinet and piano, and clarinet and orchestra. This information will enhance performance and be useful in preparing and presenting concerts, and recitals.

For any serious clarinet player, this book is an absolute must.

The wind accompaniment to George Gershwin's popular piano solo, Rhapsody in Blue, is based upon the 1924 and 1926 Grofe editions for jazz band and theatre orchestra. Donald Hunsberger has scored this edition for 23 players which produces a leaner and more muscular version to serve as a companion to Thomas Verrier's setting for full concert band or wind ensemble. (See Verrier listing above under Grade IV-V.)

Schott

(Editions Durand). This edition is enriched with a historical introduction in French and English by notable clarinettist Pierre Genisson. " ... this piece is, without a doubt, one of the sweetest I have ever written." As this letter that Claude Debussy wrote to Durand, his publisher, indicates, the composer held his Rhapsodie for clarinet and piano in very high regard. In 1909, when Gabriel Faure, then director of the Paris Conservatoire, commissioned the piece, Debussy had never before written for clarinet. He dedicated it to P. Mimart, "as a token of my regard." After the unanimous recognition of the high quality of this solo, written for competition, Mimart premiered it in public on 16 January 1911 at the Salle Gaveau in Paris. Two years later, Debussy would choose to expand it further, writing a version accompanied by orchestra with a greatly expanded palette of colors. As its name suggests, it is freeform, and emanates a great poetry. The introduction, "Reveusement lent," is an evocation of the dawn. This gives way to a scene of nature's awakening, which never ceases to amaze us with its transformations. At times calm and lyrical, it sometimes becomes mischievous, vindictive or even joyous, especially during the scherzando passages. In a heightened impressionist style, Debussy gives free rein to his imagination, demanding tremendous speed and precision from the clarinettist.