Clarinet playing in a room by yourself isn’t very satisfying. Here are some ways you can share your music with the world.
Find a Community Band
If you are in North America, try doing a Google search for “New Horizons Band”. New Horizons Music programs provide entry points to music making for adults, including those with no musical experience at all and those who were active in school music programs but have been inactive for a long time. https://newhorizonsmusic.org
Find a Summer Music Camp
Often colleges and universities sponsor music camps during the summer. These programs give you a week or so of intensive playing, usually small ensembles as well as concert band or orchestra. Search for “Music Camp for Adults”
Play-along with a Recording, or Improvise with a Jam Track
There are many sources of playalong recordings.
- If you like popular music, you might try the Carl Strommen by Special Arrangement series published by Alfred Music.
- Or the Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings Instrumental Solos, also from Alfred Music.
- For classical chamber and orchestral music, check out the Music Minus One series. https://www.halleonard.com/series/MMONE?dt=item#products
- For solos with piano accompaniment, you can purchase professional accompaniments at https://www.piano-accompaniments.com/
- You can also find accompaniment tracks on 8notes.com and VirtualSheetMusic.com, but these are lower quality than the ones mentioned above.
- One place you can find some Jam Tracks is https://www.8notes.com/all/playalong/
Volunteer to Entertain at a local Senior Center, Assisted Living Facility, or Nursing Home
“Old folks homes” are always looking for free or low-cost entertainment. The Carl Strommen CDs are great for this, because the music is swing and classic move music. Pack up your computer, get some good loud speakers, and go out and do a good deed. Here is an example that I recorded from one of the Strommen books: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKxSXxJsR2s
Play Duets with Yourself
For this you’re going to need some software like Garage Band (Mac) or Audacity (cross-platform). The idea is that you record the first part of the duet, then play along with that part to record the second part. How to do that is a subject for a future post, but here’s what it might sound like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnbbDeYr78g
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