Advanced Clarinet Technique

This book by John Gibson has orchestral passages from Mozart, Borodin, Ravel, Berlioz, Brahms and other great composers. They are more than simple excerpts because they concentrate on particular technical goals of advanced clarinet playing. Here are some excerpts from the December, 2007 review in The Clarinet magazine of the International Clarinet Association: John Gibson, through the publications of JB Linear Music, has provided many superb collections of music not normally available for clarinet, and this book is an instructional compilation of music from previous editions. Each section contains several passages from the standard orchestral repertoire and each passage is preceded with a paragraph stating the goal of the exercise and performance notes about how it should be studied and performed. There are 41 examples total, including both the clarinet solo parts from the music being studied and difficult passages from the other instruments. All of the chosen examples are carefully aimed at the problem to be solved, although the examples are not presented in order of increasing difficulty. This is not easy music and will provide a challenge for even advanced players. The music is, however, very rewarding to prepare and working on it never feels like routine practicing. In fact, the stated goal of several of the examples is simply To have fun. This is a study book that you won't regret buying. (Joseph Messenger, review editor)