Fix Your Clarinet Players’ Bad Hand Position:
The Benefits of Using a Clarinet Neck Strap
NJMEA Conference - Friday, February 21st, 2020
Tom Davidson (click here for bio)
8th Grade Band Director, Randolph Middle School
Master of Music Education, VanderCook College of Music
[email protected]
The Benefits of Using a Clarinet Neck Strap
NJMEA Conference - Friday, February 21st, 2020
Tom Davidson (click here for bio)
8th Grade Band Director, Randolph Middle School
Master of Music Education, VanderCook College of Music
[email protected]
Thanks for attending (or checking out the materials)!
Thanks for attending my presentation or checking the materials from it! Navigate to the bottom of this page to find the presentation hand out and slide deck. I sincerely hope that you find the information to be helpful to you as a teacher of clarinetists of any age or ability level!
While clarinet neck straps are slowly making their way into the main stream, I feel that many band directors are simply not aware that clarinet neck straps exist, or write them off as being unnecessary. However, almost all of us have had students who display one or more of very common bad hand positions. Once those bad hand position habits set in (...and they usually set in early on), they are incredibly difficult to break.
Using a clarinet neck strap can provide some major benefits to your clarinetists including helping to promote:
While clarinet neck straps are slowly making their way into the main stream, I feel that many band directors are simply not aware that clarinet neck straps exist, or write them off as being unnecessary. However, almost all of us have had students who display one or more of very common bad hand positions. Once those bad hand position habits set in (...and they usually set in early on), they are incredibly difficult to break.
Using a clarinet neck strap can provide some major benefits to your clarinetists including helping to promote:
- Proper hand position that is free of tension...which significantly helps to improve technique!
- Improved embouchure, tone quality, & intonation!
- Prevention of performance injuries.
Thanks to BG for providing me with clarinet neck straps for this presentation to display and give away!
Disclosure: I am not endorsed or compensated by BG, and this presentation was not sponsored by BG. However, BG generously provided neck straps at my request at no cost to me to display and give away.
I really liked the BG Flex Series clarinet neck strap, so I reached out to BG on a “Contact Us” section of their webpage asking if they would be willing to provide some neck straps for my presentation. I expected a reply from a customer service representative (if I got any reply at all), but the founder and CEO of the French company, Franck Bichon, directly replied to my inquiry! See below:
BG Website:
If you're interested finding out more about the wide range of clarinet support strap options from BG, I highly encourage you to explore them further by clicking the BG logo above or this link to navigate to the BG website to read about each neck strap offered. Alternatively, click this link to navigate to the neck strap section of the BG Clarinet Accessories Pro Guide.
Which Neck Strap Should I Get?
The following four neck strap models from BG are the ones that I recommend for most students. Essentially, it's two models that each have an elastic version and a non-elastic version (I personally prefer elastic versions of clarinet neck straps to help pull the clarinet up into the player's top teeth. However, elastic vs. non-elastic boils down to personal preference.):
I'm sure that your local music retailer would be able to order them for you if they don't already have them stocked. However, if you need to order them online, be careful to check the model number that you order as the naming schemes online for these neck straps are inconsistent.
I really liked the BG Flex Series clarinet neck strap, so I reached out to BG on a “Contact Us” section of their webpage asking if they would be willing to provide some neck straps for my presentation. I expected a reply from a customer service representative (if I got any reply at all), but the founder and CEO of the French company, Franck Bichon, directly replied to my inquiry! See below:
- Bonjour!
Thank you for contacting us! I am the president of BG, and I appreciate your presentation and request. It took me 12 years to get clarinetists interested by our concept of clarinet straps. The first musician using it was Ricardo Morales at an ICA [International Clarinet Association] Convention. It helped us a lot to then have all clarinetists considering that this could also be used by them!
Back to your presentation, I will be happy to supply our straps! What I will kindly wish from your side will be to mention BG so we can help each other to encourage other musicians to test the concept.
Let us know where to address the straps. Does it sound like a good idea to you?
Kind regards,
Franck
BG Website:
If you're interested finding out more about the wide range of clarinet support strap options from BG, I highly encourage you to explore them further by clicking the BG logo above or this link to navigate to the BG website to read about each neck strap offered. Alternatively, click this link to navigate to the neck strap section of the BG Clarinet Accessories Pro Guide.
Which Neck Strap Should I Get?
The following four neck strap models from BG are the ones that I recommend for most students. Essentially, it's two models that each have an elastic version and a non-elastic version (I personally prefer elastic versions of clarinet neck straps to help pull the clarinet up into the player's top teeth. However, elastic vs. non-elastic boils down to personal preference.):
- BG Flex Series Clarinet Neck Strap (about $20)
- This is first the BG clarinet neck strap model that I came across. I switched over to it right after I found it.
- This model is the smallest neck strap model, and therefore the easiest one to fit in student model clarinet cases with limited storage spacd. It's the most economical option.
- Model Numbers:
- BG Flex Series Clarinet Neck Strap (Elastic Version) – Model #: CF-E
- BG Flex Series Clarinet Neck Strap (Non-Elastic Version) – Model #: CF-LP
- BG Nylon Clarinet Neck Strap (about $25)
- The elastic model of the BG Nylon Neck Strap is my favorite offering of the BG clarinet straps. It's the model of neck strap that I use personally.
- This model is similar to the BG Flex Neck Strap, but it has cotton padding around the neck area.
- I think of the Nylon as being a more luxurious, step-up model compared to the Flex that costs just $5 more. If the player has room to store the neck strap in the case, this is the model I suggest.
- Model Numbers:
- BG Nylon Clarinet Neck Strap (Elastic Version) – Model #: C20-E
- BG Nylon Bb Clarinet Neck Strap (Non-Elastic Version) – Model #: C20-LP
I'm sure that your local music retailer would be able to order them for you if they don't already have them stocked. However, if you need to order them online, be careful to check the model number that you order as the naming schemes online for these neck straps are inconsistent.
Presentation Handout
You can find a PDF of the presentation handout below or view it in fullscreen/download by clicking this link.
Presentation Slide Deck
You can find a PDF of the presentation slide deck below, or view it in fullscreen/download by clicking this link.
