Learning an instrument is hard, there’s no debate to that.
How many of you had to play recorder in elementary school and simply couldn’t get the hang of it? Although I’m a musician now, the recorder was tough for me back in the days before I was serious about music, despite being an allegedly easy instrument to learn.
However, compare attempting to learn recorder to attempting to learn trumpet, and it was even harder to get the hang of. I did get the hang of the trumpet, in fact that’s where I discovered my love for music, but that’s because I played it daily for four years.
That all said, learning any instrument isn’t easy, but the ocarina has a much easier learning curve than many instruments do to reach basic proficiency. While I did have four years of trumpet under my belt, it took me less than an hour to be able to play basic songs on the ocarina on my first day of playing.
Results will vary, but I’d wager that nearly anyone with proper resources, and a functioning ocarina can get to basic playing within an hour of practice and reasonable proficiency within a month. Grab my friend David Ramos’s method book and set yourself up for success with a reliable Night by Noble and you’ll have an easy breezy start!
…But They’re a Challenge to Master
Did I say the ocarina journey would be easy? To get started, yes, but to master? That could take you many years.
Of course, there are things like slowly getting better at reading music and moving your fingers faster to play harder music, but that’s the challenge any musician faces. Every musician’s journey includes mastery of music and of their instrument, and ocarinas have unique areas of challenge on that road to mastery as well!
Every individual ocarina has its unique quirks, and beyond that, there are a lot of advanced techniques which, given how unique an individual ocarina is, are more philosophies to explore and apply to your individual instrument.
For example, playing in tune consistently with an ocarina is a challenge—if you overblow on any note, you’ll go sharp, and if you underblow, you’ll go flat. As such, ocarinas technically only have one in-tune volume per instrument, typically getting louder on higher notes.
Pitch-Perfect Dynamics and Alternate Fingering
However, if overblowing or underblowing affects pitch and volume, what if you could, let’s say, underblow an F# to get a quieter F natural? Or overblowing the F# to get a louder G? I’ve been playing for over a decade, and I scarcely explore this type of thing, especially given it’s extremely hard to transfer between ocarinas—what overblows to a louder G on one ocarina might just make an extra out of tune F# on another.
While traveling in South Korea during my university summer break in 2019, I had a jam session with Korean ocarinist MaryU, and her warm-up sheet music included this overblowing and underflowing for dynamics as an exercise she practiced daily. This is all to say I’m not just theorizing, these are techniques people use all the time.
Similarly, what if you find that you can use alternative, non-standard fingerings to hit certain notes, and for particular fast runs on a song, that alternative fingering might be easier than standard? I almost exclusively use an alternate fingering for the low Eb on most 12-holes instead of the standard fingering that uses the subhole. Again, the application will vary from ocarina to ocarina—an alternate, in-tune Eb on one ocarina may be out of tune on another, or it would require slightly different breath pressure to not be sharp or flat.
Extending Range
Even beyond some of these intricacies, there are more advanced techniques for particular types of ocarina, such as methods to extend the range of a 12-hole soprano C or a 12-hole alto C. And guess what? These techniques also aren’t consistent among individual ocarinas!
One common range extension method for the 12-hole soprano C is called the “Spider-Man,” since it’s the same hand positioning as shooting webs. Normally, the range of a soprano C is A5 to F7. The spider-man method lets you hit the G above F7, which is normally impossible. However, it is possible with overblowing to hit overtones.
Do I recommend using this method? Generally no—soprano ocarinas are loud, and overblowing makes them even louder. However, if you’re performing on a soprano C and you have to hit a couple high Gs, it’s a great tool for your arsenal! Again, remember this technique still varies from soprano C ocarina to ocarina as to whether it’s even possible.
Another range extension method is referred to by many as the “Milt Technique,” as it was popularized by Japanese jazz ocarinist Milt.
Basically, you position your hands such that some physics happen and you can hit higher notes. I won’t go into too much detail, as I already have a video on it above, but this works extremely consistently on most 12-hole alto C ocarinas to hit the G above their high F6 (range is A4 to F6). However, beyond the G, it is rather inconsistent instrument to instrument. For example, on my Night by Noble, I can consistently hit the next A and even the next C with some hand repositioning, but nothing else. To re-emphasize the point one last time, this technique too varies from ocarina to ocarina.
Mastering Ocarina is Applying Philosophy
Do you understand why I call mastering the ocarina as exploring and applying philosophies rather than just techniques? Technique is absolutely important, but the specifics of each advanced technique almost always vary from ocarina to ocarina. It’s like walking—you might innately understand the mechanics to make it happen, but depending on what shoes you’re wearing and the terrain you’re on, you have to make adjustments. Walking with high heels on carpet and walking in boots while hiking are both walking but very different mechanically, just like applying the same techniques to different ocarinas.
This is one huge reason I don’t think anyone can say there is a single very best ocarina. While there are ocarinas that are objectively better than others in terms of tuning, and pitch quality, so much of what could make an ocarina the best for you is subjective.
Because each individual ocarina has so many unique features for how best to play in both basic and advanced techniques, not everyone will connect the same way with every instrument. It’s like how in Ireland, they say the best whiskey is the whiskey you enjoy. You could hand me a $1,000 ocarina, but if it has low breath pressure, I won’t enjoy playing it, just like someone may love a $15 bottle of fireball and hate the most amazing $500 bottle of whiskey. The best ocarina is the one you enjoy playing.
Of course, it’s important to go outside your comfort zone, but isn’t that also part of reaching mastery in the ocarina? Start trying some advanced techniques, see how they differ across your ocarinas, and get to applying that philosophy!
And if you’re considering buying a new ocarina but have some you’ve yet to master, watch my video on when NOT to buy more ocarinas to help with that decision.
Andy Cormier 