Klarinet Archive - Posting 000206.txt from 1995/04

From: "R. Gerry Long. Clarinetist, studied at Eastman,
Subj: Re: Woodwind Quintet Intonation Problems
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 1995 01:48:07 -0400

Mike: Most wind ensemble problems are the result of
1) individual musicians' lack of understanding of the basic
tempered scale of their instrument. If each player could can produce an
accurate tempered scale, most of the problems of intonation become small
ones. This is the only way we can achieve good intonation in a rapid
passage.
2) individual musicians' inability to adapt to the subtleties of harmonic
tuning--knowing when to lower the third and the 7th of a chord.

There is nothing like taking the time in with a collection of chorales,
stopping on a chord, reversing the voicing in a chord, taking that chord
chromatically (adagio) up or down, etc.

Good listening skills, and an understanding of which notes on each wind
instrument are in or out of tune, should solve most of your problems.