Klarinet Archive - Posting 000560.txt from 1995/05

From: John Baetens <JSBtens@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Andrew Lloyd Webber keys
Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 06:41:42 -0400

I guess there has to be some musical reason for selecting a
particular key.

I admit, I am not a professional musician. Music has always
been a big part of my life, but I know I have not spent the time
and effort to reach the levels of musicianship that others in this
group have. With this in mind, I can say that if taking a piece of
music written in, say Db, and bringing it up a half-step to make
it more managable to play somehow changes the mood of the
music, then the difference is too subtle for me to detect. To me
it's just the same effect in a different key. But I will keep my ears
open.

While we all sing the praises of what a wonderful, versatile, and
colorful instrument the clarinet is, we must admit that it shares
the disadvantages that woodwinds have of the difficulty in
transposing to different keys. I remember when I took a piano
class in college and we had a lesson very early in the class
where we were to play a piece written in our book, and then
play it over and over, increasing the pitch chromatically each
time, until we had played it in every major key. I thought the instructor
was a real sadist until I realized how much easier this
task is on a keyboard instrument than on the woodwinds I was
used to playing.