Klarinet Archive - Posting 000674.txt from 1995/05

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Weird keys, emotional keys, colored keys
Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 12:41:02 -0400

Three separate items regarding key signatures have arisen on
this list simultaneously. Many interesting and provocative
comments have been made about key character, key colors, and
key difficulties. I figured I would wait until I saw all of it and
now that it's dying down, I'd like to fan it up a little.

KEY DIFFICULTIES

The first topic on key difficulties went under the title "Weird
keys" for a while and it implied that some keys were less
desirous to play than others, though precisely what was implied
by "desirous" was never really clarified.

Ed Lacy hit the target on the center when he challenged the
whole thread by asking "What is a 'weird' key?," stating
furthermore that a professional should be able to perform with
facility in every key. Truer words were never said.

Other comments made on this topic gave the clear impression
that there were no differences, no technical differences,
between keys and that all were equally playable. It is to this
that I must take serious difference.

My assertion is that not only are there differences in keys when
executing on a clarinet, but that these difficulties make certain
keys inherently more difficult than others. Consider C major.
The basic ascending scale involves the ability to play from the
7th to the 8th tones of this scale in either hand after the
clarinet's natural break; i.e., B-natural (left) to C (right), or B-
natural (right) to C (left). Furthermore, the execution of the
7th to the 8th tone may be accomplished solely by the action of
raising one finger AND NOT RAISING ONE WHILE
SIMULTANEOUS LOWERING ANOTHER; i.e., B-natural in
either hand may, at the player's choice, be executed with two or
one pinky down.

Now consider E major. As one ascends and crosses the break,
one no longer has the option of choosing either hand for the B-
natural (unless the clarinet has extra keys). It must be
executed in the right hand since the next note must be executed
in the left hand to allow for the D-sharp - the 7-th tone - to be
executed in the right hand. That's a two-step preparation that
has to be considered when executing this scale; i.e., which
position tolerates a position that tolerates the final mandatory
position?

In addition, the passage from C-sharp to D cannot be done by
the simple expedient of lifting only one finger, but is instead
accomplished by the simultaneous lifting of one finger and the
lowering of another. That is a coordination matter completely
lacking in C major.

These mechanical differences demonstrate unequivocally that
the two passages are not only not identical, but their
differences result in a different technical approach to E major
than to C major. In effect, one has to think differently about
finger placement and note-to-note transition in one key than
another.

Now with enough practice, the differences are minimized and
one becomes very fluid in each of the various keys where such
differences exist, but they are never eliminated. And, in my
opinion, it is wrong to think that there is no technical
difference in the playing of these two keys.

Therefore, different keys require different technical approaches
and, by definition whenever two different ways exist of doing
something, one is harder than the other.

KEY CHARACTER

The suggestion has been put forward that different keys have
different character. That is almost certainly true, but on
the clarinet? It is a string phenomenon caused by the fact that
certain notes have more resonance than other notes. This is
built into the instrument. When the key has lots of sharps or
flats, one cannot use open strings and/or the open strings do
not vibrate in sympathy with the stopped ones.

Furthermore, as the tonal center shifts for a string instrument,
the execution begins to occur around a different string.
Different strings produce different character because they are
physically different in thickness and even composition.

In the key of D, all four strings of the violin vibrate freely and
in sympathy with related notes. This produces overtones that
affect the character of the note. I can't say that it gets darker
or brighter because I don't know what those words mean, but
the character does change.

None of this happens on the clarinet and, therefore, I question
the theory that the key chosen has an emotional impact on the
music when the clarinet is the performing instrument. The
only reason we go from key A to key B is because the strings
have a different character in key A than key B.

This whole story shows how a valid theory for one instrument
can be adopted by another without any technical justification
for that adoption. The next time I hear a clarinet player tell
me that A major on the clarinet is a happier key than G major,
I am going to poke him or her in the eye with a sharp stick.

KEY COLOR

The notion that a key has a specific color (i.e., blue, indigo,
heliotrope, etc.) may very well be true to the person who sees
a specific color corresponding to a specific key, but there is
zero evidence than anyone else sees that same color for that
same key. At various times in history, composers have written
about their color theories and so far, none have been retained
as other than a personal theory. Scriabin was the big guy on
color, requiring a color organ to be used with his "Prometheus."

The entire theory has as much technical support as instrument
blow out; i.e., it may be true but there is no evidence to
support the theory and, as such, it becomes part of the bag of
old wive's tales that we carry around with us. (Is anyone aware
of the transcriptions made by Bellison in the 1920s, that
contain one movement called "Old Wive's Tales" though this is
simply a translation of the original title "Bube Meise." Terrific
klezmer music for clarinet and piano.)

-------------------------------------------------------------
So once again, Leeson on a white horse and in gleaming armor
rides to the defense of truth, justice, and the American way, a
basset horn for his lance, and fighting against the transmission
of dangerous, unscientific thoughts, righting wrongs, protecting
the weak and innocent and, occasionally, eating a
marshmallow-filled twinkie while playing a gig with accordion.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
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