Klarinet Archive - Posting 000677.txt from 1995/05

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Weird keys, emotional keys, colored keys (long, sorry)
Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 15:10:40 -0400

On Wed, 24 May 1995, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> 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.

I did want to make that point, and I believe it is true. However, as
some have detected and others may have suspected, I was attempting to
introduce a slight element of irony in my original post. I recognize
that there are technical differences in various keys on woodwind
instruments, but after many years of playing in many different settings,
one eventually gets to the point that playing in a key like B Major or Gb
Major becomes second nature, and the question of whether or not these are
"wierd" keys is never considered.

I am always slightly amused and slightly more annoyed when a very young
student encounters a note like, say, Db, and they will think a minute and
then say, "Oh, yes, that's C#, isn't it." Or even more likely, when they
first encounter F double-sharp, they will find it difficult to play until
they in effect transpose it and think of it as G. My practice is to
insist that they think of the note as what it is.

(snip)
>
> 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

> 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.
>
(snip)

> 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.
(snip) >

> 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.
>
(snip)

> 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.
>
(snip)

In my opinion, I think what you say about key difficulties and key color
is true, but to me these are inter-related in a way that we don't often
consider. In order to consider the relationship between these, we need
to consider the matter of "home key." On every woodwind instrument,
there is a fingering near the bottom of the range of the instrument which
requires that three fingers of each hand plus the little finger of the
right hand either cover holes or depress keys. Then, when these fingers
are lifted one at a time from the bottom, a certain scale will be
produced, and this is the "home key" of that instrument. On the flute,
that key is C Major; on the oboe, it would be G Major (possibly C or D
with some fingering systems); on the clarinet, F Major in the lower
register and C in the upper (written keys - concert Eb and Bb on the Bb
clarinet, concert D and G on the A, etc.); written C on the saxophone
(concert Eb on Alto, concert Bb on tenor, etc.); and F or C on the
bassoon.

As we move farther and farther around the circle of 5ths from these keys,
the fingering patterns become progressively more complicated, and we are
forced to use more "cross fingerings." As I am using the term cross
fingerings here, it means fingerings in which keys are depressed or holes
covered BELOW the highest open hole. This is especially the case for the
bassoon, as it has the least highly developed fingering system, and least
often true for the flute, due to the rational development of the key
system by Boehm. These fingerings are fairly rare on the clarinet,
unless the player chooses to apply them. An example would be holding
down keys with the right hand while playing the throat tones.

But, the point of all this is that as we move farther and farther away
from the "home key" of a woodwind instrument, the tone quality is
affected more and more. These changes are minimized by an excellent
player so that they may not be noticeable to a non-woodwind musician, but
they are always present, and always detectable to a musician with a
sensitive ear who has a lot of experience in listening to and for them.

In my own case, I have only "intermittent" absolute pitch. That is,
occasionally I will hear a note and know what note it is, or if asked and
if I don't think about it too much, I can sometimes sing a pitch "on
demand." However, I can always tell what note a woodwind instrument is
playing because I can recognize the tone quality ("color" ?) of the
note. In this way, I can tell what key an orchestra or a woodwind
quintet is playing in by relating the notes of the woodwind instruments
to the key center. (I recognize the notes of the clarinet and saxophone
in their "written" form, and then have to transpose them mentally back to
the concert key.)

So, for example, if I hear a bassoonist playing an eb on the third space
of the bass clef, and can tell that the note is the dominant pitch in the
prevailing key, then I know that the piece is in Ab. And, the reason it
is possible to recognize the eb is that the tone quality of that note is
unique and individual. This is one of those notes which requires a "cross
fingering," in this case the so-called "fork fingering" (first and third
finger holes covered, the second one open). And, after hearing that
note several hundred thousand times, one begins to recognize it.

So, my conclusion is that one of the important reasons that different
keys have a different effect or "color" in the orchestra is that the tone
quality of the woodwind instruments is substantially affected by the
necessity of playing farther away from their home keys.

This is also true of string instruments, for reasons that Dan suggests,
and is probably true of brass instruments as well, but I for one can't
recognize these differences as well, because I am not as accustomed to
hearing them.

> 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."

(snip)

I read that Beethoven and another musician were watching a beautiful
sunset, and one of them said "Eb Major," and the other replied, "Yes,
definitely Eb Major." So, to them, there was something about the key of
Eb which was related to the visual effect they were seeing. I have not
personally made such connections, but do not doubt that some people can,
and do.

So it seems to me that all this refutes the position of those who say
that in equal temperament, every key has the same effect or color. It
might be possible to make this point with regard to the piano or other
keyboard instrument when tuned properly in equal temperament, but I am
certain it is not true of the woodwinds.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu