Klarinet Archive - Posting 000550.txt from 1995/06

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Saxophonne Players who Started on Clarinet
Date: Fri, 23 Jun 1995 20:36:06 -0400

I've been following this thread very carefully, and think I can summarize
the messages to date:

Point 1:

Some players started on clarinet and later switched to saxophone.
Some players started on saxophone and later switched to clarinet.
Some players started on clarinet and never switched.
Some players started on saxophone and never switched.

Point 2:

No one knows how many players may be in any of the above categories!

Seriousle, however, we *can* onclude that under the proper circumstances,
any of the above can work for a given individual. My experience has been
that it is much easier to begin on clarinet and add saxophone later than
to go the other way. There are two primary reasons, one relating to
fingerings and the other to embouchure. After learning clarinet
fingerings, it is relatively a simpler matter to relate the saxophone
fingerings in both octaves to the upper register of the clarinet. Also,
as the clarinet embouchure requires a firmer structure, it is easier to
learn to relax it a bit for the saxophone embouchure than to learn what
is required to adapt the musculature of the sax to the clarinet.

In the case of younger students, another factor may be the wider compass
of the clarinet. They will already be accustomed to reading the lowest
notes of the clarinet, and perhaps also higher ones than the saxophone is
usually called on to play. But, the saxophonist will not only be
confronted by the physical factors involved in making the change to
clarinet, but will also have the added necessity of learning to read
notes in new ranges.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

   
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