Klarinet Archive - Posting 000574.txt from 1995/06

From: Sal Lozano <Solzano@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Saxophone Players who St...
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 23:25:29 -0400

Edwin......please let me restate my points.....

First of all ......you wrote

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.

Once again....as far the embouchure goes, in order for a clarinet player to
get the feel of playing the saxophone up to good saxophone playing
standards....it takes more that just loosening up. When they loosen up they
have a greater pitch risk than ever before. Finding those notes that are
problem spots( let alone fixing them) is difficult.
Then there is a issue of good time. Learning how to swing if they have to or
other styles like rock and roll and other more contemporary music. That is
what you get these days when you take up saxophone. If they are too stiff,
they won't work and that clarinetist will starve as a sax player. When a
live show comes into town like chorus line or grease, they won't be into a
sax sound that is too stiff or doesn't swing.
I'm not saying that clarinet is easy
The sax switch to clarinet is also difficult but it takes more than just
learning fingerings or loosening to play a saxophone correctly.
yeah, yeah, I know this is a clarinet list.

Sal Lozano