Klarinet Archive - Posting 000093.txt from 1995/07

From: John Baetens <JSBtens@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: artic. G#
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 1995 00:27:37 -0400

I just thought of another reason why the articulated G# key did
not catch on with the clarinet as it did with the saxophone.
(Besides the one piece body advantage).

It seems to me that when playing the saxophone, the little
finger of the left hand has much less to do than when playing
clarinet. Once you get past low C#, the only thing you need
it for is G#. This allows you to just leave the G# key pressed
practically all the time when playing in a key with G#. On the
clarinet, however, you need the little finger for middle of the
staff B and C#. Well, I guess you could use alternate fingerings,
but this could get complicated as well. I could still see the
advantage of having this on clarinet, but admit it is more
useful on sax.