Klarinet Archive - Posting 000041.txt from 1997/04

From: Don and Cindy Christensen <chr@-----.DE>
Subj: Re: Neck straps (and student C clarinets)
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 1997 14:22:55 -0500

>What's the consensus about neck straps and the Bb clarinet.
>Quite a few of the players at my school use neck straps fastened to the
>thumbrests of their horns. Does anyone on the list use a strap? It
>seems like a good idea......

This is a good idea for many people to avoid cramping in the right hand.
Since the finger-spread in the right hand of the Oehler clarinet is
substantially wider (1 cm or more) than the Boehm, the issue of right
hand cramping is great here in Germany. Two of the 5 players in our
family regularly play with neck straps. We encourage students who have
trouble to take a length of elastic such as is used in making skirts and
make a loop fastened with a safety pin. They can then, by trial and
error, determine exactly what size loop lifts enough weight but still
allows for freedom of movement when playing. Once this is determined the
strap is then sewn. A small loop of several strands of dental floss allow
a perfect fit to the thumb rest.

Non-elastic straps do not allow enough flexibility.

C Clarinets:
The issue of the right hand also has been responsible for a growing
number of teachers to start smaller pupils on the C clarinet. Clarinets
in Germany are marketed similarly to oboes in the USA in that cheaper
models for beginners are offered with fewer keys (The only example of
this I know of in the Boehm world is the Lyons C clarinet in England with
a plastic body and plastic keys). Many youth music schools now have a few
C clarinets to loan out to beginners. Bb mouthpieces and reeds can be
used, not leading to the kind of embouchure problems starting with Eb can
cause.

Don and Cindy Christensen
chr@-----.de