Klarinet Archive - Posting 000955.txt from 1997/04

From: <chr@-----.de>
Subj: Re: 1 + 1 fingering and more (Warning: long!)
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 20:54:19 -0400

The 1+1 fingering may not be absolutely necessary, but as with other
improvements to the clarinet through its history, it certainly can make
life easier in many rapid arpeggio situations. This fingering is a sort
of a "replacement" for the original (and only) forked Eb'/Bb'' fingering
used in the early days of the clarinet (to the beginning of the 19th
century):

=
o
=
-
o
o
o

Historically this was the first and only fingering for Eb'/Bb'' during
the 18th century. On the Oehler (German) system it is used as one of
three possible fingerings for Bb'' to this day (Eb' being too sharp for
normal use). Early in the 19th century some manufacturers started to add
the key for the left hand 4th finger (counting the thumb as one) which is
the "sliver key" on Boehm clarinets, but is quite thick and pleasant to
push on historical and modern Oehler (German) clarinets.

The Eb'/Bb'' side key for the right hand 2nd finger came last. It was not
used on Ivan Mueller's original 13-keyed clarinet in 1812, but
manufacturers were adding it to their top-line models a few years later.
Of course the Boehm clarinet has always had this key, since the number of
keys on the Boehm system has remained unchanged from its introduction in
1839 to the widespread common instrument in use today.

The Albert system is a derivative of the Mueller clarinet and does have
all three fingerings. The Albert system is similar to the absolute
bottom-of-the-barrel student clarinets being offered for sale in Germany
and Austria, as well as in parts of Eastern Europe, the Balkans and
Turkey. It may come as a surprise to many readers that manufacturers in
Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Egypt and Irak build literally
thousands of these "Albert-like" clarinets every year to satisfy a large
demand. (Before the Gulf War the Irakis even marketed a mirror-image
clarinet for the right hand higher than the left!) In Germany and Austria
the trend is toward more expensive clarinets that tune better and have
more keys.

The German system is expensive. A decent student model starts at $1100
and professional instruments cost between $5000 to $6500. A Wurlitzer
bass clarinet to low C goes for $19000 (although you can deduct about 12%
if it is exported unused from the EU - but US customs would want some
duty to get it to the USA).

In spite of these prices and the otherwise world dominance of the Boehm
system the Oehler (German) system is quite entrenched here in Germany. In
the area we teach and give clinics in (Eastern Baden-Wuerttemberg and
Schwaben in Bavaria) far fewer than ** 1% ** of all players use the Boehm
system. In fact most players in amateur circles are not even aware of the
Boehm clarinet.

Don and Cindy Christensen
Clarinet Instructors
Friedrichshafen City Music School
Friedrichshafen, Germany
E-Mail: chr@-----.de
Web: http://www.w-4.de/~chr/

>My question is regarding the real practicality of teaching this.
>Wouldn't time better be spent teaching students a few pages of practical
>technical information, such as cleanly going between high G and B-flat
>on the right (a minor third higher)? Maybe it is just me, but I can say
>I use that 1 + 1 fingering less than 1% of the time.
>
>Could it be that this 1 + 1 fingering which is somewhat rarely used, was
>created out of necessity for those players with clarinets lacking a RH
>B-flat "trill" key?
>
>Does anyone know at what point out there the B-flat trill key was added
>to the clarinet mechanism? And then estimate when that key would be
>functional enough to be widely accepted (like 15 or 20 years later or
>when?). What about carry over into the Albert system, is there a tie in
>there?