Klarinet Archive - Posting 000038.txt from 1997/05

From: "David B. Niethamer" <niethamer@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: 1+1 fingering
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 18:16:54 -0400

On 5/1/97 2:10 PM, Christopher G Zello wrote:

>As for my personal lack of use of the 1+1 fingering, I have just never
>liked the sound of that fingering. Maybe on a different clarinet I might
>feel differently. I do see the practicality in using it for arpeggiated
>passages, in that you pass over it quickly. But really, would you
>considering using the 2+2 A-flat as weak as it sounds even though it
>keeps your hands in position right over the keys?

The 1+1 Bb has a lower pitch on almost every quality clarinet I've ever
tried. It also has a good bit less flexibility than most notes, so
attempts to raise the pitch result in a stuffy, resistant note/sound. But
check the pitch on a tuner - usually more "on the money" than the side
key fingering. If you can figure out how to make it resonate, it can be a
very useful fingering in more than Bb arpeggios.

The 2+2 Ab, OTOH, has few uses because at any dynamic, it has a crappy
tone quality. Still, useful for that unplayable passage in "Galanta
Dances". I first learned it in a similarly unplayable passage in Baermann
v.4 in the Tarantella.

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
niethamer@-----.edu
dbnclar1@-----.com
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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