Klarinet Archive - Posting 000441.txt from 1997/12

From: Ken Bryson <kbryson@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Left hand Ab/Eb keys
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 1997 09:10:21 -0500

I've never had a key break during performance (or any other time) -- I
just don't put that kind of squeeze on an instrument! I did, however,
have a key jam during a performance -- the key was the bridge key of the
school-owned Selmer A clarinet, and the piece was the Mozart Concerto.
I knew that the keys had a tendancy to jam together, but I was a very
accepting 17-year-old--it never occurred to me that the instrument could
be serviced and the problem solved. I simply accepted that this was one
of the quirks of the A clarinet. So when they keys jammed, I calmly
tugged the sections apart just a bit and carried on (trying to make it
look as much as possible like an intentional part of the piece).
Knowing alternate fingering wouldn't have helped me--knowing the music
well enough that I wasn't totally lost after the little interruption
did. I am convinced that musical performances always follow Murphy's
Law and all of its corollaries--if something can go wrong, it will. The
fact that I haven't broken a key during performance (yet) probably just
means I haven't had enough performances.

Nancy

Fred wrote:
>
> At 03:55 PM 12/8/97 -0500, you wrote:
> >J. Shouryu Nohe wrote:
> >> It's also good to know both ways in case
> >> the key breaks during a performance. ^_^
> >
> >It's nice to know _all_ alternate fingerings in case a
> >key breaks during a performance.
> >--
> >Mark Charette, Webmaster - http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet
> >Web/Personal - charette@-----.org
> >Business - charette@-----.com
> >"There's already an educational TV channel - it's called 'off'."
> > Lily Henderson, age 11
> >
> >
> Has anybody had a key break during performance? Its hard to imagine that
> happening- perhaps a pad could fall out, but a key break? Does that happen?
>
> Fred (fsheim@-----.com)