Klarinet Archive - Posting 000332.txt from 1998/03

From: "Cynthia M. Lee" <cle-ork@-----.no>
Subj: Altimetry register
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 14:43:15 -0500

I need some help and advice. And I can think of no better place to turn to
than the klarinet list. I am having a difficult time with the altissimo
register.

Perhaps a little background would be helpful. I played clarinet through
high school, then took a 20 year hiatus to work as a chemical engineer. I
have rediscovered my love of the clarinet two years ago. I play in a local
community musikkorps in Norway. I started serious study with a really good
clarinet teacher 6 months ago. My teacher focuses on the fundamentals of
tone and technique, though the daily ritual of long tones, followed by
scales, broken arrpegios, etudes, articulation and trills. I am using
Rudolf Jettel's, "Klarinetten-Schule". I play a Buffet Prestige RC with a
Vandoren B45. mpc with Vandoren Optima ligature and Vandoren V12 3-1/2
reeds. My teacher and I are very pleased with my tone, and my technique is
slowly improving.

My problem is playing 4th's, 5ths, 6ths, etc. back and forth from the
clarion register to the altissimo register. In particular, a'' and d'''
tend to jump up to notes above g'''. I generally have to tongue the note
to get it back down to the proper note. My teacher tells me that I must
focus the air stream directly down the clarinet with lots of support from
my abdomen. He also tells me to try and "think" the note without changing
the direction of the air column or the embouchure. I feel that I am doing
that. I have what I feel is a really good tone when playing long tones and
straight scales to g'''. When I start broken arpeggios through the entire
range, the problems begin. My teacher mentioned that the is a break
between g'' and a'', and that is part of the problem.

Needless to say it is a little frustrating. I know that I am at a plateau
on my learning curve, and my teacher says that I must work through this
period. Practice, practice, practice... I do practice at least an hour
every day, (more on weekends, but I still have to make a living in the
engineering world) I have the same problem on my old E-11 clarinet, so the
problem is me.

Also any good fingerings for a'''? All my fingering charts show the same
fingering for e''' and a'''.

Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My
neighbors would probably pay a handsome sum...

By the way, football in Norway is soccer, and so there is no half-time show
and thus no marching band. We do march in parades however, every 17th of
May, which is Norway's independence day. We also march during a weekend
long gathering of area bands, which we call "musik stevne". Every band
marches throughout the town, playing marches. The public turns out in
great numbers, just to hear the marches. Each band also performs an
outdoor concert and an indoor concert. Nothing but great fun and
entertainment. Every little town and village in Norway has a musikkorps
and thus a significant number of the population, both adults and students,
are involved in music. The only motive is the love of music and
fellowship. Just a little perspective from outside the US.

hilsen

Cynthia Lee

   
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