Klarinet Archive - Posting 000338.txt from 1998/03

From: "Diane Karius, Ph.D." <dikarius@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Altimetry register
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 14:43:21 -0500

I too have had similar difficulty at times - I found that the
voicing (position of my tongue/throat) has to be a little different
to successfully cross back and forth across that break. I found it
useful to "imagine" different vowel sounds as I play the notes
("eeee" for the altissimo; "ahh" for the lower notes; but these are
extremely individual - I know people who swear by the opposite).
As part of my "warm-up", I now routinely practice slurring
across the break - I start on high C (thumb/register key) and slur up
and down to the C# (4 - 6 times for all of these); D-C; D#-C; E-C;
F-C; etc... all the way up the octave; then I start from B (C#-B;
D-B; etc...); the A; the G. Any place I have trouble making the
slur cleanly, I slow down to a speed where I can do it right (real
important - no sense in practicing in a problem), make sure my first
note is voicing cleanly, and do more repititions at that speed. I
have found this very helpful.
I second the recomendation for the Thomas Ridenour book "Clarinet
Fingering".

>
> 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.
Diane R. Karius, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology
University of Health Sciences
2105 Independence Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64124
email: dikarius@-----.EDU