Klarinet Archive - Posting 000588.txt from 1998/12

From: Note Staff Unlimited <notestaff@-----.ch>
Subj: [kl] Should I ask for easier part?
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 19:19:11 -0500

Clark, Dorothy schrieb:

Hi,

I need some advice on my situation. I play for my church. I am the
only
clarinetist. My concern is, the person that is writing the music for
my
part is writing very high notes in the upper register (up to high A,
but
mostly up to high Fsharp!). Not only is the fingering challenging, I
blow
flat or sharp due to my embouchure not being all that good as of yet.

snip

Would it be un-reasonable to ask this talented arranger and composer
to
write my part a little simpler to read.

snip

Should I just hush and practice,
practice, practice or should my part be a little less challenging?
Thanks.

Dorothy Clark
Have A Blessed Day!

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Hi Dorothy,

Like the others have said, it's too high to sound good. I've done some
arrangement myself and found the book Orchestral
Technique by Gordon Jacob OUP, ISBN 0 19 318201 7 to be very useful. Why
don't you tell your arranger friend about the
book - or even give it to him? (price was 90p in 1973)

Mr. Jacob is aware that there are players who can play very high at pp
but that is rare.He suggests (p.25) that the E''' should be
taken as the upper limit for SOLOS for most players. Other wise it
sounds too "screamy". I would go a step further for a small
ensemble and in an echo-ridden church accoustic and suggest D''' or even
C''' as the limit.

Well, in my humble opinion, it would be hard to find advice from a more
competent source than Mr. Jacob.

Good luck,

Best regards,
David
David Glenn
notestaff@-----.ch

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