Klarinet Archive - Posting 000381.txt from 2000/01

From: "Frederick S. Sterns" <fssterns@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Eb Alto
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 19:07:38 -0500

>I'm due to play a wedding on an Eb Alto later this month. What should I
>look out for and spend most of my practise time on to have an easy
>transition to this big brother of the Bb?
>
>Thanks for you help,
>
>Rachael Orbach

This is a scary question...you have to be a major risk taker to even think
of answering it! But...

"Conventional wisdom" says once you know the clarinet it's an easy
transition to the saxophone. That's nonsense, in my view. Each instrument
has its own unqiue characteristics, and even within the saxophone family
there are differences that must be considered.

In any event [1] the sax embouchure is quite different from the soprano
clarinet. [2] the sax fingering is like the second register in the
clarinet...to a point...but the top and bottom tones on the sax use side
palm keys and "little finger" keys,espectively, which take some practice to
get right...or even at all if you look at the bottom of the horn. [3]
Saxophones usually use vibrato to get a "true" saxophone sound, and if some
threads on this list are any indication, vibrato is an anathema to most
clarinet players. Learning vibrato is not something to be picked up in a
couple of weeks.

So...you need to find a saxophone player experienced in the kind of music
you plan to play at the wedding and have him/he tutor you on the above
items, as well as some others.

Of course, if the "band" is a rock group you can play almost any way on the
alto and nobody will know the difference! :-)

Best of luck...Fred S.

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