Klarinet Archive - Posting 000485.txt from 2000/02

From: avrahm galper <agalper@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Boehm on height of fingers
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 05:32:34 -0500

This is taken from a book about Boehm, the inventor of the Boehm flute.

The method of practicing
When the embouchure has become good and certain, one should study the
scales and chords in all keys, for this is the foundation of all
passages.
As it has been said, it is only a waste of time to repeat anything that
can already be played without stumbling.
Difficult fingering on the contrary must be gone over very slowly at
first so that in the slurred tone-combinations no interpolated notes are
audible and no lack of purity is noticeable
To secure this smoothness, there must be no perceptible cramping tension
of the muscles in either the hand or arm; this cramping results from an
entirely unnecessary expenditure of force.
Many players have the habit of raising the fingers not only too high,
but also to unequal heights, whereby complicated finger movements become
unecessary difficult; since when several fingers are closed at the same
time, if one finger must move further than another, it is perfectly
evident that they cannot reach the end at the same time.
The fingers therefore should be held at equal heights, and not higher
than is necessary on the instrument.
To secure this, and especially as most players do not realize how high
they have raised their fingers, I advise my pupils, when practicing the
scales, to stand before a mirror
They are then in the position to see not only the finger movements and
the whole manner of holding the instrument, but also to detect many bad
habits such as distortion of the features and unnecessary movements of
head, arms and body.

--
Avrahm Galper
CLARINET TONE TECHNIQUE AND STACCATO
CLARINET UPBEAT SCALES AND ARPEGGIOS
EINE KLEINE KLEZMER MUSIK
http://www.avrahm-galper.sneezy.org

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