Klarinet Archive - Posting 000592.txt from 2000/05

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] "open" G (was: Beginner books revisited)
Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 12:55:12 -0400

on 5/9/00 11:26 PM, William Wright wrote:

> <><> J. Shouryu Nohe wrote:
>learned that there's no such thing as open G. Throat G is finger R1-3
>
> <slightly...I don't know...,slightly something, anyway> My
>fingering book lists four G fingerings, two of them being 'preferred'.
>None of them are R1-3:
>
>(1) no fingers -- preferred (easiest)
>
>(2) L3 + R1 + R2 -- preferred (best sound)
>
>(3) E key (left pinky) + R1 + R2
>
>(4) G# key (right pinky) + R1 + R2 + R3
>
>On my student plastic Yamaha, and given my beginner's status, (2) sounds
>horrible to me and (1) is second best. R1+R2+R3 does, in fact, sound
>the best to me and my tuner likes it best also. Adding the G#, as in
>(4), detracts.
>
>Live and learn.

...and the lesson is that every 1.) player, and 2.) mouthpiece, and 3.)
clarinet is different, and may require a different fingering for open G.

Then there's the issue of context. A loud open G will require a different
fingering from a very soft one, and a G in G major will be different than
a G in Eb major.

This week I'm working on a little trio for clarinets where I have to play
accompanimental octave B's (low and middle) at a soft dynamic. My
fingering for low B is:

T X
X
X
_
O
X
X
Eb

Try it - under "normal" circumstances it's awful, but at a soft dynamic
it works quite nicely, and the pitch is right on without a lot of
embouchure gyrations.

Now I know this thread was about teaching beginners. Until they've played
for a while, there's no sense complicating their lives with fancy
fingerings. RH down will usually do the job until they have a tone
quality and sense of pitch discrimination that will allow them to make
use of something more sophisticated.

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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