Klarinet Archive - Posting 000108.txt from 2001/04

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] fingering options for beginners with small hands
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 17:58:29 -0400

Anne C Benassi asked:

<<<I have inherited two students (currently 9 and 12 years old) who were
quite young - and physically small - when they began their clarinet
lessons. For this reason their former teachers let them begin playing f
/ c" with the little pinky of the left hand. . . . I am unable to
convince myself from a logical standpoint that it's an inferior
fingering choice for their everyday playing, and I'm equally unable to
settle in and work with these fingerings. I want to change them, but
then I think, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Do you all have experience with this? Opinions?>>>

I'm so glad to hear that someone else had this problem! (In this case,
the students, not Anne). I am graced with very small hands. They
weren't any larger when I was a kid, either. When I first picked up a
clarinet, I couldn't use the "right" fingerings, so I had to use the
"left" ones as a matter of necessity. (I call them the "left"
fingerings as opposed to the "wrong" ones for the reasons that Howard
Klug posted -- if they work, they work.)

As one who had to go through the transition, it's really a case of "bad
news/good news." Here are my observations, based solely on my own
experience --

* Bad news: The "right" fingerings really do work better for most
passages. For middle school band music, it's not a big deal at all; as
the kids progress, though, it will become more of an impediment. Most
passages are scalar, and it works better -- for me at least -- to keep
the finger movement in one hand as much as possible. In either event,
my scales were better after I bit the bullet and switched over. Maybe
it was just the extra practice.

* More bad news: If you start on clarinet as a conduit to doubling on
other woodwind instruments, having the "left" fingerings as your default
will be a problem. There are no "left" fingerings on saxophone, flute
or (I think) oboe. On bassoon it probably doesn't matter -- with a
dozen plus thumb keys, you're a masochist anyway.

* Good news: they'll be very far ahead on knowing the "alternate"
fingerings, so when they get to the end of the Debussy Rhapsody they'll
think they're a genius for practicing ahead of time.

. . . my verdict? It's a wash, unless they want to double a lot. If
they're serious, the kids will end up going both ways anyway. As their
band music gets harder (i.e., more E flats), they will be forced to
learn both sets.

kjf

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