Klarinet Archive - Posting 000194.txt from 2002/08

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Throat F and F# fingerings
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 13:38:24 -0400

on 8/21/2002 2:04 AM, William Wright wrote:

>The side trill keys are the easier and more legato way to move between F
>and F#; but on longer notes where the listener has more opportunity to
>hear the F#, the side trill keys are not quite as accurate.

Not exactly. On most clarinets (YMMV) the 1st finger F# is slightly
sharp, the chromatic F# closer to pitch.

John O'Neill wrote:

>Is there a preferred fingering? I feel that it would be better to
>select one of these fingerings and stick with it for all chromatic
>scales. Please don't flame me on this subject. I am willing to try 'the
>Martian Method' -- or any other method if such a one exists.

For chromatics, the usual practice is to use the thumb F/side keys. But
the trouble with any method which dogmatically asserts that "this is the
*PROPER* way to do this" is that it doesn't allow for any alternative
possibilities that might prove helpful in a particular situation. I urge
my students to use and practice both fingerings. Practicing the "flip"
from thumb F to 1st finger F# is useful, because in "real music"
sometimes it is unavoidable.

When I was in grad school, and working on the Walter Piston Concerto, I
had such a passage, and in my academic and highly compulsive way was
trying to standardize the F#/Gb fingerings in that passage. My teacher
took one look at the passage, and marked some 1st finger, some chromatic
fingering and asked me to play the changes on the spot. It worked much
better immediately. So, the point is, use the fingering that's
appropriate to the situation.

David

David Niethamer
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

---------------------------------------------------------------------