Klarinet Archive - Posting 000526.txt from 2004/03

From: "Fred Wilson" <fred.wilson@------.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Extra, Non-Standard Keys (was Tosca)
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 10:57:18 -0500

To show my ignorance (not a difficult task) and to continue the strand - the
4 trill keys on the right side of the clarinet - I have only used two of
them - the obvious d# and an alternative for F# - enlighten me about the
uses of the upper two of the set of four.

Fred Wilson
----- Original Message -----
From: <Elgenubi@------.com>
To: <klarinet@------.org>
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 4:16 PM
Subject: [kl] Extra, Non-Standard Keys (was Tosca)

> Nancy said, "If you don't use those keys, they will always be confusing."
>
> I agree. When I bought a clarinet a year and a half ago with the left
> hand Ab/Eb, the music store owner, an oboist, accustomed to advising
students
> with new keys on their new horns, advised me to use it whenever possible,
to get
> used to it. I do, and it has been good for me. Like all the alternate
> fingerings, I can now use it pretty much when I need to. And in sight
reading,
> sometimes I'll use it without thinking.
> And for me there is a bonus. I am certainly no pro, and I still make
> amateurish errors. My fingers sometimes flick the wrong keys, my hands
tend to
> get tense, my fingers fly too high, and this slows my technique and causes
> squeaks. These are things I work on in warmup, to relax and have my
fingers work
> smoothly and efficiently. When I play a warmup E minor scale , using the
new
> left pinky key for D#, being aware of the key in that further away
location
> helps remind me to keep my hands correct and relaxed. In other words, if
I play
> this scale with this key, tense and unaware, I squeak on the D#, because
my
> left index finger will slip off its hole. Then I breath deeply and play
the
> scale correctly a few times, and I am aware of my left hand stretching to
the
> new key, while being relaxed and correct.
>
> Wayne T.
>
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