Klarinet Archive - Posting 000181.txt from 2004/11

From: Donna Higgins <Donna@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Clarinets
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 23:05:38 -0500

> Out of the above soprano's not counting the Bb, which
> is hardest in your opinion and which one is more
> enjoyable to learn?
>
I've played all except the C clarinet, and I've really enjoyed each one
of them.

In my experience the little Eb was the most difficult to pick up. I had
never played it up until the beginning of this past summer (besides A and
Bb soprano clarinets, I also play many of the lower clarinets, mainly
bass but also sometimes alto, and even a little bit of contra alto). So,
the Eb was something very different for me.

I started playing it because one of my orchestras was doing the Berlioz
Symphonie Fantastique for a Halloween concert. It has a very important
solo for the Eb clarinet in the last movement and I knew I was going to
be playing that part.

I worked hard on two main things: producing a controlled sound in tune
rather than just a really loud shrieking noise, especially in the high
notes, and training my fingers to go to the right places. The Eb, being
so much smaller than the soprano clarinets, requires the fingers to be
much closer to each other, and they kept wanting to go where I'm used to
finding the keys on the Bb and A clarinets.

I practiced scales and simple etudes at first, and when I felt ready I
started working on the part in the symphony.

I had so much fun I wound up buying the Eb clarinet I was using (I had
borrowed it from a friend). I'm really looking forward to playing more
Eb in orchestra works. One reason is because I usually play second
clarinet parts in the orchestras I belong to, and playing Eb gives me a
chance for some solo glory once in awhile. :-)

- Donna

--
"L'enfer, c'est les autres."

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