Klarinet Archive - Posting 000097.txt from 2005/02

From: X-MailScanner-madprof@-----.net
Subj: [kl] Tuning, pitch, violinists, and so on...
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 18:09:30 -0500

Hi list,

(Sorry for bringing up the tuning/pitch topic again.) I am playing
clarinet & classical guitar with a small group ( violin doubling
classical guitar, non-lyrical singer, and metalophone doubling occasional
percussion ) as live music to a theatrical play. We had until
recently a sop. sax playing with us (great!), but as he had
to find other work, we now are rehearsing in a new violinist.
She is extremely good, competent player, conservatory trained,
soloist, and all. But I continually hear her sounding sharp.
No-one else seems to, and all are entranced by her playing.
So I expect it is my problem. I find myself lipping all over the
place trying to play in tune with her, and jumping registers
is often painfully out.

I have read a bit about different tuning systems, about the
differences in temperament, clarinet tuning imperfections,
violinist's tendency to sharpness, and other possible reasons
that could be causing problems.

Should I do some serious study this week on temperament, get
hold of a full score, and work out which intervals are likely
to be problematical, try and intellectually solve it, or is
that likely to not really help anything, and just confuse me
more?

Is there any particular direction or hint about what kind of
thing I should be studying and working at to help with these
kinds of problems ? I often am annoyed by tuning, and find
music, both playing, and played by others, disturbingly out
of tune. Is there anything I can do to teach myself to hear
better, and be able to play in tune with others better? Or is
it just practice ? Or is it just another "Something That Is
Always A Problem. Life Stinks. Tough." ?

About playing "in tune" in general... I know that a lot of
"in tune"-ness is mostly a myth, and that there is no real
"one in tune pitch" for a note (ie, A=440). (pitches needing
moving because of intervals, chords, tone-color and so on),
so, if practicing, what is the best way to learn to play the
clarinet with good intonation? Playing scales, arpeggios,
intervals, etc, using a tuner? If so, aren't tuners normally
even-tempered? And wouldn't that train one to play even-tempered,
and hard to play in other temperaments? Or is this not really
an issue? What temperament/scale are clarinets manufactured to
anyway?

Sorry for asking so many questions, and for being so naive
about all this. My teacher doesn't really tell me anything,
and I cannot find anyone to really talk about such things here.

Thanks,

Dan

--
http://www.madprof.net

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