Klarinet Archive - Posting 000391.txt from 2005/04

From: Joseph Wakeling <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Buffet Tosca Clarinet / Optional Key & Finger Memory
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 12:00:08 -0400

Bill Hausmann wrote:

> I think it is related to the similar problem I face when attempting to
> play a clarinet with an alternate Eb key for the left pinkie: because
> I know it is there, I unconsciously reach for it, whether I want to
> use it or not. I find it almost impossible to avoid most alt Eb keys
> (actually, the Tosca was the least problematical I have dealt with in
> that regard).

That problem vanishes with a little familiarity. :-)

I do make use of the alternate Eb key, though infrequently---I expect I
would do so much more if I was a pro and even more so if I was playing a
lot of modern music. There's a passage in the second movement of the
Stravinsky Three Pieces, for example, which seems to lie easier using
the LH Eb than the regular one. The only problem is that I have never
really integrated it into my practise regime (practise regime? What
practise regime?). My fingers know where it is (and isn't) perfectly
well but the fluency of movement can be a bit off in some cases, e.g. in
an E major scale (where it is noticeably more tricky to use than the
regular finger sequence, but that may be just due to my aforementioned
lack of practise).

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