Klarinet Archive - Posting 000214.txt from 2007/12

From: Alexander Brash <brash@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Legato Finger Motion
Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:11:43 -0500

I know the list has seen some traffic on this topic before, but in my =20=

opinion, which is in no way something you have any reason to take =20
seriously given that no one's ever heard of me, to me this is all =20
largely nonsense. The "popping" effect is not really caused by =20
fingers, it's caused by shifting between different harmonics without =20
adjusting the pressure point on the reed and force of air in a way =20
which is sympathetic (I don't mean this in the strict sense of the =20
word, but would be happy to have a longer, more precise discussion =20
about it) to the standing wave in the tube vs the standing wave of =20
the reed/mouthpiece/lip system (this is what I hear in the recording =20
example you gave - the problems occur with notes in different =20
harmonics, not in sequences within the same harmonic). I've found =20
that on a properly adjusted instrument, one can slap your fingers as =20
hard as you damn well want without causing any audible noise =20
whatsoever or causing any difference in the "sound" of the legato. =20
Quite the contrary, I've found that thinking of finger motion in the =20
most mechanical method possible is what gives great legato and =20
technique, and when you start thinking about slow/fast/liquid/artsy =20
whatever finger motion, you end up making a lot of unnecessary and =20
imprecise movements. This is my personal observation / experience =20
with the matter only and I'm not intending to state it as fact, I'm a =20=

firm believer in doing whatever you have to do in your brain to make =20
the instrument sound the best that you possibly can, but it's my .02.

Respectfully,
Alex

On Dec 31, 2007, at 11:28 AM, K S wrote:

> A couple of months ago, I had an epiphany while studying the Gunlogson
> treatise on Stanley Hasty
> <http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11132006-155903/=20
> unrestricted/EG_Treatise.pdf>.
> I was won over by Hasty's ideas on legato finger motion, which I had
> let pass by when I read about them from Bonade, Marcellus and Portnoy.
>
> At treatise pp. 124-127, Hasty describes how open holes on the
> clarinet make a true legato possible, in a way that it's not possible
> on the oboe with plateau keys. You close or open a hole slowly,
> without a "pop." You do this by balancing muscle tension in your
> fingers. You feel as if your finger motion continues down into the
> wood. When you raises a finger, it feels as if it comes out of the
> wood and continues up, binding consecutive notes together as if you
> were singing. You "squash" into it, as if your fingers were "moving
> in heavy oil."
>
> Hasty said that Ralph McLane did this "to the nth degree," making a
> legato "like liquid." When I listen to Larry Guy's fabulous McLane
> and Bonade excerpt CDs, I now hear their wonderful legato as well as
> their perfect technique, tone and phrasing.
>
> Contrast this with the otherwise amazing playing by Venancio
> Rius-Mart=ED in his performance of the Lovreglio Fantasia da Concerto.
> Go to <http://www.clarinetus.com/eng/index.htm> and click on
> Recordings and then on the Lovreglio. I hear (and am bothered by) the
> constant clicks and pops as his fingers slap down.
>
> Listen again to Marcellus's Mozart Concerto. There's not a single
> finger pop as he moves from note to note.
>
> I also hear this in the performances by the great violinists.
> Heifetz, Stern, Kreisler -- they all bind their legato from note to
> note. In fact, they often slide from one note to the next with the
> same finger, and when they put down a different finger, they make, not
> a smear, but a liaison.
>
> I now think that this is one of the differences between clarinet
> players I like and don't like. I'm working on my scales in thirds all
> over again, to make the intervals "liquid" as well as clean.
> Who else has thought about this or is working on it?
>
> Ken Shaw
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>

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