 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: RSimpson
Date: 2001-05-22 01:53
I just signed up to play Tenor Sax at the Jazz band in my school. But, i will be playing Bass Clarinet in the ''regular band'' at my school.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice on playing both instruments.
Are these instruments similar?
Are the fingerings the same?
Please Help.
Thanks
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bob gardner
Date: 2001-05-22 02:36
The bass clarinet has the same fingering as the Bb clarinet. The Tenor sax is differant.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mike Harrelson
Date: 2001-05-22 02:51
Tenor is a good double for Bass Clarinet. The mouthpiece should be a comfortable switch for you. And there is the added bonus that the same reeds will work on both instruments (some of the better bass clarinet players say never ever use tenor reeds on bass, but a lot of us do...)
I'm assuming that you are already a clarinet player, if so, you will probably pick up sax fairly quickly (but spend a lifetime learning to play it really well).
The sax fingerings from "4th line" D up to B are the same as clarinet (and the sax fingerings are the same one octave lower ["3rd line" B down to D] ). If you are already a bass clarinet player those notes will probably come fairly quickly with a little practice. The lower notes on tenor - C#, C, B and Bb may seem very difficult at first but hang in there - time and practice is the key.
But in the long run you can make enought money playing sax to buy a really nice clarinet!
Hope this helps - You're in for a lot of fun.
Mike
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mike B.
Date: 2001-05-22 15:19
Hi -
I play bass clarinet and tenor sax. Assuming you are a clarinet player, some potential problems:
1. It takes time to get used to the octave overblowing of the tenor in terms of sight reading music.
2. It takes time and practice to get used to using the palm keys.
3. The clarinet embouchure is different than the tenor sax embouchure (and don't let anybody tell you differently). You have to learn to relax your embouchure, and support the mouthpiece properly.
4. The tenor sax resistance decreases significantly as you descend the scale (this makes it difficult to play the low notes properly).
Get a copy of Larry Teal's book "The Art of Playing the Saxophone" (or something like that).
Good luck!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ashley
Date: 2001-05-22 20:39
Oooh ooh ooh, let me answer this one....
I did the same switch about a year ago.. It was incredibly easy for me. You get used to the fingerings in a short time (about a week for me) and unless you're going to play tenor a LOT, i dont really think you need to change your embouchure a whole lot. I didnt, at all. I use my bass embouchure on tenor (I know, probably another thing i'm doing wrong..) My alto sax embouchure is pretty much my the same. My experience with reeds was i need a LOT harder reeds for sax than clarinet. I'm usint V12 3s for clarinet, I'm kind of stuck in a rut for bass clarinet reeds right now, was using lavoz hards or rico royal 3 1/2, and on tenor i use Hemke 4 1/2s, alto rico royal 4s. Big big difference (I know, my embouchure is screwed up a lot)
You CAN use the same reeds for both... i used bass clarinet reeds on tenor for awhile, dont anymore though.
It takes a bit to get used to the palm keys, but if youre playing tenor in jazz (especially 2nd like i did), you dont go up there all that often. Same with the lower notes.
ok enough of my babbling....
~ashley~
PS - on a completely unrelated note, I just remembered that i saw 2 bass clarinetists (in high school) using bari sax reeds.........I'm completely baffled by this.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
