 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: RogerD
Date: 2002-07-07 18:19
I wisht to relay an experience I had about 15 yrs ago and then pose a question.
My throat A (concert G) was out of tune. The group leader asked me to sing the note. The first time he said I sang a concert F. He then got me to sing the correct note. He then told me to play it. Like magic, it was in tune.
My question is---Since most people cannot sing the range of the clarinet (especially the real high notes, i.e., above the first C above the staff) does this note create sort of a handicap in playing the real high notes? It would seem that our conception of these notes is somewhat fuzzy, thus hindering are efforts to play them in tune,
Any thoughts?
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Author: Cindy
Date: 2002-07-08 02:29
I think that with the higher notes there is a bit of a handicap in the exact note area, but we have become adjusted to hearing the note in lower octaves, so can base our note upon what we commonly know and hear. Also, by playing scales you can go from pitches you commonly hear and know are in tune, and compare later pitches to the note you started with.
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Author: David Pegel
Date: 2002-07-08 03:59
Part of it could just be the menagerie of alternate fingerings out there, and how no two clarinetists are alike in embouchure, so one has yet to find the perfect fingerings and tuning techniques in the upper altissimo. I'm constantly trying out new fingerings and embouchure adjustments for the stratosphere. But that's a very interesting theory! Could it really hold some ground? I sing bass, AND my intonation on bass clarinets is much better than that on Bb. I also sing the note to help myself get in tune, so all of that seems to back up in MY case.
I wonder if there's any way to study this scientifically??
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Author: yakkomh
Date: 2002-07-08 14:21
I can't sing worth anything but consider myself pretty good at intonation. My theory is that we humans can hear more sounds than we can make. Just try imitating sounds your hear everyday and you will see that you can hear them better than you reproduce them. Let the instrument do the work and your ear be the judge. Just a thought...
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2002-07-08 14:31
Just because your singing does not have the same range as the clarinet does not mean you cannot conceptualize the right pitch or that you could not sing it in tune if your vocal chords would allow.
Singing a note forces you to conceptualize a pitch before producing it. Merely blowing into a clarinet does not require the conceptualization. However, if you do conceptualize the proper pitch, whether you can sing it or not, you are more likely to play a particular note in tune.
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Author: Sarah
Date: 2002-07-08 16:16
So would it be helpful to be able to sing a piece as well as play it? (In a different octave in some cases of course)
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Author: David Pegel
Date: 2002-07-09 02:25
Sarah, I've done that before at auditions for sightreading; I've hummed the peice in my head. The result comes out much better.
The more I think about it the more it seems like common sense.
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