 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ClaRiNeT_CaNdY
Date: 2003-09-13 18:22
i have heard from a fellow clarinetist, saying that if you play the Eb Clarinet long term,i would lose my embrouchure for Eb, and i don't want that to happen because i prefer playing the Bb etc, yet i am issued the Eb clarinet for my school band. does anyone know whether it will affect?
Post Edited (2003-09-13 18:22)
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Author: Melissa
Date: 2003-09-13 19:58
A friend of mine plays the Eb in band, the Bass in class, and the soprano whenever it is needed (and trust me the Eb isn’t in too much of our band music). She seems to do just fine with it. I also play the Bass clarinet, and flute once in a while (with the soprano clarinet being my main instrument) and have found no problems with embouchure because of going back and forth between instruments.
Melissa
Post Edited (2003-09-13 20:01)
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2003-09-13 21:47
My experience from my work as Eb clarinetist of The RSPhO is that my Bb-embouchure is peaking when I'm in good shape on the Eb. After a holiday from not playing so much I usually practice one or two days on the Bb and then one day on the Eb a couple of hours and finish with one hour on the Bb. I feel that I come in good shape on the Bb from practicing the Eb and the Bb embouchure comes quicker. For me it has never been a problem, rarther the contrary.
Alphie
Post Edited (2003-09-13 21:49)
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-09-14 03:34
If you're worried, just divide the time. Practice the music sometimes on the Bb. While it won't be in the right key, if you're at home not playing along with anyone, it won't matter. So practice with both the Bb and Eb so it wo'nt be a problem.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-09-15 16:26
In my experience with the Eb clarinet is that it takes a pretty firm embouchure to get a decent result......it should help somewhat with the upper clarinet range of the Bb in terms of flexiblity and tone colour.
David Dow
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Author: msloss
Date: 2003-09-15 20:53
Other than all your hair falling out and going blind, there are no long term ill effects of playing the Eb clarinet.
You'll be fine -- just don't stop practicing Bb and you won't lose your chops.
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Author: Eileen
Date: 2003-09-16 16:50
I played the Eb almost exclusively for 7 years in high school/college band and wind ensemble. After a hiatus of many years, I have resumed playing Bb in a community orchestra.
When I switched back to Bb, it took a while to learn how to relax my embouchure for the bigger clarinet. I was hideously sharp all the time until I learned to do this. I also have shifted to playing on a slightly softer reed which seems to have helped. So I would say that intensive Eb playing quite definitely changes your embouchure.
Another issue you will have is with your technique. My fingers seemed to want to go the shorter distance to where the Eb keys are and not to stretch out to where the proper fingering is on Bb. Again, you can retrain yourself on Bb with a little practice. I bought an E11 to start back on Bb because the fingering was supposedly designed to be closer together for smaller hands and therefore less of a transition back from the Eb.
But there is a huge benefit to playing Eb for a long time. You can play in the upper register on Bb with complete ease. Bb clarinet players who are much better than I am are amazed at how readily I hit all the high notes without ever tensing up. And I can play all those notes on a really soft reed if I want to.
Another benefit is that playing the Eb will force you to really focus on your intonation (because it's extremely difficult to play the Eb in tune). When you switch back to the easier Bb, you will find that your Bb intonation skills have improved dramatically.
And you will most likely have the experience of being the only one on your part which Bb clarinets playing in band rarely get.
So have fun with the Eb!
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Author: Henry
Date: 2003-09-16 19:14
"Other than all your hair falling out and going blind, there are no long term ill effects of playing the Eb clarinet." LOL!
Don't let threats like these (plus going insane) spoil the fun of playing with your "sopranino"! This has been tried through the ages, with little apparent effect.
Henry
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Author: contragirl
Date: 2003-09-19 17:24
Haha! At one concert on one piece in high school, I had to switch between contralto and Eb soprano for some solo. That was fun. And at the concert, I also played bass clarinet, Bb clarinet, and alto clarinet. The more clarinets you play, the better! It's more fun, I think. :-D The fun part is going to the music store and asking for one reed from each instrument, and the person behind the counter gettin all confused.
--contragirl
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