 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Simon
Date: 2006-02-15 00:59
I tend to lift my fingers too high and as such have problems when playing fast passages. I have been practising slowly and in front of a mirror and starting to have some success with my left fingers, however can't seem to improve th right. I notice if I lift my littlle pinkie too high the rest follow.
Are there any exercises designed to help with this.
Simon
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Author: William
Date: 2006-02-15 01:32
In a UW-Madison master class presentation, Charles Niedich said of finger heighth, "Don't worry about it". He added, "my fingers fly all over the place and it doesn't bother my technique". And then he domsonstrated by flawlessly playing a fast scale from low to high and back down--"See". Made a believer out of me.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-02-15 16:12
I like to annoy people that lift their fingers and hands too high by waving back at them!
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-02-15 17:06
Here's a great exercise from Gonzalo Ruiz, which I've mentioned before.
Hold the clarinet well out from your body. Completely relax your hands and fingers, so they lie on the holes without pressing. Experiment with how little finger pressure you can use. Where you don't need to press a key, the effort is practically zero.
Use muscles only to raise your fingertips off the holes. To put a finger down, just stop holding it up and let it drop by gravity.
This takes a while to get used to, but works miracles in lightening up your fingers and preventing muscles from working against each other.
Also, since you're not using muscles to get your fingers to the right place, they have to be close to and directly above the holes.
Ken Shaw
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2006-02-15 17:22
I feel like I'm committing a cardinal sin or something, but I must disagree with Mr. Neidich on this one. Fingers flying all over the place is inefficient technique, there is more movement (which requires effort) than is necessary. I would take Mr. Shaw's advice, it's a more traditional teaching. This is no slight on Charles Neidich, he is one of the truely amazing clarinetist/musicians of our time.
Christopher Nichols
1st Infantry Division Band
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2006-02-15 18:11
With a solid, constant airstream, it's a lot easier to let the fingers not go so high. If your airstream wavers, your fingers are more likely to try to "help" the notes, and so become more tense and make larger movements.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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