 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: derf5585
Date: 2016-12-12 22:59
How to explain fingerings Bb & B in the chalumeau, and F# & F in the clarion register to students?
fsbsde@yahoo.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-12-12 23:13
Use a diagram if that makes things easier:
Bb/F - xxx|xoo
B/F# - xxx|oxo
Or if they're using the 'sliver' key fingering - xxx|xo/o
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2016-12-13 03:29
Explain the idea that the clarinet has a register key while a saxophone or oboe has an octave key. So the same fingerings on clarinet using the "register" will sound the note a 12th above (let them count the steps between the two notes) while on the sax or oboe the "octave" key will sound the note an octave above.
No need to mention that the flute and bassoon get an octave above by changing the airstream and using a 1/2 hole fingering, respectively.
HRL
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Author: kdk
Date: 2016-12-13 05:10
I'm actually not sure what you're trying to explain. When to use each? I assume you can just show them how to do the fingerings.
For explanation of use, the "sliver" key fingerings are for chromatic movement between Bb(A#) and B-natural or F-natural and F# (Gb). Of course, with exceptions.
Are you looking for something else?
Karl
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2016-12-13 08:22
With beginners who seem like they might struggle with this I have them say "flat is first finger" several times while they hold the clarinet with the correct fingering. Then "flat is first, B-natural is second" while their fingers go back and forth.
Usually I've taught them this portion of the chromatic scale before this issue even comes up (with lots of saying and fingering the notes up and down), so it's rarely a problem. A thorough and reflexive training in the chromatic scale in the lower register is then extended into the upper register and F to F-sharp is never a problem.
I'm not sure if this is what the OP is asking either, but maybe it will help.
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2016-12-13 17:27
Rote memorization gets a bad rap these days, but there's really no better solution.
If I said "my students can't remember what comes after LMNOP..." an explanation of "Q", it's uses and origin, is not going to help as much as having them repeat "LMNOPQ".
The fact that the students don't hear they are playing a note outside the key signature is probably a bigger issue, and it's an issue that started before they came to clarinet lessons.
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: kdk
Date: 2016-12-14 00:07
I guess I misunderstood the question, too. If it's that they can't remember which fingering is B/F# and which is Bb/F (not whether to choose the sliver key or 2nd finger), I agree with James. They just have to learn Bb/F is first finger and B/F# is either 2nd finger or first plus sliver.
Until this summer I hadn't taught beginner clarinetists for a long time, but I'm finding now as I think I remember from back when I did more that they have more trouble keeping straight which note to play than how to finger it. When I verbally correct the note, most of them know what fingering to use. They don't at first have a strong sense of tonality, and they often at the beginning are thinking so much about decoding the notation and producing the notes physically that they don't hear the result. Many of my beginning students don't recognize even very familiar songs when they first play them (if there's no title or the title is something they don't recognize). I've had students not realize they were playing Twinkle, Twinkle at first because the title in the method book is Theme By Mozart. So, I'm not surprised they don't know by ear when they're playing the wrong B or F. The sense of tonality comes from playing scales and playing/singing/listening to music in simple diatonic keys.
But I'm still not sure which of the questions that have been answered here is the one the OP meant to ask.
Karl
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Author: greenslater
Date: 2016-12-14 00:56
Personally I think that a good teacher will have a whole range of strategies when it comes to teaching anything like this. What works best for one student may not be best for another. Rote learning, recognising patterns (it's the RH middle in both octaves of G, top finger in both octaves of F), having students explain it to each other, diagrams (I love my fingering chart stamp - students can then colour in the required fingering). The days of one way fits all learning styles are gone, and it's great to read some of the strategies others are using.
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Author: SarahC
Date: 2016-12-14 09:23
Are u meaning how to explain why the b fingering is higher than the b flat fingering? Look at the keys. U will see the b key controls a pad higher so the air is needing to be released higher up the tube than the b flat. Basically observe where the air comes out... That is the "length of the tube" and the longer the tube the lower the note
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