 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-04-23 16:45
I can't every remember using it. honestly. I have always used the side Bb trill key. I was toying with the idea of having it removed and plugged since it never seems to open anyway, and I figured if I removed/plugged it, there's one less leak to worry about as the cork wears out (not from overusage, that's for sure).
Will i run into problems in the future if I do this? Does anyone regularly use it or does it serve another purpose that I don't know about? Thank you.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-04-23 17:06
The Eb/Bb sliver key is there for a reason, SF. It's not 'just' an alternate key.
If/when it comes time to sell or trade the instrument you might look back and wish you could remember what you did with that silly little key because the resale value will be about half it's real value without it.
In the meantime, try it... you might grow fond of it 
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2003-04-23 17:32
I have never found a use for that sliver key. Side Bb and 1-4 Bb seem to cover everything I encounter. So on most of my clarinets I close it off. A piece of cork wedged under the key should work and if you ever find that you need this key just remove the piece of cork and it's ready to go.
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Author: cyso_clarinetist
Date: 2003-04-23 17:42
I never found a use for it in the past either but now I use it more than any other fingering. There are some very good qualities to this Eb/Bb that a lot of people miss. 1. Easier to play scales and technical passages once you have it down. 2. It doesn't pop. 3. Have you ever tried trilling from an Eb to an F or a Bb to a C? The traditional way you have to do the normal fingering with the side key and trill one and two. Try this, using 1/2 and the sliver key and trill using the two lowest trill keys.
It also seems that in university teaching that this is becoming much more of a popular fingering to use. I would keep it if I were you. Try in incorporating it into your scales and such.
- James
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2003-04-23 17:51
This is the fingering I use most of the time. It is the most in tune fingering for me, and I just like using it, so I have grown rather attached it. Sometimes when I need to use the side trill Bb I have to make sure I dont accidentally go back to it out of habit which is bad, but thats just how much I use it.
In my high school wind ensemble, all 3 of the first clarinets use a different fingering for Bb. Many times I have found that my way is the fastest for passages like the woodwind run at section B in Chaconne of Holst's First Suite in Eb. It has its downside ofcourse, but I like that little key some of you seem to scorn.
Bradley
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2003-04-23 18:29
I've found it useful for chromatic runs... keeps all the motion in one hand.
For example, the clarinet entry in Weber 2.
The intonation is also a bit different than the right finger Bb/Eb, so it can be useful depending on the context of the piece.
I wouldn't make wacky modifications to the instrument unless there is a compelling reason.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: HAT
Date: 2003-04-23 18:34
If the two keys have different intonation, your clarinet is defective. This can and should be addressed.
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Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-04-23 18:37
I haven't had it get in my way, but as a precaution I have shimmed under the key with cork.
The other sliver key at the bottom is the one I have trouble with. Recently I decided enough was enough and removed it. I used Permatex Sensor Safe Ultra Black oem hi-temp rtv silicone to close the hole.
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Author: Rene
Date: 2003-04-23 18:48
Bradley, how can use this key most of the time? Did I miss anything? Going F,G,Bb,C is almost impossible with that key, or do you slide to it?
A confused reader.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-04-23 18:54
Rene wrote:
> Bradley, how can use this key most of the time? Did I miss
> anything? Going F,G,Bb,C is almost impossible with that key, or
> do you slide to it?
>
> A confused reader.
Well, the "A" would come inbetween there if it was a straight scale so I can understand how that would work. And I can see how you can use it in a chromatic, but it just doesn't seem to make anything worthwhile since I can play a Bb just as well with the sidekey and worry about whether I'll have to slide to a G afterwards or not.
Clarence,
I would've left the bottom sliver key. It makes going from a Bb to a B natural (lower register) much easier. This is pretty common cause it's necessary in a chromatic run. Flipping my fingers doesn't seem to work. But then again, we all have our unorthodox ways of fingering things.
I think I'll stick a piece of cork under there. Sounds like a good solution to me.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Avie
Date: 2003-04-23 19:08
The tutorials I have read avise the student to play the piece and then decide which of the available fingering would be the most natural and convenient to use depending on the run. Would it be better to take advantage of all of the alternate fingering provided?
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2003-04-23 19:18
HAT- The two different keys have two separate holes to cover, so I would understand why any clarinet would have a slightly different tone playing each, and maybe even different intonation. I will ask my tech. about it just to be sure, but I cant really say I agree with your statement.
Bradley
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Author: Tom Piercy
Date: 2003-04-23 19:31
To avumba:
Yes, yes, do take advantage of all fingerings available; soon they will become "another" fingering to use, not just an "alternate."
You are right; look at the music and see which of the available fingerings are best to use -- the reasoning behind the decisions can be one of or a combination of several: intonation, technical ease, coloring/tone; where you're coming from and where you're going.
To cyso:
For a very easy and fast Eb to F/Bb to C trill -- play the Eb/Bb with Thumb ( and register key for Bb) and LH 1, 2 and 1st RH trill key. To trill -- just lift, or trill with, the LH 1 and 2 fingers, keeping the trill key down. This way only two fingers in one hand are having to move rapidly and together.
To sfalexi: back to your original question.
Keep the key on the horn. Learn how to use all the keys on the horn; they do come in handy.
Tom Piercy
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Author: Cindy
Date: 2003-04-23 19:41
I use both sliver keys all the time, for runs and alternates and things like that. I used to tghink the sliver Eb/Bb was pointless, but after getting more advanced music I realized that it is very useful and needed for some pieces. I think that before you plug up and remove that key, play every single piece in existance, and once you know that no piece out there needs that key, then remove it.
So many instruments to play........so little time to play them!
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2003-04-23 20:07
You really need the Eb/Bb sliver key to play quarter-tone fingerings!
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Author: javier garcia m
Date: 2003-04-23 20:29
I use this key for cromatic scales, it is easier than using the side key.
And there are some passages where this key comes better than the side key, for instance in Czardas of Monti (quick G-A-Bb-A-G-A-Bb-A and so on)
I've seen once a Rossi model with the two keys with one hole, the hole for the side key, but the mechanism was cumbersome. so finally Rossi choose the two keys in his models.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-04-23 20:38
I use the Eb/Bb sliver key quite often. Actually it was the fingering that was taught to me as "standard" and the side key was the alternate. The sliver key, once you are accustomed to it, allows smoother, more efficient fingering in the following instances.
1) Scale wise runs in flat keys with three or fewer flats.
2) Chromatic scales
3) Trills from D to Eb and A to Bb.
4) Any time that the passage is otherwise entirely in the left hand, you are playing in a flat key, and the Eb is not preceded or followed by the Db. The same holds true for the similar situation of the clarion Bb.
Here's an example for item 4. Repetitively playing the sequence C, D, Eb, D is much easier using the sliver key. Only one finger moves and it alternates in a simple up and down motion.
There are probably other situations but these come most readily to mind.
Until you have acquired equal facility in all three fingerings for the Eb/Bb, the one(s) you don't use will seem awkward even though it would be the best for the passage in question.
Right now, there is a passage in one of our community band pieces where I end up using all three of the fingerings for the Eb within a span of eight measures.
The case of the Eb/Bb fingerings is almost unique. Each of the three fingerings mentioned in this thread is so useful that perhaps all of them should be considered "primary" rather than designating two of them as alternates. I know I come across plenty of instances for using each fingering.
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Author: Burt
Date: 2003-04-23 22:54
I like to use this key to go from Eb to F# first space. Another use for this key is to play Eb when you use the third side key for Bb.
On my clarinets, this fingering sounds the same as the side key fingering.
Burt
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2003-04-24 02:16
Egad, Clarence, how do you keep your high F and F# in tune, or play quick chromatic scales? I don't think I'd be able to survive without the right-hand fork key.
HAT: My two Bb/Eb keys are vertically about 2-3 mm apart, so I'd expect the intonation to be different.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-04-24 02:21
Now we can be severly criticised for correcting spelling/grammar here so I won't comment on alternative versus alternate, 'cause it would be improper.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-04-24 02:25
diz wrote:
> Now we can be severly criticised for correcting
> spelling/grammar here so I won't comment on alternative versus
> alternate, 'cause it would be improper.
Yes, it would be improper to expound on the usage of alternative versus alternate, especially seeing that alternative and alternate can mean exactly the same thing (according in Merriam-Webster). Your mileage in Oz may vary.
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-04-24 03:49
Well, HAT, I agreed with you right off the bat, but then I thought things might be worth examining. Most of the half-dozen Clarinets handy to me right now have the two pads in question latitudinally parallel, but a couple do not (both need pads, so can't be played right now).
One of them is a Bb, with the two holes different in latitude by about two mm, with the side key pad lower. The keys are not on that one, so there's no further information right now.
Another is an Eb. On it, the two holes are at least one millimeter different in latitude. Close examination reveals that the lower pad, operated by the side (R1) key, cannot open as far as the sliver key pad. This is because of interference with the bridge mechanism. So, by golly, not all Clarinets appear to be the same in this design feature.
What a surprise! So the tone produced by these two might not be the same, but there is no excuse for intonation to be different. Proper adjustment of the holes, fraising, and pad lift could fix that. Maybe not easily, but it can be fixed. Anyway, HAT, you're right, intonation should be the same using either of these two keys. But the tone character may not be identical.
By the way, I occasionally use many of the several fingerings for these notes (perhaps they have more fingerings than any other notes on the Clarinet) and yes, I do use the sliver key, because it is easier for chromatics in the LH. Really.
If you don't like to use it, the answer is simple: ignore it. But don't get sloppy and slap the key around aimlessly, so that you *have* to plug the tone hole. If you get accustomed to that and your Clarinet is run over by a Beer truck just before a big performance, it might be a bit tough to find a temporary replacement instrument that just happens to have its Eb/Bb sliver key pad hole plugged.
Regards,
John
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-04-24 04:28
Yes - Aussie mileage is closer to UK English (for better or worse), besides I work as an editor so am a bit of a cunning linguist (firmly tongue in cheek!) - god I'm sooooo gonna be done for this one!
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Author: ned
Date: 2003-04-24 07:12
Sliver key?
Where on a clarinet is this thing? Maybe not on an Albert system perhaps? What finger does one use to play it?
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Author: allencole
Date: 2003-04-24 10:37
While I often tell young students that I'd love to seal that key off, in reality there would be only one good reason for doing so. Tense hands can accidentally strike it and choke off some notes. I found that bending mine slightly towards the D hole helped tremendously.
In terms of actual technique, the few advantages of the sliver key are going to favor the left-handed. For players who are right-handed, all of the technical advantages can be had by holding down the side Eb/Bb key while executing the speedy stuff with the left hand. And reality, its value for scale runs is only in keys of TWO flats or less if you count the high register. (in the key of E-flat, you would have to approach your sliver B-flat from an A-flat)
Most of the advantage that you'll find is if your horn has a clearer sound or is better in tune using that fingering--i.e. in situations where you are playing slow. My favorite use for it is free my right hand to turn pages.
For those of you who teach band, a warning from the Ghost of Christmas Future follows in a separate post.
Allen Cole
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Author: allencole
Date: 2003-04-24 11:41
This is addressed to young, idealistic band directors.
When teaching an instrument that you are very familiar with, there is a natural temptation to pass on advanced techniques to young players who do not practice enough, and are not well-enough supervised, to ensure that they get them in the proper context.
I have taken on a number of high school students who were virtually crippled by their use of the sliver Eb/Bb as a primary fingering. They learned it in middle school along with their Bb major scale. In most cases, a band director familiar with the clarinet thought that it would be a neat trick to help smooth out the scale.
What that band director did not consider:
1. All but the best students shy away from alternate fingerings--including pinkie alternation. They'd rather slide that left pinkie between B and C#, and when they get used to sliver Bb/Eb, they'd rather slide the slide their left ring finger from the C-hole to the sliver key than learn to discriminiate between two different fingerings. In their eyes, it isn't an alternate fingering. It's a NEW and IMPROVED fingering.
2. Through most of their middle school career they won't be exposed to situations where using the sliver fingering gets in their way--at least not at speeds where it would be insurmountable. And thus they fail to make use of their side-key fingering.
2a. When you tell him to use this fingering, you are telling them NOT to use their primary fingering. (You think it's situational--they think it's for good)But does the exercise which calls for the alternate fingering include any example of when that fingering is NOT appropriate? (another cause of problem #2)
3. The MINISCULE advantages that the sliver Eb (or side F# or alternate B) provide in certain diatonic scales, are completely negated by their crippling effect when playing a scale in thirds, and most arpeggios. These fingerings might provide a slight enhancement to scale runs, but they are inappropriate for meandering back and forth through the key. Average students will not reach speeds where these fingerings have a real adantage, but they will get tripped up by them when trying to sightread in those keys.
4. Modern band books like Standard of Excellence, Accent on Achievement, etc. do not include this fingering in the first volume. I have no doubt that this was a conscious decision. (and a wise one at that) Rubank Elementary offers no guidance whatsoever. They code the side key and the sliver key with the same number. (A grave flaw IMO even in 1933) Fortunately, Rubank Intermediate takes the bull by the horns.
5. Average and below average students need to K.I.S.S. Only the best young band students are going to see these things in their proper context, should be encouraged to take private lessons where they can be properly monitored. Or you can spend some individual time with them to show them your slicker tricks.
6. If you just can't resist teaching sliver Eb/Bb, side F# and fork B/F# to middle schoolers, keep them in the context of the chromatic scale, as the newer band books so wisely do. That'll give some of the more average kids a clear place to draw the line on their use. Most of the time that is wasted on these fingerings would be better spent helping students deal with pinkie alternation.
Bottom line - There's no point in teaching someone to sprint if you haven't taught them to walk without stumbling.
Allen Cole
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-04-24 14:38
John Kelly: On Boehm Clarinets, the keys between finger holes are not broad and are thus known as "sliver" keys. They are much more slender than the keys found in similar places on most Clarinets other than Boehm.
The sliver key in question is the one operated by L3 to transform D into Eb, or A into Bb. The key in this position should do the same as the lowest R1-operated side key on Boehm, Albert, or German system Clarinets. On any Clarinet earlier than a Baermann (a Müller, for example) that side key does not exist, so using the key between the L2 and L3 tone holes is the only way to play those notes.
Regards,
John
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Author: HAT
Date: 2003-04-24 15:11
JMcAulay, thanks for your important information which is news to me.
What would be interesting is to list what brands either do not have the keys in the same vertical location on the clarinet or for some reason have them come in different sizes. I find this discovery odd and disturbing.
What I can tell you is that the two versions of eflat/bflat should sound and respond identically by definition.
I believe that a great acoustician like Guy Chadash or the Brannens can probably make this possible on ANY good clarinet, even if the holes are not identical.
As for the technical issue. In my opinion, a technically solid clarinetist has total control over the right hand version of this key and can use it in every situation where it is not absolutely necessary to use the sliver version.
That doesn't mean that the right hand fingering is always used, but because it presents a right/left technical issue and also because it is often necessary to use that right hand version, one has to have full command of it.
I hear all the time unclean connections (from students) of g-bflat or especially aflat-bflat. Shouldn't happen. It should always sound as clean as a single finger connections.
Surprise surprise. . .Baermann III is the answer to this technical problem. I should put that in my signature line already.
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Author: angelpineapple
Date: 2003-04-24 21:27
I agree with Allen Cole. I had always used the sliver key for Eb/Bb until recently when I switched teachers. I would only use the side key fingering when absoutley necessary. My middle school band directors and my first two private lessons teachers never said that I needed to use the side key more often and avoid sliding. I'm now working hard to remember the side key in certain scales and pieces. It's hard! I wish that someone had corrected me earlier. I used the sliver key as my main way of fingering for four years. I wish this way of fingering Eb/Bb hadn't been in my begining band book.
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Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-04-24 21:46
All I can say is that there is life after the Bb/Eb key. I used it for my first 6 years of playing in the 60s. What a curse. I now use the first and fourth hole covered alt fingering. I also don't use the trill keys.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-04-25 00:59
As I indicated earlier in this thread, all three fingerings are, in my opinion, so basic that none should be considered alternate. They are of equal primary status. Unfortunately too many student band books neglect developing facility in these various fingerings. They simply cover one fingering. That is one reason a person should have a private instructor. It is also an area in which the Rubank series of books shine. The Elementary book covers all three fingerings. The Advanced volumes have "finger twisting" drills to develop speed and confidence with them.
However, no matter how many fingerings one knows, there is always the possibility of a sequence that will require sliding. Here again, the "finger twisters" in the Rubank Advanced volumes develop facility in these slides. The clarion Eb to C slide is needed quite often since there are many occasions where the sequence won't allow the use of the left hand C and the drills give one the facility to do so.
The various student band books that my daughters have brought home have been incredibly deficient in teaching fingerings and slides. Fortunately, being a clarinet player myself, I noticed that and either took them to private lessons or taught them what I knew.
In the various community bands that I've been in, I see so many people struggling to play a passage because they know only one fingering for a note. An incredible number of them do not even know the 1+1 fingering for the Eb/Bb and so struggle with arpeggios in the flat keys. They struggle trilling the E to F# at the bottom line of the treble clef. The list could go on and on.
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Author: jbutler ★2017
Date: 2003-04-25 01:20
My clarinet prof in grad school, Jeff Lerner, made me use that particular fingering for Eb/Bb especially in the chromatic scale. It so ingrained in me now that I don't even think about it, I just use it.
jbutler
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-04-25 02:06
I tried using it as well as the trill key Bb today. Not very often, just every now and then (playing F and Eb scales mostly) as well as trying to incorporate it into the music. I've made a choice not to use it. I don't really see a need to.
I started thinking and I remember an older thread where it was mention that Marsalus? (pardon the spelling if there's a problem) had taught people to "flip" from Thumb F to Forefinger F# in chromatic runs instead of using the bottom two sidekeys to transform the [bF to F#. He said to try to keep all the motion in one hand. Well, that's his preference, but I know plenty of people who would rather use the sidekey alternate fingering.
I guess it's just preference. Every passage CAN be played with the sidekey Bb if one gets proficient in using it, whereas every passage can be played with the sliver key (if one gets VERY good at sliding).
I didn't know this would cause such a great discussion. I think I'll just end up wedging that key shut for now, however I will be experimenting with the 1 and 1 Bb (which I think is what's used on flutes anyway and I want to learn flute so I may as well start getting used to it.) I noticed a passage that would make it easier since for the Eb scale, going up I always seem to bang the sidekey into the Ab lever as I switch. Maybe this will solve that problem.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: allencole
Date: 2003-04-25 05:03
Sliver Eb/Bb, sliver B/F#, and side-key F# are not equal to other fingerings when you hit the true bottom line. And that bottom line is:
If you could only have one fingering per note, which one could you depend on in all situations?
Side-key Eb/Bb will at least do the job in EVERY situation. It is at least equal to sliver Bb/Eb in that it supplements the D/A fingering with a stronger, more independently moving finger. It is also more facile in that the player can hold down the side Eb/Bb key when incorporating the finger. The 1/1 (1/4, I saw it called) Eb/Bb is superior in ONE arpeggio pattern, and in some register jumps. It is inferior both in fingering action and in intonation--and is also more susceptible to mechanical problems. Try nicking your bridge-key cork or get a swell in your low-B pad, and you'll see what I mean.
Index-finger F#. Marcellus (and Bonade before him, I believe) shows great wisdom here. Try an F# scale in thirds in your lower register. It will launch you into an scheme that requires alternating use of both the side-key and sliver Eb/Bb (or D#/A#, in this case) Side-key F# has small advantages in chromatic scales and STRAIGHT diatonic runs, but is problematic everywhere else. Index-finger F# is the ESSENTIAL one.
Middle-finger B/F#. Like the above two fingerings, it can be approached from anywhere on the instrument and used in any application. While the fork/sliver B/F# is clearly superior in chromatic situations, a few scales-in-thirds and arpeggios will quickly demonstrate that it is nowhere near equal to the ESSENTIAL fingering.
Dee is correct about the need to sometimes slide the pinkies, but misses the point of the sliding-related comments that she's addressing. Sliding of pinkie keys is only supposed to be done when alternation is NOT AN OPTION and those situations do exist. This is a valuable and important area to train students in. But pinkie sliding does not equate with sliver-key sliding because there is no NECESSITY that I'm aware of to slide with the sliver keys. If there is ever a need to approach the above notes from more than a half-step below, the ESSENTIAL fingering will work just fine.
But the mention of pinkie sliding returns to one of my original assertions. Pinkie technic is unavoidable and therefore an essential area of early instruction. It should be introduced no later than the learning of the D major scale. These fingerings are truly--and unavoidably--equal in importance.
Alternatives to side-key Eb/Bb, index-finger F#, and middle-finger B/F# are not a top priority--and often are a source of considerable confusion--for students who do not study privately. There is no reason to present a palette of choices for these notes initially. Better to learn to function with the basics and then seek opportunities to demonstrate alternatives where they really are appropriate.
To push all the choices too soon does not benefit the student, because younger students do not operate in the keys or at the speeds where the real differences come out. More dangerously, it competes for attention with other issues that truly are essential.
Why am I so adamant? Because players who develop bad habits in middle school get a major shock when they go to a high school that plays grade V or VI music. Many of those habits coexisted okay with middle school music. Now things are more critical. Adolescents are generally prisoners of their comfort zone, and the need to unlearn bad habits is a deadly turn-off to students who begin lessons at the high school level. A KISS approach would make them better high school players AND put them in a better position to received advanced technical instruction.
Allen Cole
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Author: ned
Date: 2003-04-25 05:10
To John McAulay
Thanks from JK for your response.
Yes my "sliver" key, on my 1911 Buffet, does just this and the lowest R side key [there are 3] makes the same note as you rightly point out.
I use either key depending on which particular key I am playing in and whichever is most convenient at the time - logical enough I guess.
Interestingly though, my 1930ish Hawkes & Son "simple" has only 2 RH side keys and I do have to cross finger to get the same note - I imagine this really makes the "simple" system closer to "Muller" than Albert or German system instruments.
JK
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2003-04-25 11:48
Hi Dee,
I hear you about the clarinet players in the community band but I do know that for me to take it upon myself to "suggest" a different fingering for any player other than my mates in first clarinet would not play well. I can hear it now "hey, who does he think he is." Some folks are never going to get it or want to get it.
As a second generation Gigliotti and 3rd generation Bonade student, I have had great instruction and am pretty comfortable with what to do where. However, there will be those people in community band with bigger problems. I refer to the fact that they can't play in tune as they approache just the top of the staff. And the bigger problem is they don't know they are out of tune much less what to do about it.
So, adding things like a 1 + 1 Bb/Eb or one of the chromatic fingering that a more experienced player knows, uses, and appreciates is miles beyond an immediate need.
HRL
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-04-25 14:44
Great discussion on "multiple" fingerings and very useful to me who did not have the priviledge of studying under the greats.
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Author: Lee
Date: 2003-04-25 18:56
When I started playing clarinet we were taught in Jr HI by the HS band director who was a trumpet player. I learned the 1+1 fingering for Eb/Bb. Once when I broke the bridge key on the clarinet I was using I check to see which pad was being closed by the R finger and just pressed the pad closed directly with my second finger. Occasionally I will use that even now for some strange reason. It was not until about t3n years ago that I noticed that the 1+1 intonation did not fit with others in section that I started looking for other fingerings. Both the sliver and the trill key fingerings are better in tune and have better tone than the 1+1 on my clarinet -- a pre polycyndrical R13. I was in Jr HI in the mid 50's.
Lee
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-04-25 19:23
John Kelly: I am curious as to what fingering your Hawkes requires for these notes. Does the instrument have no sliver key between the L2 and L3 holes?
The term "Simple System" seems to have almost as many meanings as there are people who play them. But yes, the Müller did have only two R1 side keys, originally no rings, no Patent C#, and not much else to recommend it. Yet many players played well on those Clarinets until well into the twentieth century. It's interesting to see such a trove of information on alternative fingerings, as so many of the earlier players had no choices.
Regards,
John
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Author: AL
Date: 2003-04-26 01:02
If you had to surrender one key on your clarinet, which one would you surrender? For me it would be the Eb/Bb sliver key. I've often said this.
With young students, in order to get them to stop sliding to or from this key, I wedge a hunk of cork under it so it won't move. I usually cut a hunk
from a wine bottle cork. It always works;.......after about three weeks.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-04-26 01:34
Oh, I don't jump in and tell them to do it differently. However, I look for opportunities to bring up something useful in a conversation. For example, if they comment on the difficulty of a passage, I'll simply say something like "Have you tried this fingering?" and let it go at that. I leave it up to them to follow through. In other words, I don't try to change the world but try to lead by example and answer questions that may come my way.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-04-26 01:53
My ring finger is particularly wide, such that there is less than 0.5 mm clearance on each side.
So to stop opening that 'banana' Eb/Bb key by inadvertently touching it I have plugged the tone hole with a cork - decades ago. No problem. Easy to remove if I ever sell the instrument.
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Author: ned
Date: 2003-04-26 04:57
To JMcA
"Interestingly though, my 1930ish Hawkes & Son "simple" has only 2 RH side keys and I do have to cross finger to get the same note - I imagine this really makes the "simple" system closer to "Muller" than Albert or German system instruments."
I was just indicating that my H&S has only 2 RH side keys, in addition to the so-called sliver key, and that I have the cross finger position as the only alternative to the use of the "sliver". The Buffet gives me 3 options and I am grateful for it.
And further to this I had an Oehler system clarinet a few years ago with slivers between R1 & R2 and R2 & R3 plus ( I think.........it's a blurry photo of the Oehler that I have, and my memory is not great either) a 4th RH side key........hey such luxury.
It was way too heavy though and I could NOT get it to play in tune with itself, so it was sold and the Buffet purchased.............I must admit to being seduced initially by all the keys on the German job!
Cheers,
JK
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The Clarinet Pages
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