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 Highest note
Author: yo_dude24 
Date:   2003-05-15 01:18

What is the highest note on the Bb clarinet in the bohem system? thanks and how do you hit it?

P.S. Dont say very carefully!

I'm just sittin here watchin' the wheels go round round....i really love to watch them roll

* John Lennon

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 Re: Highest note
Author: Benni 
Date:   2003-05-15 01:42

The Woodwind Fingering Guide, hosted by this site, has lots and lots of fingerings for all the notes on the clarinet. Here's a link to the page with the highest notes:

http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/cl_alt_4.html

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 Re: Highest note
Author: Clarence 
Date:   2003-05-15 02:17

Benni,

That list just goes to high C. Notes above that are possible but the reed is critical.

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 Re: Highest note
Author: Corey 
Date:   2003-05-15 02:24

No, there is an alternate fingering that goes above that on the site she is talking about. It goes to the G an octave above the G that is 4 ledger lines above the staff. Notes above the C are rarely used anyway...there is not much of a purpose learning notes above it unless you have a peice of music that goes above that.

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 Re: Highest note
Author: GBK 
Date:   2003-05-15 03:23

Jaymz...At your age (15) , I would work on playing consistantly in tune up to A6. Then slowly, within the next few years extend your range up to C7.

A good fingering book is a necessity. It will show you many different alternate fingerings and you can discover the ones that work the best with your individual set-up. I recommend that my students purchase the Ridenour book, and we carefully mark the fingerings which are most useful.

The Woodwind Fingering Guide site http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/ is the best of the on-line sites (I have personally contributed numerous alternate fingerings), however it still contains a number of errors. I have written to Tim Reichard and some have since been corrected, but others still remain...GBK



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 Re: Highest note
Author: EEBaum 
Date:   2003-05-15 03:34

I'd think the highest note depends on where you draw the line between "note" and "squawk that registers on a tuner"

-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com

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 Re: Highest note
Author: Benni 
Date:   2003-05-15 19:45

This reminds me of a jazz anecdote:

club patron: "Can you play 'Beyond the Sea'?"
trumpet player: "Listen, lady, I have enough trouble getting up to the high Bb!"

(I forget the original trumpet player who I've heard this story in conjunction w/)

BTW, Corey was correct in pointing out that the link I provided does have fingerings up to the G an octave above the G 4 ledger lines up. I, too, do not see any reason why anyone would need to play that high! It might kill the neighbor's dog . . . [whoa]



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 Re: Highest note
Author: Wes 
Date:   2003-05-15 22:14

To play the high notes, it helps to try to practice Robert Spring's warmup found on another site. With V12 Vandoren reeds and an old ML mouthpiece on an R13, I find that the top note is invariably the D above the very high C. It seems to depend upon the mouthpiece a lot, especially how the tip area is configured. In practice, one rarely plays above high G. Good luck!

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 Re: Highest note
Author: JMcAulay 
Date:   2003-05-15 23:39

Not long ago, I attained a G7 for the first time. The event startled me to the extent that I am unable to duplicate this feat.

I have no idea if there was any causative connection, but in the backyard the next morning, behind the room where I was playing, two dead bats were found near the window.

As Mary Shelley said: in this world, there are some things that were not meant to be. Perhaps one of them is anything higher than C7 on a Clarinet.

Regards,
John

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 Re: Highest note
Author: mnorswor 
Date:   2003-05-16 03:27

I play pieces that have an F7 and an Eb7 written in them. It's largely a matter of voicing I find and I can consistently hit them when necessary. I don't practice them regularly, but I do practice up to D as there are many pieces that use these notes (C, C# and D). Good luck! :)

Michael

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 Re: Highest note
Author: allencole 
Date:   2003-05-16 05:22

Notes and squawks are like plants and weeds. A squawk is a high note that you don't want. A high note is a squawk that you DO want...

I am curious, however, about the pieces using C, C# & D. I only rarely find a need to go above high G. One of my students regularly practices 3-octave A and A-flat scales--which has evoked some very surprised looks by adjudicators.

Allen Cole

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 Re: Highest note
Author: Tom Piercy 
Date:   2003-05-16 11:59

I have had to perform quite a few late 20th century pieces and 21st century pieces which have plenty of notes above the "high G."

Some of the notes are for "squawkish" effects only and some are really nicely integrated into a lyrical line. These notes can be "squawks" or, as in everything, if prepared well, can be beautiful.

Ned Rorem recently completed writing a piece for me "Colors" for clarinet ad piano which will be premiered in NYC this fall. He asked me about some high notes -- I demonstrated some for him and their various sound capabilities.

The resulting piece has several "double high C" - C7 - and a few B, Bb, A, Ab below that. Some of these notes are approached in runs, some are approached by very large leaps, some are brought in floating at "pp" after several beats of rests, some are brought in at "FFF" and requested as "Strident" in the score.


A very beautiful and exciting piece with "strident" sections; bluesy areas; soulful, mournful sections; simply French melodies and

-- it ends on very fast run from the lowest E up to a D7!


Tom Piercy
thomaspiercy.com

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 Re: Highest note
Author: elmo lewis 
Date:   2003-05-17 19:06

Try putting your teeth on the reed and biting very gently-you can play very high notes but controlling them is another matter.

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 Re: Highest note
Author: Jennifer 
Date:   2003-05-20 07:01

Very high notes are fun to work up to, and they even exist in some very old works as well. The Spohr concertos were written in the early 1800s, and they go up to high C. You just need a strong lip and a hard reed. I can play to the second E above the staff, but it hurts my lip!

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 Re: Highest note
Author: Don Berger 
Date:   2003-05-20 15:06

I hope that Ken Kolb might reply since he sure hit some VERY high ones, well above super C, in his CDs, again TKS. As I recall, Ken, it was in your superb rendition of the last Dixie tune, similar to [and beyond] BG's Sing x3. Dern close to my age-limited hearing!! Don

Thanx, Mark, Don

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 Re: Highest note
Author: diz 
Date:   2003-05-20 22:33

Isn't that what is called "extended technique" (a stupid expression in my opinion - you either have a technique or you don't) Whether your technique is poor, moderate, good, or gobsmacking is kind of irrelevant. Besides - having conducted my first rehearsal with orchestra last night - I was enjoying the clarinet (even if they did play a little sharp-very odd considering the hall was cold) and their reedy low register (it's just too early in the morning to spell that word correctly and my coffee's not kicked in yet). I'm much happier listening to clarinets when they're not ascending to the stratosphere - piccolos and flutes do it so much more pleasantly.

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 Re: Highest note
Author: clarob 
Date:   2003-05-21 23:10

That's a good one....i'll remember that joke to pass along.

:)

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