 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jstthunder88
Date: 2003-09-27 05:04
Whenever I play my clarinet my fingers always have sooo much tension in them. When I get done playing my fingers are sore. I know that what I need to do is relax but when I relax I don't hit the holes right and get a buzzing noise, while playing my normal way (with tension in my fingers) I get a good sound. How can I play relaxed yet be precise with my fingers?
Also, I am "smashing" my fingers down on the clarinet, when I know I should be controlling the my fingers from the knuckle joint instead of the joint further up. What can I do to help myself control my fingers from the knuckle joint?
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-09-27 12:25
BG make a finger training device that you fit, rather painstakingly to your clarinet. It consists of a couple of rods that are designed to stop you lifting yoyr fingers too high and therefore slamming them down. It is the BG France Finger Trainer A70.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-09-27 14:30
You might wish to ask you "repairer" to look-at and adjust the rings and pads associated with the left hand [thumb and 2 fingers] and right hand [3 fingers] to make your cl easier to play, NO finger-smashing should be needed !! Pad replacement could be a cause of this. It should not require much time/money . I needed some "tweaking" on my bass cl, because of both age and a bit of arthuritis for finger comfort and playing improvement !! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2003-09-27 14:47
Concentrate on relaxing your wrists. It's impossible to have tense fingers if your wrists are relaxed.
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2003-09-27 16:54
Add to the above excellent suggestions the idea of using double lipping for a spell each day. As I wrote before, this was mentioned in Keith Stein's book as a remedial method. It cures quite a few things, including embouchure, tone, and is quite effective to help you remember to be gentle in setting your fingers down. You can imagine the effect on your upper lip if you slam your fingers on the keys - ouch! Think of it like a built-in, every-single-time reminder.
Of course, follow the helpful hints generated by our other Bboard contributors. I often think of my brother's playing - he was always a nervous type and had the tendency to be very tense when he played, even when playing the piano. Probably a different mental disposition would also help before and during practice, to think of smoothly connecting notes with GOOD AIR SUPPORT and gentle fingering. Easier said than done.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-09-27 23:49
I wonder if wearing a neck strap, to support some of the weight, may help?
- OR -
Try resting the bell on either knee while playing.
My guess is that you feel the instrument slipping out of your hands...
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Author: Garret
Date: 2003-09-28 19:09
Do your fingers have the proper curvature? Your hands and fingers, when looking down at them while you're holding your clarinet, should make a "C." My fingers used to be too flat and caused the fingers to hit the keys and holes too hard because they were too rigid.
There was an article in the March '03 issue of The Clarinet written by Larry Guy about Daniel Bonade. In the article it discusses motion of fingers for fast and slow passages. It also discusses ways to practice proper finger movement and exercises. I recommend reading the article. It helped me.
I also massage and stretch my hands and fingers to relieve the tension before and during playing.
Lastly, practice the fast runs v e r y slowly and concentrate on gently moving your fingers. I think of words like "delicate", "flowing", "effortless" when I do this. When I can play the passage very slowly in a gentle and fluid manner, then I move the metronome up a notch, continuing until I'm up to tempo. It takes a lot of work but worth the effort because your playing will sound smooth and easy.
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Author: CharmOne
Date: 2003-09-29 06:51
Maybe u could take five after u play. Soemtimes I get those tensions and I take a break or possibly if worse, I took advil.
Take care,
CharmOne
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2003-09-29 07:34
Instead of thinking of pushing down all the keys for the note, try to think of ringing the note at the farthest finger you have down on the clarinet.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2003-09-29 15:53
jstthunder88 -
Several things.
PAD SEATING
If you need to press hard to make the notes come out, you probably ahve a leaky pad or three. Have the instrument checked over before you try other things.
HAND POSITION
Next, look in a mirror and check your hand position. As much as possible, you should avoid cocking back your wrists. Ideally, you should have a straight line from your elbow, down your forearm, across your wrist to your index finger knuckle. I have shortish thumbs, large palms and longish fingers, so I can't quite do that, but I concentrate on it as much as possible.
Hold the instrument vertically in your right fist at arm's length and put your left-hand fingers on the keys. They should fit without strain and without cocking your wrist. Then watch in a mirror as you bring the instrument toward your body and to a playing position, making sure to keep your right hand jsut as it was.
Then, hold the isntrument in your left fist at arm's length and, as Leon Russianoff used to say, reach out and "shake hands" with it. You'll probably find that your thumb wants to be higher, and, depending on your thumb length, you may have to place the thumb rest near the tip.
Neither of these things is easy to do. The moment you start playing, and stop paying attention to hand position, you tend to go back to what you're used to. Keep at it.
Finally, some fine players have odd hand positions. David Shifrin, for examply, puts the thumb rest almost in the crotch of his thumb and wraps his right hand far under the instrument, with his wrist cocked back as far as it will go. It works for him, but my right hand hurts even when I watch him, let alone try to play that way.
NOT BANGING FINGERS DOWN
Alexander Williams told em that when he was at his best, his fingers felt light a a feather, and for me, that's the ideal. You should use as little effort as possible, and eliminate contrary effort (trying to control finger speed by pulling up as you pull down).
I've found that reverse psychology helps. I play major and minor scales around the circle of fifths (C, a, F, d, etc.), starting out by deliberately smacking my fingers down. Given the increasing mental tension as the key signatures get extreme, I find plenty of tension when I get to F# major. Then, as things get easier coming down the sharp keys, I relax my fingers more and more, so that they're just floating by the time I reach G, e and C.
Another idea I got at a workshop this summer, from the brilliant oboist Gonzalo Ruiz, is to think of your fingers as normally down, and the only effort needed is to raise them. That is, think of lifting your fingers rather than putting them down. They go down by gravity, without effort.
This is difficult to get used to, but it makes a big improvement in helping get rid of banging. You have to go at it dead slow. Set a metronome at its slowest speed, so you have plenty of time to think about what you're going to do next and then "popping" the fingers up. The hardest part is popping some fingers up and letting others drop gently.
Give it a try and report back. Consider changing your name to jstfeather88 :-)
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Simon
Date: 2003-09-30 03:44
Mark,
Where are these available in (NSW) Australia?
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Author: moose6589
Date: 2003-09-30 12:06
Amazing, another great post from Ken. Seems like very good, practical advice indeed!
PS. I hope you don't mind, but I've printed out all your great posts because they just have so much good information that I can look at while I practice. Great stuff!
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