Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2003-10-06 14:14
Samantha -
I played Eb for a year in the University of Tennessee Band and the Knoxville symphony many years ago (jumping up, if you can believe it, from contrabass in the West Point Band).
Mouthpieces can be a problem, particularly with school instruments. I'd advise getting your own Eb mouthpiece. Machine-made mouthpieces (Vandoren, Selmer, etc.) are usually awful, since too few are sold for the companies to keep their machinery in adjustment. Far better to get one from one of the Sneezy Sponsors -- in alphabetical order, Fobes, Hite, Graebner, etc. -- which will be hand-finished and will give you at least a chance of getting out whatever the instrument has to offer. Remember that you'll keep this mouthpiece forever, and you'll always be able to play Eb, so get as good as you can afford.
I played a Leblanc LL Eb, on which the barrel was far too short to be in tune, so I got some washers for a garden hose and filed them down to fit in the top and bottom sockets, adding maybe 6 mm.
You will be tempted to use harder reeds than on Bb, but you should go at most one strength up. The rest is embouchure and support.
Since the Eb is on top of the texture, your intonation has to be really precise, and Eb often needs special fingerings. Pete Hadcock, the Boston Symphony Eb player, wrote an invaluable book on Eb, and another on orchestral playing (which you can get from Gary van Cott), with many hints. In the end, though, you need to sit in a practice room with a tuner, finding how to play in tune.
Finally, you're not a soloist when you play Eb. The concertmaster is still the 1st chair Bb player. It's very easy to shriek and squeal on Eb. Instead, you have to play softer than you think. You're there to add some sparkle to the basic clarinet section sound. Listen hard to the 1st clarinets and blend in with them.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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