The Clarinet BBoard

Different cultural upbringing affecting technique

Author: sfalexi  Date:   2004-03-05 04:38 I just thought I'd start a little topic of interesting note. Something that I realized while speaking with someone in my chamber ensemble class. We talked about matching our tongues with finger placement during quick staccato runs. She plays sax, I play the clarinet (for those of you who didn't know). I told her that for me it seemed much easier for me to play evenly and precisely when I was 'lifting' the fingers off the tone holes. However coming down, often my timing between tongue and fingers is easier thrown off. For her it was the complete opposite. The reason she proposed, which sounds logical to me, is that she's from China. And in China, when counting on your hands from one to ten, you start with all fingers pointing up, then close the fingers as you count. So at one, nine digits are up now (and one was down). At five, five fingers have closed into a fist. And she said it was probably because her finger muscles easier associated counting and timing while closing the fingers. As most know, in the US where I am, it's usually opposite. We start with closed fists and extend the fingers as we count. So our muscle memory/timing should naturally be easier to raise a finger off a tone hole. Comments on this anyone? Anyone feel or see examples of things like this? I just thought it was a good theory and could be an interesting topic. I'll keep something like this in mind when I have to write a paper or something (doctoral discertation anyone?). Alexi US Army Japan Band Post Edited (2004-03-05 04:43)

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