 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jeff Forman
Date: 2004-06-08 01:54
Just a word of encouragment to those beginners who have trouble "crossing the break." I was practicing last night and noticed that crossing the break to B seemed to just happen. I have been waiting for this moment since I started playing.
I remember when I took up the banjo and had to physically place my fingers on the frets in chord positions. My brother (a pretty accomplished guitaraist) told me that one day, without thinking about it, you'll pick up the banjo and just throw an F Chord. It will just happen and you won't even know it until one day it strikes you that you didn't have to think about it anymore.
So last night as I ran through two octaves of the C scale and noticed that the B was as smooth and steady as the rest of the notes, I realized that day has now come on the clarinet.
So......to the beginners....take the advice of whoever said you cross the break by blowing like hell once you get past the A. But just know that if you work on it and practice, the day will come when "it just happens."
Jeff
Post Edited (2004-06-08 01:54)
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Author: allencole
Date: 2004-06-08 04:25
It's often simply an issue of how to use the left index finger. Anyone who has a problem should try playing the E-A-E-A-E... theme from 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.' (slurred, of course)
Allen Cole
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-06-08 13:20
Sounds to me like Allencole means the A before the break (second space) and the E on the bottom line of the staff. To coordinate your index finger from the key to completely covering the hole.
Jeff,
Excellent! Now that you have the A to B, time to practice some more intervals! Try going A to C, A to D, A to E, etc. Or open G to C, G to E, etc. Tough, but once you've got that 'initial' break crossing the others will come much easier.
(Isn't it funny how whenever you reach some certain goal there's ALWAYS another one to reach for just beyond it?!)
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-06-08 13:48
I like to run "76 Trombones" starting on open G, slowly, then faster. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Jeff Forman
Date: 2004-06-08 19:37
Allen: I suspect that my instructor's insistence that I "roll" the index finger facilitates that sequence. I'll try it tonight, but I don't anticipate a problem since I've played Summertime for a couple of years and the C back to A, C back to A a few times requires that rolling action or you won't sound smooth.
Alexi - I agree that there is always a next plateau and I am certainly going to give those a shot tonight. But you know, there is something magical about the smooth, continuous flow of notes without that herky jerky moment going from A to B.... kind of like neither you nor a listener can tell that A to B is any different than any other note to the next one. And for some reason, crossing the break smoothly is the cap and grown graduation moment for most clarinetists that I've talked to. But thanks for the suggestions and the new challenges.
My post was really an attempt to tell others that it can and will happen, so just keep at it!!!
Jeff
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-06-08 20:32
Quote:
Alexi - I agree that there is always a next plateau and I am certainly going to give those a shot tonight. But you know, there is something magical about the smooth, continuous flow of notes without that herky jerky moment going from A to B.... kind of like neither you nor a listener can tell that A to B is any different than any other note to the next one. I agree completely. The coordination of nine fingers and air all connecting at the correct moment and not even losing a beat. Definitely something that brings a smile when you first get it. Like riding a bike for the first time, or your first pitch on the varsity baseball team, the first time climb to the top of a mountain, the first time you take that new car on the road . . . . . . . [Ahhh. Memories . . . . .]
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: allencole
Date: 2004-06-10 06:07
Alexi and Jeff, you are both correct.
A common problem with the break is that the player is unable to use the same part of the same finger for the A-key and the E-hole when slurring between the two notes. Too often they try to slide the fingertip between the two instead of simply rocking back onto (and then off of) the A key.
The E-A trill forces the player to make this adjustment, while introducing them to Ennio Morricone and the spaghetti westerns. Students who don't practice may be 'encouraged' by Lee Van Cleef's icy stare (which I am trying to learn). I would love to find video somewhere of Eastwood banging on the piano. Might give music a whole new image...
Allen Cole
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