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Liquorice stick in A

Author: Tom A
Date: 2005-04-24 08:20

Is the clarinet in A sometimes chosen over the B flat in jazz, either for colour differences (here we go!) or for transposition reasons ?

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Re: Liquorice stick in A

Author: Merlin
Date: 2005-04-24 20:26

No.

I've never seen or heard of anyone playing clarinet in A in a jazz setting. I was once tempted to by an arrangement of "Struttin' With Some Barbecue" where the arrange wrote the first chorus Dixie style in A, then modulated up to the more usual key of Bb for the (less usual) Samba treatment for the rest of the chart.

Clarinet in A would have made this a snap.

The prevailing opinion in jazz is that since there are so many modulations within the tunes, you have to be equally comfortable in all keys.

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Re: Liquorice stick in A

Author: ron b
Date: 2005-04-24 21:34

Quite a few ragtime pieces were, and some still are (being composed), scored for A clarinet because not all clarinetists are comfortable playing in more that three or more sharps/flats. Some trumpets can also shift into A to make difficult keyed pieces more pleasant.
Personally, I agree with Merlin; practice different keys and transpose tunes into them until you're comfortable doing that then you'll find the good ol' Bb is about as good an "all 'round" horn as there is.
You can have a great time modulating all over the place and never get bored

- r

n b -

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Re: Liquorice stick in A

Author: John Scorgie
Date: 2005-04-25 20:19

In the famous old posed photograph of the King Oliver band with a youthful Louis Armstrong standing next to Oliver, Johnny Dodds holds one of his full Albert clarinets while the other rests on the floor beside him...

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Re: Liquorice stick in A

Author: allencole
Date: 2005-04-26 08:51

I use an A clarinet in a western swing/cowboy band. It makes me a little freer on the string players' home turf. I wouldn't be surprised to find the same situation in other string bands, but don't know for sure.

Allen Cole

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