 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-05-16 20:36
Hi everyone - I am looking for some altissimo adivice! I am having a pretty hard time getting the altissimo "B" and "C". I just can't seem to get them to pop out. The previous "A" comes easily enough but after that I just jump right down. I'm really looking to improve this register so I can start playing some of the more difficult repetoire. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Kim
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Author: Laurie
Date: 2000-05-16 23:01
What exactally is the Altissimo Register ? The really really high notes ? ( Above C - ( No fingers, just thumb key ) ? Help ! hehe
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Author: Al
Date: 2000-05-16 23:04
Since these notes are a top end harmonic of a chalemeau fundemental, we use some unusal fingerings to et them in tune.
The high "A" is really flat 7th partial of the low "C", and the "Bb" is the corresponding 7th partial of the low "Db".
When we go above the "Bb", we're dealing with a different partial of a different fundemental.
The "B" and "C" are probably the 9th partials of low "A" and "Bb".This makes them difficult to produce, especially in aascending scale pattern.
Try to take less reed, move the air faster and, yes, pinch a little. When you're up there, drastic measures must be taken.
Don't practice these notes too much. They're rare and not worth ruining a good embouchure. (Bite the reed if you have to get them,.... but what's the point?)
NOW BEFORE EVERYBODY GETS NERVOUS ABOUT PINCHING, THINK ABOUT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
Don't overdo it Kim, and best wishes.
AL
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Author: Eoin McAuley
Date: 2000-05-16 23:20
Altissimo is the name for all the high notes above the clarino (clarion register). The highest note in the clarino register is normally considered to be "high C" with thumb and register key only. There is actually at least one higher note which is still in the clarino register, the C# which is the C plus the side "F#" trill key.
Any note above this is called altissimo, which means "very high" in Italian, I think. The sky is the limit as to how high you go. There is no upper limit on this "register". Competent clarinetists should be able to play up to the C above the thumb and forefinger C, but I've seen fingerings listed up to the G above this.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-16 23:34
Eoin McAuley wrote:
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Competent clarinetists should be able to play up to the C above the thumb and forefinger C, but I've seen fingerings listed up to the G above this.
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More like amateur clarinetists can easily get to that G (even I can) and the A above that is in a couple of the more common concertos. Contemporary music can call for notes above the A.
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Author: col
Date: 2000-05-16 23:35
Hi
I would just add to that advise about not overdoing them i tend not to do 3 octave scales on c or b just because of the pressure i need to use to get those notes out - takes alot out of you. I am doing Chagrin at the moment with has a run with top c in it and it tend to just play that forward and backwards to work on the c and b. I find this is enough. I also think that it is a vey mental thing to play these notes in a piece and when you can relax into them rather than worrying about pinching enough then they work the best. So i would recommend finding something you want to play with these top notes and using that as the basis for your practice to learn them.
Goodluck.
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-05-17 00:20
I don't like doing too much altissimo because, besides being hard, they hurt my ears. They are also something you want to do "once in a while." You know, "can I get it out?" Test yourself. Don't push yourself to do it everyday. I do know that I have to pinch to get up there and it hurts. Doing it would destroy my embouchure and decrease my playing time. Just know the notes are there and what the fingerings are.
Good luck!
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-05-17 02:24
You guys have a totally different attitude about this register than my teacher. At my university reaching the "super c" in tune is like your claim to fame. If you can do it your good. I was always confused at this becuase frankly they are just horrible notes! Who wants to play them anyways! Thank you so much for the advice - my reeds were dying quickly as I was working on this register so I'll cut back a bit and just test myself every once and a while. Thanks everyone - You're great!
Kim
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Author: Eoin
Date: 2000-05-17 07:34
Mark Charette wrote:
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More like amateur clarinetists can easily get to that G (even I can) and the A above that is in a couple of the more common concertos. Contemporary music can call for notes above the A.
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Mark, do you really mean this or are we talking about different octaves. I say that:
1. clarino register stops at "thumb and forefinger C"
2. altissimo register starts here
3. amateurs can easily play up to altissimo G
4. competent clarinetists can play up to altissimo C, which is octave above C in 1.
5. fingering charts list up to second altissimo G, which is octave above altissimo G in 3.
Eoin
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-17 11:57
Kim wrote:
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I was always confused at this becuase frankly they are just horrible notes! Who wants to play them anyways!
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Oh, I don't know about that. When <b>I</b> play them they're terrible, but when Larry Combs, Charlie Neideich, Tony Pay, et al. play them they sounds just fine - not emphasized or strident.
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Author: Ray Swing
Date: 2000-05-17 12:06
Was pleased to read your post on this subject. Pleased because besides myself, no else has ever admitted on this Board that they need to "pinch" to get those upper Altissimo notes. I'd like to hear from anyone who can pop B, B flat and C without some pinching. Although a stiffer reed will help, you still need to "pinch".
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-17 12:13
Eoin wrote:
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Mark Charette wrote:
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Mark, do you really mean this or are we talking about different octaves. I say that:
1. clarino register stops at "thumb and forefinger C"
2. altissimo register starts here
3. amateurs can easily play up to altissimo G
4. competent clarinetists can play up to altissimo C, which is octave above C in 1.
5. fingering charts list up to second altissimo G, which is octave above altissimo G in 3.
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I mean the same. The G that most of us can get to easily is the 4th line above the staff G. The next note (A) is relatively common in concerti.
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Author: Bob Gardner
Date: 2000-05-17 14:52
I purchased a Benny Goodman song book and the first thing i saw was that just about every note is in this register. needless to say I have set the book aside. Some day when i get as good as Mark then i'll pull it out.
peace
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-17 15:43
Bob Gardner wrote:
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Some day when i get as good as Mark then i'll pull it out.
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Bob, I never said I was any good - but reaching that 4th line G just isn't all that hard. I've only been playing for a few years - most high school freshman can play rings around me technically.
Playing all those notes quickly & in tune (I, too, have a Benny Goodman songbook and no, I can't play those lines either) is the hard part.
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-05-17 16:22
Kim wrote:
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You guys have a totally different attitude about this register than my teacher. At my university reaching the "super c" in tune is like your claim to fame. If you can do it your good. I was always confused at this becuase frankly they are just horrible notes! Who wants to play them anyways!
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My altissimo sounds like a rabid rat, I'm a bass addict anyway, and I agree with your "who needs it" opinion of the squeak register ;-) -- but if the school, and in particular your teacher, has turned the search for the perfect altissimo into the musical equivalent of the Holy Grail, then I think you've been drafted for this crusade. In order to get ahead in that music program, you're going to have to learn to pierce eardrums at forty paces. Actually, I've been working on altissimo myself, not because I need it (I'm an amateur and don't have to care what anybody else thinks I need), but because playing up there in the stratosphere is an interesting challenge. Think of it this way: If you ever need to tie some people up and torture a confession out of them....
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-05-17 18:09
Lelia wrote:
but if the school, and in particular your teacher, has turned the search for the perfect altissimo into the musical equivalent of the Holy Grail, then I think you've been drafted for this crusade. In order to get ahead in that music program, you're going to have to learn to pierce eardrums at forty paces.
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Yes you are right. In this case I really do have to jump off the bridge with the rest of my friends! I'm still plugging away at it though I sound like a bird crying for help but in my lesson today I did reach the "super C" and had it in tune. My teacher was impressed. I guess all it took was me to stop concentrating so hard. Yep as soon as I just relaxed and let my fingers do the walking it popped right out. No one was more surprised than I was. I guess what I did was pinched a little on the altissimo "A", kept that consistant and then just moved my fingers. Who'd a thunk it!
Thanks again people!!
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Author: LBH
Date: 2000-05-17 21:38
Soo.. I can get up to the A .. But does anyone have a fignering chart for above that ?
Laur
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