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Re: F key, left or right?

Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-04-30 23:41

If you think of a woodwind instrument with no keys and just open holes (such as a recorder or Highland bagpipe chanter), then the holes will be covered by most of the fingers on each hand.

So with the descant or treble recorder in mind, the left hand is uppermost and the thumb, index, middle and ring fingers cover their respective holes. Then the right hand is below the left and the index, middle, ring and little fingers cover the remaining holes to completely close them all to get to the lowest note.

As there is no keywork at all, the lowes note can only be made to sound by the lowest finger covering the lowest hole so the lowest note issues through the footjoint. The left hand little finger is too far away to close the lowest tonehole.

This system has been used on nearly all woodwinds, and (most) non-Boehm system clarinets, flutes (to low C), oboes, bassoons and saxes have the low C (or F) key for the right hand little finger only. Except for the bassoon, the left hand little finger now controls the keywork for notes below this (there's a James Galway LP with him pictured on the sleeve with a gold flute that has a LH low B key, though flutes now generally have all the low notes - C, B and even Bb operated by the right hand little finger only).

It's only since the invention of the Boehm system clarinet where the right and (most of the) left hand little finger keys have been duplicated, so it almost eliminates sliding the little fingers which is why you see most non-Boehm clarinets, most modern bassoons, saxes and more expensive flutes fitted with rollers on both or all the RH little finger keys so it makes sliding from F-Ab or C-Eb much easier as these keys are operated by one finger only. But there are some Boehm system clarinets with rollers fitted to the RH F/C and Ab/Eb key touches - Louis (Chelsea), Couesnon and Marigaux have been a few makers that have done this.

As for clarinets, the 5-key clarinets had a fingerhole for the right pinky with the Eb key curling round above it which is why the Ab/Eb key is higher up the joint on modern clarinets (as well as saxes and flutes).

Only on oboes and bassoons is this trend reversed, and that arrangement can be traced back to the 2- or 3-keyed oboes (the 3-keyed oboes had two Eb keys so they could be played with either the left or right hand uppermost) where the low C touch is above the Eb key touch, and the 5-keyed bassoon where the low F key touch is above the Ab key touch.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

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F key, left or right? new

Clive

2007-04-29 09:51