 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Dennis
Date: 2000-08-01 23:41
I am practicing the first clarinet part to the Third movement of Beethoven's Sym. #8. The part calls for the High G (4 ledger lines above the staff) to be played PP. I was wondering if anyone knew an alternate fingering to make this note just pop out. I have checked the charts on this site but haven't found anything. Thanks for reading my problem and helping.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-08-02 01:53
I'd say just plenty of practice. It really should come out fairly easily with any of the common fingerings.
You might want to have your instrument checked out. Leaks can cause some problems. Make sure your mouthpiece and reeds are up to par.
Embouchure control seems to be the basic key to getting the notes to speak easily up in this range. Of course good breath support is needed. Although the volume of air for pianissimo is less than for loud sounds, the air pressure must remain high.
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Author: Tim2
Date: 2000-08-03 00:46
I would reiterate Dee's last paragraph. The support absolutely must remain strong for the high "G" to come and come well.
I have not done that excerpt since my college days but I seem to recall using a fingering like third space C except keeping off the first finger. It give a softer sounding "G". The "clean and coordinated" change in fingering from the "B" before it, with support, will help this come out well.
Good luck.
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Author: Kevin Bowman
Date: 2000-08-03 03:14
A very stable fingering that I've found is not too well known is this: play a C# above the staff but add the RH Eb key and the LH C#/G# key. The C#/G# key prevents a "sharp" C# from sounding. I submitted this fingering to the WFG some time ago - it actually comes from Larry Liberson. It's much more in tune than most fingerings for that note and very stable (i.e. won't "break away" from you). All the other advice about support still applies, though.
Good luck
Kevin Bowman
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Author: Kohei
Date: 2000-08-04 19:27
I'm new to clarinet and don't want to sound arrogant beyond my experience, but I just wonder if anybody felt that altissimo on clarinet are easier to get when you try to LOWER the air pressure in your mouth?
That's what Joseph Marchi claims in his book "Etude des Harmoniques et des Suraigu" pub. by "Editions Henry Lemoine". My background is in soprano sax, and I can reach high Bb with a lot of breath support.
I'm basically mucking around with my new used Buffet Bb clarinet for last few days and found it fairly easy to get altissimo at least till Bb as long as I follow the advice of Mr. Marchi who says that clarinet is unique among all woodwind that according to his lab tests involving different instrumental virtuosi ( including sax players ), only in clarinet playing, the air pressure inside the mouth cavity goes down as the player ascends to the altissimo range.
He recommends practicing by playing clarion C ( 3rd partial over the first partial low F ), and while keeping the fingering, sound A above it ( 5th partial ) and then D ( 7th ), followed by F# above it ( 9th ), then A above it ( 11th ), etc.
I can go easily till F# and after that by dramatically dropping the oral pressure, really like sighing from the very bottom of my throat, I could hear a hint of the 11th ( A ) trying to come out, or perhaps it's my imagination ?!
About the 5th, 7th and 9th partials on the 3rd partial fingering though, I'm quite certain that I AM reducing the air pressure as I go up and increasing it as I go down. Also, the first time I blew my clarinet ( a few nights ago ;-), I couldn't get chalumeau notes out because I was blowing like it was a saxophone ( you need to blow slower on the low notes on sax ), but as soon as I gave more pressure, I had no problem. I'm basically reversing the process for the upper register by blowing more gently than I would on my sax-upper register, and so far everything seems to be working quite well!
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Author: Tim2
Date: 2000-08-06 20:08
Kohei wrote:
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I'm new to clarinet and don't want to sound arrogant beyond my experience, but I just wonder if anybody felt that altissimo on clarinet are easier to get when you try to LOWER the air pressure in your mouth?
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I would wonder if you mean speed of the air, and not pressure. You need the pressure (or support) to control the sound. I'm sure the notes can be gotten but what is the tone like? How much spread is there? Is your pitch where you want it to be? Control over the notes?
I've never played a soprano sax. You must play a quite resistant soprano sax if the support needs to be less than the clarinet.
I always thought that it took less power to play saxophone than clarinet. Maybe I should say less concentrated power to play sax than clarinet?
Other variable: mouthpiece, barrel, instrument in particular, your embouchure structure.....
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Author: Kohei
Date: 2000-08-11 18:23
As I wrote earlier, I'm new to clarinet, so everyday I make new discoveries?! I can now produce 'basic' D (6 lines above the staff). I mean by 'basic' that it's produced by fingering
as recommended by several sources, and that it's approximately in the desired pitch range +/- semitone.( I'm shopping around for an electronic tuner ao I'll be able to adjust the fingering by trying adding/subtracting different keys etc. )
I have to say I'm breathing quite forcebly as I go above A#/B/C area, but I think it's probably more due to my inexperience and I should be able to use my breath more wisely as I get more comfortable in this range.
Still, back to the overtone excercise I mentioned in the previous message, it feels I'm hopping to the higher partials by blowing more slowly/carefully from deep down in my mouth cavity. Switch between E and A is essentially the same. For A, I have a much more constricted feeling in my throat, though the air stream/support is indeed fully there.
About the comparison with sax, I meant that I need to blow hard/firm on clarinet's low register, otherwise if I blow as I do for my sax low register, I get clarion
notes instead of chalumeau even without using the register key.
I play up till altissimo D on my sop.sax ( not with consistancy though ), and the air support I need around there is definitely quite large.
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