 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: timg
Date: 2008-04-12 14:54
Attachment: fingers-straight.jpg (118k)
Attachment: fingers-curved.jpg (110k)
Attachment: fingers-medium.jpg (113k)
That Mr. Boehm, why did he give the littlest fingers so much work to do? I just can't seem to find a hand position in which the pinkies can do their job.
With the fingers straight, the top of the hands knock into the A# and trill keys, and the 3rd fingers come off their tone holes.
With the fingers curved the little fingers can't move quickly and tend to hit several keys together.
And the happy medium, recommended by my teacher, is far from happy. The little fingers feel twisted and have trouble reaching the LH F/C or the RH E/B keys.
I've attached some pictures, and would be very happy to listen to any recommendations for improving my finger positioning. By the way, I've been playing for 10 months and have just started to (try to) play awkward note sequences like D#-C-B or F-Eb-C-Bb-B-C (bottom of clarion + throat tones).
Tim
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2008-04-12 15:40
The "straight" photo looks "best" to me. I suspect that continuous practice using the fingers will eliminate the problems you describe, regardless of the position of your fingers.
Comfort and not contorting to play are very important.
I'm also sure someone else will write here what I'm meaning to say. These are the words I'm finding today...
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2008-04-12 15:51
Hi
I noticed in your pictures that your fingers are coming down on the instrument. Think about your fingers coming to the clarinet from the sides, this will make your fingers straight. Also make sure your using the 'paddy' or fleshy part of your fingers, your pictures look like your using alot of tip. It's very hard to tell though, i'd be able to make a better comment if I saw your finger technique in person.
I hope that helps
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2008-04-12 20:57
Typing strengthens little fingers... so does using a calculator and adding up columns of figures by touch.
Do the exercises that you mentioned and your little fingers will get stronger. Also, while sitting you can lay your hand on your thigh (or on a desk or table) and raise and lower those last two fingers to strengthen them and teach them to move independently. Besides you can drive your Mom to distraction by doing this during supper, great fun!
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2008-04-12 22:48
I feel your pain.
Took me (and sometimes still does) some time to wind my ring finger around the C#/A# key, and I won't mention the pinkies. Part of the warm-up routine includes "pinky dance" and "awkward riffs".
A lot improves over time, but the keyword is "over time". Be patient with your fingers.
I still mark my scores with "L" "R" and such when there are sequences that require left-right-left alternations that are non-standard. Like the D#/C/B riff you mentioned. Sometimes you must alternate left-right-left, sometimes you can slide from D# to C - a lot depends on context.
Good luck. And trust your fingers - they'll find a way.
--
Ben
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2008-04-12 23:30
Hmmmm.
I'm not sure about what you are calling these views, but of late, I have found approaching the the clarinet more from a PERPENDICULAR perspective (kinda your third image) better for more things.
The measure that I use of late is the interrupted scale pattern (ascending....C-D-E-F, D-E-F-G, E-F-G-A......etc) in written Gb across the break. Whatever way you approach the keys that make this patern (four sharp tonality, five sharp tonality as well) easiest will be the answer for you.
I like the third image the best as well.
..............Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2008-04-12 23:57)
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2008-04-13 00:54
Try this:
Hold your Clarinet with your left hand only and outstretch your arm straight out in front of you.
Then reach out with your Right Thumb and put it under the thumbrest.
Notice how your hand at that angle feels and what position it puts your fingers in. You want your thumb to have a slight downward angle from the tip to the palm.
Give it a shot and see if it helps. You get your money back if it doesn't 
Really though, like the other posters pointed out your hand looks like it is coming from much too high (your knuckles are raised too high) and it looks like you are curving your fingers too much. Try having your hand more like you are making the letter C with it.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2008-04-13 12:55
What I see in your pictures is tremendous tension in both hands. From article by Gino Cioffi at http://www.geocities.com/afa803/CioffiArticle.html:
"The entire body should be relaxed; sit or stand properly, don't slouch
in your seat or cross your legs. Allow all your muscles to be free, not
cramped. Be sure the arms swing freely from the shoulders, that
the elbows are free; the wrists are so relaxed that the hands droop
when arms are raised. If the wrists and forearms are relaxed the
fingers will follow suit."
Michael Webster has a wonderfully relaxed left hand. See http://www.oicmf.org/Images/Artists%202006/Michael-WebsterGRAY.jpg. Ideally, you should be as relaxed as the great bassoonist William Waterhouse http://www.idrs.org/Publications/DR/DR14.2/DR14.2.Klimko.Waterhouse1.jpg.
There are no rules. In particular, you don't have to put your fingertips on the holes, as in your photos. If you need to lay a finger across a tone hole to get it and your hand relaxed, just do it.
Try some very slow, simple practice, with the clarinet held well out from your body. Press on the rings and keys only hard enough to keep them down. For your left ring finger, for example, there should be no pressure at all. Experiment to learn how little pressure you can use without leaking. Then use your finger muscles only to raise the fingers. Let them drop by gravity, with only enough muscle use to overcome any springs. You want to isolate the "up" and "down" muscles, using the "down" ones almost not at all.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2008-04-14 08:23
It all starts with the thumbs. Left thumb looks a little odd to me - but I know it's hard for beginners to work the register key. It's a kind of rolly-sidewaysy-action and I'd expect the thumb to look a bit more horizontal. But it's hard to see from the photos.
Think Beer Mitt: [obscure reference to a UK sitcom, in which a supportive, insulated glove is designed to help the wearer support a cold glass of beer without fatiguing the required wrist]
1. Hold right hand with imaginary glass of beer in it.
2. Insert clarinet.
3. Apply left hand to clarinet in similar manner.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2008-04-14 11:52
I wonder if you could do with an extension inserted between your right elbow and shoulder? :-)
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Author: crazy karlos
Date: 2008-04-15 10:27
I suffer from double-jointed little fingers, a real problem especially on my right hand. If my pinkies are completely straight, they "jam" and only move with a distinct "snap", hopeless if you're trying to play anything smoothly. I've never "jammed" during a performance, but I always worry about it.
The only solution for me is to keep at least a slight curvature to the fingers, and practise playing tricky patterns on those bottom keys very, very slowly and deliberately. And relax! Any tension and I'm finished.
I play piano, which helps a lot, and I learned decades ago to touch-type on a manual typewriter, the proper way, to rhythm. I still use a manual typewriter at home. It's very good finger practice, you need to keep an even pressure with all the keys, or it shows up on the page. And using a manual typewriter *really* makes you careful, it's just not worth making any mistakes, it's such a pain to correct them...
Also work on your ring fingers, they are notoriously weak, and if you strengthen them you'll find your control over your pinkies improves. It's just a fact, though, that the littlest fingers always have the biggest keys to play -- it's the universe compensating for itself in one of the strange ways it does...
All this being said, I find the "straight" picture above looks best to me. The "curved" pic looks quite frightening, a lot of tension.
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Author: timg
Date: 2008-04-15 11:15
Thanks for all the replies. I've tried out everybody's suggestions (except the slightly bizarre elbow extension).
Reducing hand tension as Ken and others suggested seems to make quite a big improvement. The range of movement of the fingers actually increases quite a bit, and the finger pads make a better seal on the holes. Still, this will take quite a bit of work to ensure that the movements remain accurate, and that the weight of the instrument is well supported.
The suggestions regarding finger strength are well taken. I can't resist replying to Brenda's comment: These days my Mom doesn't bother too much what I do during supper, but I can try to annoy my wife by borrowing her guitar finger-exerciser.
I almost wish I'd bought a typewriter when the army were selling off their old junk recently. Well, no, not really. But I borrowed one of these gadgets recently, and it does seem to help improve hand strength without overstressing anything.
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Author: crazy karlos
Date: 2008-04-15 11:56
You can also try a pair of Chinese Baoding balls, which you rotate in your hand. They are absolutely amazing, and they're actually great musical instruments in themselves, they "sing" as they go. Make sure not to "clack" them together if you do get some.
A friend, a pianist, was attacked in Johannesburg a little while back, someone tried to grab her bag through a car window, stabbed her arm. She smacked him in the face, she thinks she broke his nose -- and she kept the bag ... But her tendons were cut, and she found she couldn't use her left-hand fingers properly on the piano, especially little and ring fingers. The physiotherapist gave her various things to squish, but they didn't really help. I lent her my Baoding singing balls, she got really good with them, and they got her playing again. They make your fingers ripple in a certain way, and they actually tone your whole system, you can feel your whole body tingling, they really are quite amazing.
It's time I got mine back ...
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The Clarinet Pages
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