Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2008-06-12 09:57
Here's a way of going about practising this passage that some of you may not have considered. It's based on the notion that though some parts of a fast passage may call for fast finger movements, very often some parts don't.
Consider a one-octave ascending F major scale in the low register of the clarinet, played at speed. Because each finger, after it has moved, plays no further part in the scale, it is possible for the movement of EVERY finger to be slow. All that is required is that each finger begin to move SUFFICIENTLY SOON after the previous one.
Of course, theoretically the movement can't be very, very, very, slow -- otherwise you'd get a smear between notes -- but in practice that isn't a problem.
So, as I like to put it, NOTHING PHYSICAL moves fast in the playing of this 'fast' scale. (What's high in value is a 'phase velocity'.)
Now imagine turning round at the top of the scale, so that you play the throat F and then immediately the E again, beginning a fast descending scale to the low F.
What I said before about slow finger movements applies to this descending scale too -- there is no need for any finger to move fast. As before, all that is required is that each finger land on its tonehole SUFFICIENTLY SOON after the previous one.
But we see that there IS one finger that needs to move fast in a speedy version of the complete up-and-down scale: namely, LH1 -- because as soon as it has come off to produce the F, it needs to go back on again to play the E.
(Of course, I suppose LH2 can't quite take a tea-break either:-) but I think we can agree that the main finger affected is LH1.)
Now, applying this insight to the Capriccio Espagnol passage, we see that quite a lot of THAT can be played with slow fingers, too. The bits that can't involve the EGCE and ECGE over the break in the first ascending and descending arpeggios (fingers LH1 and LHT and RH3 and RH4) and the DFBD and DBFD over the break in the second ascending and descending arpeggios (fingers LH1 and RH4).
I found it interesting that the 'non-standard' second arpeggio is actually simpler: crucially LHT stays on throughout.
So, now we know which bits we can play with slow fingers, and which bits need fast and economical movement. I personally recommend using my three-note exercise:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/download.html/1,788/Exercise.pdf
...to practise the latter. One reason is that part of the difficulty is having the SOUND of the arpeggios under control -- the quality needs to be a 'contained' one, avoiding the smear that some players produce. The exercise helps develop the embouchure/tongue address required to achieve that containment.
Overall, I think this point of view helps psychologically as well as technically: we come to realise that the problem is 'smaller' than we thought, just by being willing to look at the situation closely.
Tony
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The Clarinet BBoard
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