 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-05-06 18:44
Hello once again BB’ers!
Since I started playing the clarinet I have always wondered what the left ring finger Eb/Bb-lever was for on the Böhm-clarinet. I have been trying to figure out passages where that lever would have to be used. I think I have figured out some on the Albert’s and Öhler’s but none on the Böhm’s… What about you?
I have also been wondering about the ring for the ring finger on the right hand (G/D) - would it hurt having only a raised wooden ring or even just a hole? Wouldn’t G-A and D-E trills be more comfortable without the ring?
Sorry for all those questions!
Many thanks,
DAE
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-05-06 18:52
Hi DAE,
That's the chromatic fingering for the D#/Eb (and the A#/Bb a 12th higher) and should be learned. Each of those notes have multiple fingerings and all needed to part of any clarinetist's arsenal of alternate fingerings.
HRL
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2009-05-06 18:57
Absolutely 100% essential!
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-05-06 19:07
Hank, I’m aware what this lever does but I am still not seeing any use for it as I find the rear-of-the right index finger on the side Eb/Bb much more comfortable.
Would be nice to hear what you use it for - I’m just curious.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-05-06 19:09
Bob Lowrey had his clarinet made without this key. He said he always used the side key, and the sliver key got in the way.
Acoustically, the fewer holes in the clarinet body the better. At the London Clarinet Congress many years ago, the Buffet representatives said that they had once made a "simplex Boehm" clarinet, with only a single side key (the Eb/Bb one) and neither the upper joint or the lower joing sliver keys. It played much more easily and sounded much better than the standard instrument, but no one would commit to buying one.
Steve Fox makes his instruments with a single hole for Eb/Bb. The sliver key for the left ring finger has no tone hole, but continues across the upper joint and opens the right index finger side key.
Ken Shaw
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-05-06 19:19
Interesting to hear, Ken. I’d be up for a clarinet without the Eb/Bb sliver but with the lower joint sliver. Have you personally had to use the Eb/Bb sliver?
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2009-05-06 19:21
The ring for RH ring finger allows a much more in-tune altissimo Eb whereas the "normal" RH 2nd fingering is very flat. The RH sliver key also provides an in-tune option for this note as well as being useful to raise the pitch of other altissimo notes.
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-05-06 19:30
On my Selmer both sliver keys ”are” very sharp, thus I use the B/F# only when I need it and the Eb/Bb never.
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2009-05-06 19:32
-- "I have always wondered what the left ring finger Eb/Bb-lever was for on the Böhm-clarinet." --
I actually use that fingering more than the alternatives for Eb, Bb. For me it's just very comfortable.
Steve
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-05-06 19:44
I must say that both these keys look like new on my clarinet. Must be the repertoire I'm using. I somehow never got into the habit of frequently using them (short of the very occasional trill).
I think I could do without, I'd be willing to ditch them in favour of an LH Ab/Eb lever or an RH index finger C#/G# touchpiece)
--
Ben
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2009-05-06 20:12
As far as I am concerned, the LH ring key Bb/Eb is totally unnecessary and in a thirty year career as a professional, I have used it maybe five times!
I am aware that some pros use it for the cadenzas in Sheherazade but don't know many other examples where it really is useful.
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Author: ebonite
Date: 2009-05-06 20:17
If you use the side key fingering for throat Bb, then the RH sliver key makes it easier to do legato transitions between chalumeau Eb and throat Bb, or between clarion Bb and throat Bb.
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-05-06 20:22
Ebonite: I occasionally use the side key fingering for the throat B, but it’s only for delicate passages and I don’t have problems with jumping from that B to the Eb. Also, what happenes when you want to switch from the sliver Eb to the C hole? :-)
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2009-05-06 20:31
Use it for Bb to C trills... Finger Bb and trill the bottom two RH side keys.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-05-06 21:02
aero145 -
I always use the left-hand sliver key for ascending and descending chromatic passages. Also, as Dave says, it's the best solution for the clarion Bb/C trill, particularly the long one in the Nielsen Concerto.
Ken Shaw
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-05-06 21:12
Hi Ken -
The Bb/C trill is a good point, I hadn’t thought about that one until Dave mentioned it. I don’t know the Nielsen concerto, will check it out!
Best regards,
David
PS: Wouldn’t it be possible to design a thing to put into the sliver key hole so that the air would flow past the hole, not into it and on the pad covering the hole?
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-05-06 21:19
I make myself use it when I have something slow so I can concentrate and get it correct. Also, on my bass, it is a much better in-tune fingering so I tend to favor it at times.
The thing that makes use uncomfortable seems to be that the middle finger must be down which limits the flexibility of the ring finger. But I'm not an orthopedic surgeon and could be wrong.
HRL
PS Also, some teachers like to keep everything in one hand so the use of the RH side key is discouraged. I took lessons from a pupil of Gigliotti and there was no issue; the LH sliver key was REQUIRED in chromatic passages.
Post Edited (2009-05-06 21:48)
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Author: D
Date: 2009-05-06 21:25
Couldn't tell you specific repertoire but I certainly know I use it frequently, along with most of the other "get out of trouble" keys which the clarinet possesses. Those keys are one of the best things about the clarinet. Wish I had them on the oboe. They'd be helpful on the trombone too actually!
I can't get to the side key and then back down to get my right hand little finger on it's keys with great speed, so would use it in that kind of situation. Or where I was immediately going to a note where I needed resonance fingering so my right hand needed to be in position.
I know a couple of people who have had their banana keys bent to different angles which stopped them getting in the way but were easier to use for their hand shapes and therefore they used them far more after an alteration.
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-05-06 21:30
I agree with you about the help keys - if somebody would invent a bassoon with clarinet-like fingerings I would so buy it - the current bassoon system often annoys me!
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2009-05-06 21:34
As well as bending to angle to suit one's hand it is often advantageous to grind the sides of touchpiece to reduce their width. On some clarinets (B&H in particular) these keys are far too fat and on Eb clarinets its often the only way to prevent accidentally operating them.
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Author: donald
Date: 2009-05-06 21:43
Over the years I have met a couple of fabulous players who never use the left hand sliver key, and one who had the hole filled in- claiming this improved stability in the altissimo notes (especially alt F#).
I, and most professional players I know, use this key for SOME chromatic passages and SOME scale passages to keep the finger motion in one hand. There are also places (some mentioned above) where awkward trills and/or note combinations can be made, especially for players who prefer not to do "the flip" (top finger F# to thumb F). In most playing situations these are not essential but for many players preferable.
Additionally, some teachers (for example, Hamelin) have taught their students to take advantage of a pitch difference between the two fingerings (the chromatic fingering traditionally being the higher of the two). In different melodic and chordal situations a higher tuning may be appropriate. The only "modern" example of this being taught... that I am aware of... was when Ron Dekant asked me to use this fingering so that I would "soften the tone" as I relaxed to bring the tuning down (in Beethoven 4).
Another player mentioned to me that it is useful to have an alternative to use if your side E/Bflat key fills with water! And indeed now I think of it, I have had to do this during a live broadcast on NZ Concert FM- The side B flat completely full of water, no loud spots coming up to blow water out unnoticed, no time to mess about with papers etc, and an exposed high B flat approaching in a situation not suitable for 1/1 fingering. The sliver key saved the day.
On the E flat clarinet it is more common to have this key removed- and I wonder if filling the hole in would improve Altissimo intonation (on eefer), but I've never had the chance to experiment with this.
As for the ring to the right hand third finger... I can't really see any disadvantage in having it there. The advantages- more options for altissimo fingerings, possible tuning options, plus microtone and multiphonic fingerings (for the modern music crowd). This ring doesn't move when doing an A-G/E-D trill on the standard Boehm clarinet, though I believe it does on some variants of Reform Boehm and Oehler.
I hope this was helpful- as are many of the points made above. Mr Gangolli is certainly not alone- his opinion is shared by at least one Principal Clarinet I am aware of, but the key was put there for a well considered reason.
dn
Post Edited (2009-05-06 21:48)
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-05-06 22:05
DN,
This is one of the most thoughtful answers I have seen on the BB in quite some time. I really enjoyed learning your perspective.
One thing that interesting though is with the absence of the third RH ring on my bass, I have tried to use 1 and 3 for Eb/Bb on a fast passage that favors
that fingering (as a sax and flute player, I have some crazy alternates that I use without much thinking). I know I have unconsciously used it since on bass, it does not work and I realize my error too late.
HRL
PS Aero, I hear ya about the bassoon but I still like playing low Eb using all 10 fingers. LOL.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-05-06 22:43
On older Selmers both the top joint Eb/Bb toneholes are the same diameter and are located at the same distance along the length of the top joint so the note issued from either is the same pitch and of the same tone quality provided both are vented well.
Personally I never use this key at all and I find it just gets in the way, so I've plugged up the tonehole with cork and the touchpiece only serves to keep the LH rings from opening too far on my full Boehms when the joints are seperated.
On my Eb I've bent the touchpiece right down against the body so it's out the way and on my Buffet basset horn and bass I've removed this key completely as well as removed the pillars and blocked the pillar holes with old pillars that have been sawn off and filed down almost flush with the joint surface (with a saw cut across the top so they can be removed with a screwdriver) so the pillar holes don't get anything in them.
On full Boehms I've still got several long Bb fingerings (xoo|xoo or xoo|oxo or xoo|xo,o), side Bb and forked Bb (xox|ooo) which I find are far easier to use than the xx'o|ooo fingering.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: oliver sudden
Date: 2009-05-06 23:30
So when I grew up with the L3 'sliver key' as the normal Eb above middle C and Bb above the stave in the Bb major scale, that was unusual? Wow. If I'd known I probably wouldn't have bothered - I really didn't enjoy learning it. Glad I did though.
The L3 alternative is a whisker higher on my Bb/A clarinets (Festivals) and often very useful - for A#/Bb above the stave as the fifth of a nice loud chord it can make quite a difference.
It's also good in the Eb minor and Db major scales in thirds - you can use the side keys for Gb then.
And using both of them is certainly my preferred E quarter-flat above middle C.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-05-07 01:10
I use this key whenever I want to keep all the fingerings in my left hand for rapid passages (such as that cadenza from Scheherazade that Dileep mentioned--Moussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain is another piece where this fingering is useful).
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-05-07 01:13
Hi Oliver,
Yes, unusual but using that fingering all the time can get awkward in certain situations (with a C before or after the Eb/D#). It's not unusual to have a passage where I will use more than one Eb/D# fingering in very close proximity. I don't do orchestra work but with a lot of show work, some of the 5 and 6 flat or sharp parts often require some clever use of your tools.
HRL
Post Edited (2009-05-07 01:16)
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-05-07 01:28
Another place where this key is useful is if you are playing an A# as the leading tone of B Major. In that case, you want the note to be a little sharper than equal temperament, so the sliver key version will probably sound more correct.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-05-07 02:47
I have always insisted that my students use it in the chromatic scale. It's often referred to as the chromatic fingering. It is true that many pros use it in the first line of the cadenza in Sheherazade. I explain to my students that if you never practice using that fingering you will never be comfortable using it so you will never know if a passage is easier using it or not. That's why I insist they practice it so when playing a given passage they have a choice, otherwise they never do. I use it all the time for any type of chromatic run because it keeps everything close in the same hand. There a many times when it is not good to use, going from C to Eb as an example, but I like to have a choice and you never do if you don't practice it. How can you ever know if it's easier or cleaner to use it if you're not comfortable with it in the first place. Practice C-D-Eb and back over an over again. Once you're comfortable with it compare using the side key and see which feels better, but only after you're comfortable with it otherwise it will always seem more difficult. I love it. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-05-07 07:02
Thanks for al the replies, guys!
The point mrn came with about the leading tone and the trills made for me most sense. Will experiment with that later. I still think removing it and using it only when really needed isn’t such a bad idea - less amount of full holes is never worse, or what?
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Author: Gary Foss
Date: 2009-05-07 07:13
I have heard of players who have the sliver keys shortened, especially with chubby fingers, to lessen the chance of accidental contact. I find the left hand sliver a backup when water gets in the side tonehole and there is no time to blow it out, it has saved me a couple times. It also can help raise pitch and help voice throat tones.
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2009-05-07 07:43
I find it a very convenient fingering - however, it has the problem that you can get 'stuck' on it, if you need to move between that fingering and any lower note.
Primary fingering for that note is the RH first finger on the bottom trill key, but that doesn't always give the cleanest transition, e.g. in chromatic scales.
Both-first-fingers is also useful in certain situations. I'm sure I've used another variant in odd cases... LH 1-3 forked for a (slightly flakey) Bb slurred quickly to the G below rings a bell, I'm going to have to go and check.
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Author: graham
Date: 2009-05-07 11:21
I agree its useful and use it a bit. But it is compromised by the short throw of the lever. This means it is apt to have reduced clearance from the hole compared to the RH lever, and can sound stuffy on a reed that is a little harder (but which may be clear on all other notes). This rarely affects B flat but can affect E flat.
Flat thumb Fs can be brought up by the use of either key, or more dramatically by using both at the same time.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2009-05-07 12:09
Use it all the time in thirds for keys in five and six flat tonalities.
How come no one else has mentionded thirds ????
................Paul Aviles
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-05-07 15:42
Paul Aviles wrote:
> Use it all the time in thirds for keys in five and six flat
> tonalities.
>
>
> How come no one else has mentionded thirds ????
Good point! I some of us were thinking about the clarion register and forgot all about the chalumeau Eb. I use the LH sliver key for scales in thirds in Db and Gb Major, too--it just didn't come to mind.
(Also, now that I think about it, there are some people who as a rule avoid the side-key F# and prefer to flip between the thumb and index fingers for all transitions between F and F#. Those folks probably wouldn't find the sliver key useful in this instance. I use the side key F#--at least for scales in 3rds I do--so using the sliver key avoids having to slide the RH index finger from one side key onto two.)
Post Edited (2009-05-07 16:06)
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Author: ginny
Date: 2009-05-07 15:43
I actually am starting to like it better than the standard eb.
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Author: Tony Beck
Date: 2009-05-07 16:15
Like Chris P., I find the forked Eb/Bb, xox|ooo much more useful than the sliver key. The forked keywork has all but disappeared from modern clarinets while the rarely used sliver survives.
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2009-05-07 19:11
> You can only do the forked fingering if you have the extra keywork fitted...
Yes, its' a very sharp Bb. But it makes a surprisingly effective G-Bb trill or grace-note.
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2009-05-08 01:05
Well the point made earlier about the thirds made me go back and try the LH sliver.
And guess what?
I still do not see the added advantage of this key to what I do presently (use the RH side keys).
By the way, I use the RH sliver key all the time, both for chromatic passages and for boosting the pitch of the altissimo F# (while avoiding the ring). Perfect solution in passages like Debussy Rhapsodie
(First Rhapsodie not the Second Rhapsodie).
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-05-08 04:41
You're missing the whole point of using the fork, or bis, or sliver or whatever you want to call it key. There's never a time that you have to use it. It's a matter of being comfortable with it enough to use it when it is actually an advantage which it will never be for you since you won't make the commitment to really learn to be comfortable with it. I use it often because it is very useful "sometimes". ESP
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2009-05-08 06:16
Dileep- consider the following combination in the chalumeau- Eb, Gb, F.
Your method would be to use side key for Eb, and then flip from Gb to F. If you play the Eb with the sliver key and then the Gb with the two side keys then you don't have to flip and you get a better legato. Both possibilities should be learned, but in slow passages the sliver/side key combination produces the better legato.
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Author: allencole
Date: 2009-05-08 08:39
My favorite use of the sliver Eb/Bb is for page turns. <g>
My main complaint about it is that I've seen a few clarinet-playing band directors force their young students to misuse it in ways that cripple them later on. (You haven't lived until you work a student on Mozart first mov't and watch them insist on using this 'comfortable' fingering in the Bb7 arpeggios) For the average player, the best way to practice it is to use it in the chromatic scale.
What I see as particulary bad is having students make it a primary fingering in diatonic scales. This can only work on the Bb scale, and even then it's pretty useless in using the scale as a tool except for runs. See how well it works for a scale in thirds, and you'll quickly hit the dead end.
I was intrigued, though, by Paul's preference of this for scales-in-thirds in certain keys. The use of side-key throat F# actually requires the sliver Eb-Bb in a case or two, and I can see where this might have advantages for an advanced player if used in a piece that he or she will have an opportunity to practice. But the vast majority scales-in-thirds would be disrupted by the use of this fingering, and it's also not a good one to use when sightreading.
Allen Cole
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2009-05-08 10:20
>> Your method would be to use side key for Eb, and then flip from Gb
>> to F. If you play the Eb with the sliver key and then the Gb with
>> the two side keys then you don't have to flip and you get a better
>> legato. Both possibilities should be learned, but in slow passages
>> the sliver/side key combination produces the better legato.
It's possible and not a problem to move from regular Eb (with side key) to the Gb with side key. So if someone really wanted to use the side Gb for they still don't have to use banana key for Eb. There is no problem with legato this way. I don't think either way is a problem but regular Eb doesn't force to use the "flip".
>> It's a matter of being comfortable with it enough to use it when
>> it is actually an advantage which it will never be for you since you
>> won't make the commitment to really learn to be comfortable with it.
This can be true for some players. I used to practice the banana Eb/Bb so I could use it. I tried using it when I thought it might be an advantage, and also sometimes used it anyway just to get used to it. After getting used to it I chose which Eb/Bb to use only depending on what was better.... and I always choose the right hand key.
Eventhough I never use this key anymore, and I couldn't find any example in this thread (maybe I missed a few) where I would prefer it, if it helps some people then it's an important key.
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Author: aero145
Date: 2009-05-08 11:43
So, I removed the sliver off my bass clarinet for fun and stuffed the hole. Sounds a tiny bit better, looks more ”clean” and yet odd.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-05-08 15:00
Artie Shaw never used this key.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2009-05-08 16:57
Sorry, must clarify: I use this key in the above noted instances in combination with the chalameau "F#" that is fingered like the "F natural" just adding the side keys to it.
Marcellus use to denigrate the use of an alternate F# after trying it in concert - without a good result. Of course you have to practice it to get it to work well, but there are circumstances in which it is less awkward than the standard "first finger" one.
With the sliver and the alternate "F#" you can do wonders.
...................Paul Aviles
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-05-08 17:24
I wonder why Buffet (and others) place the cross Eb/Bb tonehole higher up the joint than the side Eb/Bb tonehole (and make it smaller in diameter) as opposed to Selmer who use the same diameter tonehole in the same relative position for both Eb/Bb keys?
As I have never found a practical use for the 'sliver Eb/Bb key, its decommissioning or absence is not even missed. But when it was on there I kept accidentally nudging it with predictable consequences.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2009-05-08 18:57
ref Ed P's post - I often hear people call the sliver keys "forked" fingerings but in fact the opposite is the case e.g.
LH 101 is the forked fingering for Eb/Bb (only if fork mech fitted)
RH 010 is the forked fingering for B/F#
A forked fingering involves in each case an open hole above a closed hole and of course was much more frequently met with on early instruments with fewer keys (and I think today still on recrder).
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Author: Ed
Date: 2009-05-08 19:22
I use the so called "sliver" key in many passages and consistently in chromatic scales.
The issue with the "side F#"- I recall that Marcellus' complaint was that it was not a legitimate fingering, but instead was a trill fingering. He found the tone of the first finger F3 to be superior. (he could tell the difference listening to it, even in his later years when he had lost his sight).
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-05-08 19:41
Norman Smale wrote:
> A forked fingering involves in each case an open hole above a
> closed hole and of course was much more frequently met with on
> early instruments with fewer keys (and I think today still on
> recrder).
That's right. Incidentally, on a recorder, the fingering for this note (which is Bb on C recorders and Eb on F recorders) is the following forked fingering:
T x o x | x o o
Another term I've heard used for these kinds of fingerings is "cross fingerings."
When I was a student, we used to refer to the RH sliver-key fingering for F# as "fork F#," but that's not quite correct. "Fork-avoidance F#" would be more semantically correct, but is admittedly a bit of a mouthful.
Dileep wrote:
> (First Rhapsodie not the Second Rhapsodie)
Ha ha ha. Good one. You know what else is kind of funny about this? While Debussy wrote a piece called "First Rhapsody" without writing anything called "Second Rhapsody," Gershwin wrote a piece called "Second Rhapsody," but didn't write one called "First Rhapsody" (Gershwin's first one being Rhapsody in Blue, of course.) I think somebody should get a clarinetist and pianist together and play them both together on one concert!
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2009-05-08 20:50
"Marcellus' complaint was that it was not a legitimate fingering, but instead was a trill fingering"
???? Any fingering is legitimate if it works!
Perhaps the issue here is whether one's goal is to achieve the best possible legato, or to achieve the best tone on each individual note. (Although I must say that my side fingering for F-sharp is not inferior in tone to my first finger version)
A more pertinent example would be the note a 12th higher and the comparison between high Db in the normal fingering, and the one using the two RH trill keys. Clarinetists would argue that the "trill" fingering has inferior tone. But in a legato context (eg. the C-Db notes in the opening melody of Schubert's Hirt auf dem Felsen) a better connection is achieved using the two trill keys, and the tonal match between C and Db is closer. Clarinetists may frown upon this "illegitimate" fingering, but when I've played both versions for any non-clarinetist musician, the "trill" fingering is always preferred.
This has been discussed before, but I would still challenge anyone to play the famous solo from the end of Act 1 in Götterdämmerung without using the two side trill keys and achieve the wonderful legato that is required...
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-05-08 20:54
Ditch the fingering chart and use a practical fingering that works well.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-05-08 22:40
Liquorice wrote:
<<"Marcellus' complaint was that it was not a legitimate fingering, but instead was a trill fingering"
???? Any fingering is legitimate if it works!>>
I agree with you, but this does sound like something Robert Marcellus might say. In this interview with James Gholsen he talked about using "legitimate" fingerings:
http://www.clarinet-saxophone.asn.au/downloadabledocs/Interview%20with%20Robert%20Marcellus.pdf
This is apparently one of those age-old fault lines among clarinetists. One of the more memorable lines (to me, anyway) from Jack Brymer's book is where he takes issue with this notion of "legitimate"/"illegitimate" fingerings--something like, "Any fingering is good enough for any note as long as it produces the note."
Sean Osborn has written an excellent article on technique in which he expresses the viewpoint that he does not believe in the concept of standard vs. alternate fingerings. In the article, he advocates the use of the sliver key Eb/Bb to keep passages in one hand and also advocates the use of the chromatic F# to avoid flipping. I must admit that I am sympathetic to this view.
On the other hand, for someone who relies a great deal on their sight-reading ability (like Marcellus apparently did according to that interview), using "standard fingerings" can be helpful because it means that you don't have to make a whole lot of on-the-fly decisions about fingerings.
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2009-05-09 00:13
Hey MRN,
Glad someone out there in Cyber Clarinet Land got my joke.
As a student of Mr Marcellus, I do have to agree that he favored traditional fingerings over what some are calling "alternate". I do not recall him saying anything about his ability to sightread as a skill over other skills necessary to operate in the Cleveland Orchestra. In those days, repertoire tended to be much more limited so sight reading was in many cases not really "sight reading". It just meant you might not have gotten the hours necessary beforehand to feel comfortable playing for Szell.
My own opinion is that Sean Osborne is correct. When we label fingerings as being "traditional" and "alternate/fake" we have automatically created a two-tiered system by our vocabulary.
Indeed there are many times when the "alternative" fingering should be the preferred solution esp when taking into consideration tone color, intonation, notes preceding and following, sense of legato and line, etc.
So in my own mind one should approach fingerings using a palette of choices when possible.
But I still do not use my LH sliver key. And after 40 years of playing the clarinet, you can bury me with my instrument and give that key to someone who will use it.
Let me know if any of you want me to write you and that key into my will so I can pass the note on to my lawyer.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-05-09 00:28
On Boehm systems that key is most likely a throwback to simple systems and could have been dispensed with when Klose and Buffet designed the Boehm system (but was probably retained for players who converted from simple system to Boehm system), and is one of the few woodwind instruments that still have this key - French system bassoons have this Eb key as standard and it's an option on German system bassoons (but standard on all contras). You don't have this key for Bb on flutes, oboes or saxes.
Pretty much all significant designs of non-Boehm clarinets (simple/Albert system, Clinton system, German and Oehler systems and their predecessors) have this Eb/Bb key and it's origin can be traced back to 6- or 7-key clarinets that (like most simple systems) only had this key for a good quality lower register Eb as the forked fingering for Eb isn't particularly great, though the forked fingering for upper register Bb (xox|ooo) is used more than the keyed fingering (wherever possible) as it has a much better tone quality.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2009-05-09 17:29
My experience of playing quite a few makes/models of clarinet over the years is that there is no consistency between them and that a specific fingering on one will produce a really good note yet same fingering on another may be noticeably inferior. Even the Bb/A pairs often vary in this respect.
The fingering 110110 on my Leblanc LLs produces a really good and intune forked G# and yet on many clarinets the note is barely useable.
The "usual" throat F# fingering is in fact a forked note and the side (trill) F# is in fact a non-forked note which often does produce a better note.
The use of alternate (sliver) keys also permits optimised tuning between the twelths and on my Leblancs the keyed and forked B/F# both provide perfect F# but the keyed note is a much more intune B.
Like several posters above I use the LH sliver and side F# all the time in chromatics and quite frequently in other contexts.
If it works for me I'll use it and others can make their own choices.
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