 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: saxlite
Date: 2009-12-27 17:50
I can get around pretty well on my Bb, but find it very difficult to play the eefer in the high register/altissimo. I have an excellent Patricola and a good Fred Rast mouthpiece, and good coaching from Fred himself. But, it's still tough going on the high notes. Any suggestions?
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2009-12-27 17:55
You'll find Eb is much less forgiving of a less than perfect tongue position than Bb/A clarinet. You need to voice extremely well with the tongue (eee with the tongue) on the Eb clarinet for the altissimo to work properly. Don't overblow to try to get these notes to speak, but do play with really full body of air and support. Whatever you do, don't bite on the reed!!!
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-12-27 21:49
Be careful, to much ee with your tongue and you will block off the air making you force the air through to small a passage. In my opinion it's more about voicing, which of course involves the tongue. Play as if you were singing the upper register. If you choke or block off the air passage you will get a tight small sound. Just think high as if you're singing it. The Eb mouthpiece is smaller so you might have to take more mouthpiece in your mouth in proportion to what you do on a Bb clarinet. You need the right strength reed, too soft and you pinch those notes off, too hard and they won't respond. I find that most of my success is in my voicing in my throat, finding the right reed for my mouthpiece, holding it at the proper angle and taking enough, but not too much, mouthpiece in my mouth, it's a combination of all these things working together. If all else fails, try some different mouthpieces, yours might not be the right one for you. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: grenadilla428
Date: 2009-12-29 21:23
It's an adjustment - the mouthpiece is smaller, the air column shorter and resistance less, not to mention the occasional overreach with a pinky!
Other than that, I liken it to playing piccolo. Good piccolo players know that as flexible as their flutes are, their pics are even more so. As you get higher, pitches actually start getting closer together in both sound and feel. Piccolo players usually get picked on for being horrendously out of tune, and it's because they cannot hear the difference. Good piccolo players don't just put down fingers and trust that the correct note will come out - they listen very carefully and can hear the difference between G# and A, can hear the space between D and G.
Eb clarinet players also usually get picked on for tuning problems. Again, the instrument is more flexible and the problem is often that players are using the same fingerings and trusting that they will just come out correctly, like they do on the Eb's more stable big brother. Good Eb players pick out the differences between notes and anticipate what their next note will sound like. They use their ears.
I hope that's helpful. Do keep working at it, because it really is an adjustment. I frequently compare the Eb clarinet to a 2-year-old child: it's cute and fun to play with, but it can be really obnoxious sometimes! :-) Good luck!
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Author: graham
Date: 2009-12-30 12:06
I would be interested in whether any of the alternative fingerings I sometimes use to correct my E flat's pitch issues are used by anyone else. Here goes:
B Natural at the top of the clarinet register: take off first finger and put down second finger instead
C natural (one up from previous): add third finger of left hand down on C/G hole; or, play it in the altissimo range by adding third finger on the right hand (this seems to be a very good note)
C Sharp in the altissimo register: add C sharp/F sharp key
I also use the "closed" (sometimes called "long") F and F sharp in the altissimo, which come out sharp on my B flat or A clarinets.
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