 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ashley
Date: 2000-11-19 18:51
Got a new solo to work on for my bass clar the other day.... i was walking around at the exhibits at Iowa State this weekend w/ my director. She got 3 different pieces for me: Allegro Spiritoso/ J. B. Senaille, Sonata in G Minor/ H. Eccles, and the mother of all bass clarinet pieces - Ballad/ Heinz Joachim Zander. the first one is cake, i dont think i'm going to even bother with it except to work on sightreading, the second looks pretty cool, i'm going to work it up for a scholarship audition in january, among other things. The Ballad.. well....... is really going to stretch my range. Currently I can play up to the C above high C, this goes to the E above that. I have to go up another harmonic or something, the same as w/ everything above G... but i have to lip it up more... This stupid note is right above the 6th leger line above the staff. Does ANYBODY have any idea how you play this note, as well as C#, D, and D#?? I didnt know it was possible to do that on bass clarinet. My director said she cant even play that high on Bb clar (I dont believe her though). If it helps, i have a bass clar w/ 2 register key openings, so when you overblow an E, it sounds a Bb instead of the A it's supposed to be. So I am very confused.
But I really really really really want to be able to play this piece... its soooo cool, or at least I think it will be. Its sooo spread out, these super-high E's are all over the place. I cant wait to see the look on the judges face at small group contest when i play that *evil grins* hehehehe.. I dont suppose any of you have it, or have access to it, so you can see what i'm talking about? thanx a lot......
*ashley*
ps- lets see how fast my embouchure and reeds die when I start being able to play that, shall we?? then my range will sound (on the piano, in concert pitch) the F right below the bass clef, to the D above the treble clef. Thats just neato. hehehehee....
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Author: Francesca
Date: 2000-11-19 19:32
Yes, that note is possible. The chances of it being anywhere near in tune with the piano are slim to none, but that's OK because everyone will be so impressed with that a bass clarinet can make that note. I don't remember the exact fingering for an E, but if you search for some fingering charts on the net, one of them will have the full range for a bass clarinet. Good luck on the piece, I've heard it performed and it can be very cool.
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Author: Kontragirl
Date: 2000-11-19 21:07
If all else fails, drop it an octave. I'm sure it would be impressive if you could play up there, but if it sounds squaky and air, you're better off just lowering it. You can use the same fingering chart as you use for Bb clarinet, and I know there's a great one on sneezy somewhere. Anyway, I hope you can keep it up the octave.
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Author: Andy
Date: 2000-11-19 21:55
As a Bass Clarinettist I can guarantee that the note is possible, but buy some ear plugs first! I will search around here in some of my old books and send you an email with all the fingerings for up to high F#!
Stay tuned....
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Author: Nate Zeien
Date: 2000-11-19 23:45
Ashley, yes, this is possible. In fact, you've hit one of my favorite subjects for clarinet - the altississimo range. How fun! As some of this fingering stuff can get a bit tricky to write out, and I could rattle on and on about this subject for a while, so I'll just let you email me and we'll go on from there. This piece does sound like fun. Although I haven't done as much with bass clarinet, I've done some hands on research with the extreme registers of the clarinet. I have a bit of a theory in progress as you may call it, in a bunch of scribblings in a ratty old notebook. A good book to find would be New Directions for Clarinet, by Phillip Rehfeldt. This goes farther into this than any other source I have found. This gives fingerings up to the high G above the 3 octave C major scale. This is not the limit, though. I've recorded fingerings up to A, and some tentative fingerings for Bb. B and C are on the next register or harmonic above that, and I have only been able to stay there briefly. I have yet to get that darned C!!! I should also point out that this is for soprano clarinet, not bass. The range of each instrument progresses with size. For example, from what I know, a 3 octave C scale is impossible on an Eb sopranino. No matter how hard I try, I can't get that high. Rehfeldt lists a sharp A as the highest limit for Efer. Apparently he couldn't get that high either! Contrabass clarinet has a range at least an octave more. I do hope that I am not getting insanely boring, as I fear that I am. A couple of words to those who have no idea what I'm talking about, or think that I'm totally full of crap.
1. I would only recommend a range up to a high C of a three octave scale, no further. Higher notes are not commonly found.
2. Not everyone is able to do this, just a few determined and strange folks such as myself.
3. I only said that I have played that high before. I did not say that it sounds good. Once you get above that high C, it less and less resembles music, it becomes *noise*! A lot of strain and miserable effort to produce what sounds like horrible squeaking...
4. In all practical performance, the extreme high notes are pretty much useless.
5. If you don't understand any of what I'm saying, don't worry. You're in the great majority, and you really aren't missing a great deal.
If you think all that I am saying is total BS, I advise you get ahold of the Rehfeldt book and try it out for yourself. I saw his book, and didn't believe it either, until I tried it. I've been hooked ever since. -- Nate Zeien
PS - Mark, is there any chance of adopting official Sneezy notation for the different notes (like A'''') and fingerings? Just wondering.....
PPS - Yes, I AM insane. :-)
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Author: Robert Gifford
Date: 2001-01-21 19:20
Yea, Nate is right.... go into the half-hole range.... which Bb Clarinets do all the time... clarinet's 3 register (altissimo) is hard to get sometimes, but with practice it can be done.
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