The Clarinet BBoard

Re: Clarinet Fingerings

Author: Jack Kissinger  Date:   2011-10-07 17:00 "It would be easier just to learn to transpose at sight." It seems to me that this would be equivalent to memorizing (or creating on the fly) the kind of chart Elkwoman is looking for. Elkwoman asked: "...would my way make the instrument harder to play?" The answer is, "it depends." If you will only ever play concert pitch parts on a Bb clarinet, the answer is no. Otherwise, however, the answer is probably yes. Search for "transposing instruments" on the archives here or on Google for an explanation. The clarinet is a "transposing" instrument. This means that (with minor variations to accommodate intonation) the player learns one set of fingerings that apply to all the instruments in the family. A written C4 uses the same fingering whether you are playing a sopranino clarinet in G or Ab, a piccolo clarinet in D or Eb, a soprano clarinet in A, Bb or C or a basset horn in F. (What you do on a bass clarinet depends on whether you're French or German. ) By convention, composers provide written parts transposed from concert pitch to allow for a transposing instrument's inherent key. Otherwise a clarinetist would have to learn a different set of fingerings for each clarinet s/he wanted/needed to play -- eight different complete sets for all the clarinets I have listed above. Even allowing that parts for clarinets in Ab, and G are extremely rare and parts for clarinets in D are relatively rare, to play the more common instruments a clarinetist would still need to learn 5 different sets. To complicate matters, the clarinetist would have to remember which instrument s/he was playing and which set of fingerings applied at all times. Trust me, that's not as easy as it sounds. The other side of the coin, however, is that if a clarinetist encounters a part that is not written for a clarinet s/he has available, the clarinetist must either write out a transposed part for an available clarinet or "sight transpose" (create an alternate set of fingerings on the fly). Most clarinetists do this for D clarinet parts (play on Eb), many do it for C parts (play on Bb or A), and some do it for A clarinet parts (play on Bb). Most of the time, though, it's easiest to play the part on the clarinet it was written for because composers usually (but not always) specify the (common) clarinet that puts the clarinetist in the simplest key. And it's easiest to have a clarinet in the right key for parts you want to play so, in your case, as others have noted, adding a C clarinet to your arsenal would be the easiest solution to your issue. BTW, recorders are an example of "non-transposing" instruments. Their parts are normally written in concert pitch and the recorder player uses one set of fingerings if playing a garklein, soprano or tenor recorder (which are pitched in the key of C) but a different set of fingerings for sopranino. alto and bass recorder (which are pitched in F). But, at least, the recorder player only has to learn and keep straight two sets of fingerings. Best regards, jnk

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