 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bp (F)
Date: 2004-06-07 16:32
I am a beginner in playing the Eflat clarinet and wondering how to do to produce clean and well tuned high E, F, F# and G (higher, I can't imagine...).
I guess it depends of the instrument you have got in your hands, but I have found my byself that :
- closed fingerings for F and F# work quite well
- adding the G# key (left index) on a high E is usefull to make it sound sharp enough
- don't know what to do with high G (removing left finger?)
Please, give me a few indications about your personal experience.
I am now using n°3 VD on a B44. Do stronger reeds help to play sharp in the high notes?
Thanks a lot
Best regards
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Author: Clarinetist
Date: 2004-06-07 18:11
This is a little off topic, but do you know how many solo pieces have been written for E flat clarinet?
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Author: Dee
Date: 2004-06-07 18:37
Good air support and a firm embouchure (do NOT bite) are also important.
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2004-06-08 03:15
I think that every Eflat clarinet is different. Assuming (as Dee says) good air support and embouchure alike, you have to find the one which works for your clarinet.
For what it's worth, on my (new to me) eefer, the high E and high F both need the addition of the right hand sliver key. Haven't figured out how to make the Eb up there any sharper though! I don't have any problems with high F or G though.
Like I said, find what works for _your_ instrument.
Best of luck,
Katrina
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Author: bp (F)
Date: 2004-06-08 05:58
Thank you all, espacially the very constructive "This is a little off topic, but do you know how many solo pieces have been written for E flat clarinet?".
What about reed strength or MP opening? Do these parameters have an influence in the altissimo register? and which one?
Bye
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-06-08 06:45
I find that I need ever so slightly more mouthpiece in my mouth (on my little devil) so you might want to experiment with position of mouth and instrument. The E-flat clarinet is temperamental and moody, at best, and - quite rarely - charming.
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Author: CPW
Date: 2004-06-08 14:25
Constructively.....Hutchins (Working clarinetist) has an Eeefer book
Van Cott might have it.
Destructively....have your orthopaedist reduce the size of your fingers. It helps.
added correction
HADCOCK...NOT HUTCHINS.
THANKS GLENN KASPAR...ummm KANTOR for correction
Against the windmills of my mind
The jousting pole splinters
Post Edited (2004-06-09 00:41)
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Author: William
Date: 2004-06-08 14:33
All good advice, above. For me, intonation and response on "those" high notes--E6 through G6--also improved when I switched from my custom Charles Bay to a vintage Selmer HS* stock mouthpiece. I use Bb VanDoren 3.5 reeds--cutting the base short with a wire cutter to fit the shorter table--but have recently had remarkable success with a Bb Legere, 3.25 reed. Bb reeds seem to produce a "fatter" sound--but nevertheless, an effer will always be an effer in the upper register and you just have to learn to "deal with it", any way that you can. FWIW, my effer is a pro level Yamaha instrument, but the same set-up also works on my "beater" Bundy Resonite Eb (when I am not using as an emergency tent stake).
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-06-08 16:39
CPW said:
> Constructively.....Hutchins (Working clarinetist) has
> an Eeefer book
> Van Cott might have it.
Peter Hadcock's book "The Working Clarinetist" has a section devoted the the Eb clarinet.
His other book "Orchestral Studies for the Eb Clarinetist" is essential to have if you are going to learn the standard orchestral excerpts.
Both books have very helpful fingering charts and suggestions ...GBK
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Author: CPW
Date: 2004-06-09 00:44
oops....right orchestra, wrong era
I wish to thank Glenn B Klose for the correction.
My ethics are suspect....but I know my morales.
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2004-06-10 17:48
To raise the high Eb you can half-hole the thumb hole. If that isn't high enough you can open the hole completely making sure that the ring is pressed down.
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Author: LesleyM
Date: 2012-01-18 13:16
Like the rest of you, having spent a few years playing 1st clarinet I was "asked" if I would take on the eefer. Why not, I thought.
Most of the time I do not have any problems with it and i love the "look at me" nature of it. But I now have a few pieces where I need to play high E - high G.
Then it becomes a little beast.
It either refuses point blank to make a sound or it is so flat I cringe. At the rehersal on Monday i was biting so hard I am now in pain. But it still refused to play. (and before I get responses, i know i shouldn't bite like this but....)
I now have some new harder reeds on order to see if that makes a difference.
But I do have another odd problem. Top Csharp. Sometimes it is a clear as a bell. others it sort of bubbles and goes in and out of tune. Any ideas?
Lx
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Author: BG ★2017
Date: 2012-01-18 17:44
The altissimo E natural can often be a simple fix on some Eb clarinets. Using your tuner, see if using the right hand pinky F/C key instead of the conventional Ab/E/ key raises the pitch high enough for you. I also recommend the books previously mentioned by GBK!
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