 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jon Shurlock
Date: 2012-02-02 14:31
I would like to get better and quicker at deciding when to go for a lefthand C# and when to go for a righthand C# (depending on if a D# follows), so when I sight read I don't have to (consciously) think about it so much
Does anyone know of a good book of studies to speed up the decision process?
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Author: kdk
Date: 2012-02-02 15:49
How about the scales and arpeggios you practice? One of the points of learning those is to build up habitual responses so that the thought process only needs to come when there's some reason for doing a fingering differently.
Most players, I think, regard rh F/C and lh E/B as their "standard" fingerings so long as a G#/D# (Ab-Eb) isn't involved. Given that, lh F#/C# would follow F/C and rh F#/C# would follow E/B most of the time. Exceptions, for me, are that I use rh B and rh C# in *arpeggios* that involve them and not C (G major, A major, E minor, F# minor). Obviously, when G#/D# is involved, you have to reverse-engineer the passage from that note and decide whether alternating hands works of a slide is needed somewhere.
There are sets of etudes in Klose, Rubank Advanced, Baermann, probably some of the Opperman etude books, and certainly others I've never personally experienced that can be used to emphasize those lever keys in various contexts, but scales themselves can provide a ritualistic, easily accessible (if they're memorized) way to internalize the "normal" fingerings.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2012-02-02 17:10
I use the left C# whenever possible, this makes the left faster when needed and for the most part makes most technical situations better.
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-02-02 23:21
If you have passages, intervals or arpeggios with isolated F#s/C#s or Es/Bs, then use the RH keys as it keeps the notes in the right hand only.
But it's a matter of what's comfortable or more logical for you in any given situation, but get used to using both LH and RH pinky keys - they've been put there for that reason.
If you weren't spoilt for choice (as on simple/Albert or German and Oehler systems) then it would be fairly straightforward (as it is on saxes), but on Boehm system clarinets the choice is there.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2012-02-02 23:39
The suggestion on scale practice is right on.
Usually the scale dictates the finger to use, often different in descending than ascending.
Since so much music is scale or arpeggio orientated the fingers will eventually automatically select the correct pattern for the key of the piece you are playing.
However it is important to practice using both equally even if they are not the most logical in all circumstances.
I do personally have a slight preference for RH F#/C# when possible as I find the direct linkage gives a more positive "snappier" feel.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2012-02-03 00:51
I agree that playing scales and chords will do it. I belive using the right hand C# and left B is usually best because you're fingers are less spread than the other way around. The less motion involved the better. Keep your fingers as close to the keys a possible and that's one way of doing it. Of course you have to learn to read ahead so you know when the D# is involved so you can adjust when nessessary. ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2012-02-04 22:56
Getting all of the scales "in your fingers" (so you don't have to think about them) is great advice. Be sure to include the related arpeggios in your practice, too. Sometimes (F# Major for example), you'll want/need to switch your left/right sequence between the scale and the arpeggio, and both are likely to appear in the same piece.
With my modest amount of scale practice --just enough to make somethings comfortable-- it just irritates the devil out of me when the composer does something weird and snookers me.
The Kroepsch studies force you to do some slips and slides if you have one of them old-fashioned clarinets without the left hand Eb/Ab key. There are also some great etudes in the Langenus Books II and III for "Getting Around The Woodpile" (the pinky keys). Many times, it pays to back up quite a ways and start a passage on the opposite side of the horn so that Eb/Ab limitation or the lack of a right hand G# won't bite.
Keep a pencil handy, too! For the next time you play it.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2012-02-05 12:36
Yes Bob, THE PENCIL !!!!!
I spend years with a certain way, certain that it will be immutable, only to find the pencil coming out to make changes ....... AGAIN !!!
................Paul Aviles
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Author: bethmhil
Date: 2012-02-05 20:41
I agree with Paul's notion of using left hand pinkie keys (if possible). Left hand pinkie motion is naturally less tense for me. Long right hand pinkie fingerings make me 'grab' the clarinet a lot more, and thus create a lot of tension. I was originally taught to use RH pinkie fingerings the majority of the time when I was younger... the tendons in my right wrist are paying for it now.
BMH
Illinois State University, BME and BM Performance
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2012-03-05 17:37
Always use (and alternate between) the "upper" notes on either side where possible when playing with stepwise motion. Obviously, if you are accommodating for the e-flat/g-sharp key then you must adapt. (i.e. in a C# major scale use the right, "upper" B# and left upper C#, but in an E major scale use the right lower B, left upper C#, and then right upper D#.)
When playing wider intervals, you usually want to treat the passages with "handedness." Decide which hand is doing the "work" and plan ahead for what's going to happen. As you play more, you'll see different patterns ahead of time, and you'll know where to start. (I.e. an E major arpeggio makes more sense to play with the right B key because synchronizing different fingers on separate hands is more "clunky" than just using the right B and lifting all the fingers on the same hand.)
Hmm... i'm not happy with my wording here, even after several edits. I hope this makes sense...
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
Post Edited (2012-03-05 17:46)
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