 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Ed Lowry
Date: 2012-09-12 02:06
I’ve been working on James Cohn’s version of Gershwin’s three preludes, which Cohn has arranged for clarinet and piano. The first movement ends with a fortissimo c7 (an octave above the thumb and register key high C which is two lines above the staff.) Any advice on how to hit this note (strength of reed, position of mouth and tongue, fingering) would be appreciated. I know that Artie Shaw said this note was no problem for him, but I ain’t no Artie Shaw. Since it’s an arrangement of a piano piece, does anyone have any thoughts about picking another note of the concluding chord – or letting the piano play it alone, assuming I’m not going to be able to play it as Cohn would have me do?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2012-09-12 03:55
I would let the piano finish the movement. A light, effortless tinkling ending.
Freelance woodwind performer
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: traceywooo
Date: 2012-09-13 00:32
Goodness gracious that is a high note. I'm sorry to hijack the forum but are there higher notes than high C? Or is that it?
Good luck!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ed Lowry
Date: 2012-09-13 02:14
Perhaps the question is how high do you want to go. The Woodwind.org fingering chart at http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/clarinet/cl_alt_4.html goes to Bb7 (nearly an octave above the note I was trying to play), and solicits suggestions for higher notes. . . Goodness gracious indeed!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: hans
Date: 2012-09-14 03:46
Artie said that if you were not completely sure of being able to do it, you should avoid it in performance, or something to that effect.
It's really quite doable but it takes some practice. I can do it on a Selmer Recital with VD 5RV mouthpiece and a 2.5 Legere reed but it startles the people on the street in front of my house who normally gather to hear me play.
I vaguely recall Mark C. suggesting putting your teeth on the reed but I suspect that he was being facetious.
Hans
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paula S
Date: 2012-09-14 08:21
Hans,
Teeth on the reed works perfectly well for me if you have an isolated high C, B natural or even D!!!
For the the end of the Gershwin Prelude 1 it is great, secure and highly consistant. Here's how I do it:
1. Look at your reed and measure approximately 1 cm from the tip
2. Put your clarinet in your mouth and drop you lower jaw to that point.
3. Put your lower teeth on the reed at this point.
4. Apply some pressure but you still need to allow the reed to vibrate
( I like to think of the degree of pressure applied as similar to that resistance you get when you are testing pasta or vegetables to see if they are 'al dente')
5. Blow gently ( yes i did say GENTLY!!!!). Similar to the force you would use when blowing out a candle that is quite close to you.
The fingering I use for this is thumb hole and speaker key, LH1 , RH 1 and 2.
I find the above method is not so good though if you have runs of altissimo notes or if you have to come down quite quickly from that note as you can overblow.
I am on a B and H 1010 with 1010 mouthpiece and 3.75 Legere Signature reed.
Cheers P
Post Edited (2012-09-14 08:27)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Alexis
Date: 2012-09-17 12:23
To play this note and others in the area reliably I have the following:
1. An embouchure where my bottom teeth push my bottom lips forward, and the corners of my lips focus inwards
2. A somewhat arched tongue position, similar to saying 'hee'- I find that my tendency when going higher was to change my tongue position in a negative way. It DOES change, but as a consequence of point 3 . This seems to be connected also with thinking of pressure from the top lip onto the mouthpiece
3. Blowing warm-air. For me, this seems to change the blowing syllable from 'hee' to something else (which I can't find an english equivalent for). The tongue maintains a similar arch, but the moves slightly further back from the reed.
To play a C major scale starting on C6, for the top 4 notes I use:
G: TR X00 000 Eb
A: TR 0XX 000 Eb
B: TR XX0XX0 Eb (Sometimes jumps up better without the thumb)
C: TR X00X00 Eb
I play on a 3.5 V12, but it also works with a randomly selected size 2 vandoren classic. So, the reed strength doesn't make a huge amount of difference to me. If you take the thumb off a little between the A and the B it helps the shift in harmonic.
I hope this is useful advice. There are no guarantees that it will work - after all, any problem on the clarinet involves many different elements - blowing, embouchure, resonance, instrument, set-up. Personally I wouldn't use teeth on the reed, because I have much less control over the sound, and what I get isn't very good. I don't know this arrangement, but if that C was problematic, I would prefer the octave below.
Best wishes
Alex
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: rtmyth
Date: 2012-09-17 14:51
Little side note: George Siifies playing them with the St. Louis Sym. Fine stuff.
richard smith
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ryan K
Date: 2012-09-18 15:16
After performing the Copland Concerto a few times (loads of A/Bbs right below that), for me its been all about voicing and air support. Just make sure your voicing is good and you should be fine.
A book that has helped me a lot with that is linked below - very detailed description of voicing and great exercises to practice with.
http://www.justforwinds.com/extreme-clarinet-121540.cfm
Ryan Karr
Dickinson College
Carlisle, PA
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2012-09-21 04:40
My earlier post was in regards to the Second Prelude. As usual I didn't read the question. sorry
Freelance woodwind performer
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2012-09-22 09:09
Clarinetists need to develop their high range the same way that singers or brass players do. You will need to work regularly on just those notes, to develop facility, such as it is. Every day, warm up these notes, no more than you warm up of the rest of your range.
For a secure the player, these notes may not be a problem. For many of us, though, there will be s subtle interplay between reed condition, warm-up state, over-use, and phase of the moon.
Some players do well developing a mental checklist to run through when approaching these notes: reed status (check), posture (check), breath support (check), tongue position (check), are you feeling lucky? (check).
One of the later movements in Ralph Vaughan Williams' cantata "Hodie" has a 3 clarinet entrances (!!!) on the A (2nd one above the staff), and then a B (Curses). I obsessed about these notes, only to hear in the recording that they were in the mix behind the strings and flutes.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
