 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ryanclough
Date: 2013-05-18 00:52
i'm really confused!
i've owned a clarinet for a long time, played it for 6 years, did a few grades and such and then left it at highschool. now I'm in university and recently just got it returned to me. In the weeks leading up to the return of my clarinet i was listening to Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, 3rd movement Rondo: Allegro and i know the concerto is written for Clarinet in A, right? My Clarinet is a B Flat clarinet.
I've never played an A Clarinet, i know they're pitched a semi-tone lower than the Bflat clarinet but i'm really confused as to how it's played. The 3rd movement starts with an E, and if i played is on my clarinet (register key, 3 left hand fingers and first two right hand fingers- don't mean to sound patronising, i'm pretty sure you all know what the E is) does that mean that the same finger position on the A Clarinet would play an D#?
If so, then why is it not written to play D# as the first note, which is what would sound on the bflat clarinet right? as an example, if i played a long with my clarinet to a recording of k622 rondo, i would be one semi tone out, but why is it not written differently for the a clarinet?
i'm so confused, as it sounds. could someone explain it to me.
thanks a lot guys!
ryan
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2013-05-18 02:15
You finger the notes on the A clarinet the same way you would on your Bb clarinet except that they will sound a half tone lower.
When a composer writes a piece he/she is not writing for just one instrument. He/she tries to write it so that the maximum number of instruments have playable parts. For example, if something is written in concert Bb, the Bb clarinet has no sharps or flats to deal with in the key signature. However, that may, at the same time, make some passages very difficult to play for a horn in F or a sax in Eb. A piece written in Ab major, while it would have the same tones sounding, would be much more difficult to read and play if it were written in G# major. As a generality, orchestras tend to play in keys that are easier to play on an A clarinet and bands are more likely to play in keys that are easier to play on a Bb clarinet.
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Author: Bennett ★2017
Date: 2013-05-18 03:17
Realize that when you play a piece, it will be labeled for Clarinet in Bb or Clarinet in A. So when you play a piece labeled for Clarinet in A on your A clarinet, the necessary transpositions are written into the part. If you play that piece on your Bb clarinet, every note will sound wrong.
The fingerings on both clarinets are identical; if the music calls for a mid-staff G, e.g., all fingers are off on both clarinets (but different notes will sound.)
Keep in mind, too, that, what we play on our Bb clarinets has been adapted for our transposing instruments. If we were to play the oboe part on a Bb clarinet, all the notes would sound wrong - our parts are transposed for us by the composer/arranger/copyist.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-05-18 10:07
The Mozart concerto is published for Bb clarinet and piano to make it universal for everyone to play. It's in the key of Concert Bb Major (which is C Major for Bb clarinet) and the piano part has been transposed to make it fit with the clarinet part.
The orchestral version is in Concert A Major (and also available for clarinet in A and piano) which is the key the concerto is normally played in. This also means the clarinet part is in C Major.
In both cases, the clarinet part is in the same key (C Major) so you don't have to learn different fingerings for both Bb and A clarinets which will be a nightmare.
If you were to play the piece on Bb clarinet in the concert key of A Major, the clarinet part will have to be written in B Major - that's five sharps! So that will be a technical challenge I don't think anyone would like to accept.
Try playing everything down a semitone to see how you get on with it, so starting the opening phrase on F# - D# - E - G# - F# - E - D# - D #, E - C# -E - C# - B - A#, etc. Easy to begin with, but wait until you get to the fas bits.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2013-05-19 13:57
Any clarinet you play, Bb, A, Eb, C or D finger the same way. You read a note, say an F, and it's fingered the same on any clarinet including the alto and bass in the normal registers. The ptich will sound different on all of them because they are pitched in a different key.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Paula S
Date: 2013-05-19 20:38
Ryan, the A clarinet is slightly larger and has a richer mellower sound. In my experience it is slighty more resistant and requires a little more air support but it rewards you with its wonderful richness. I have 3 matched pairs of clarinets and it is the same for all of them ;-)
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