 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: gkern
Date: 2013-06-13 22:36
Anybody else have trouble with the right E/B pinkie key? I don't know if it's arthritis or mental, but I have a difficult time with this key, really noticeable on some of the scales. However, it does not seem as bad on some of my clarinets as on others.
Gary K
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2013-06-13 22:59
Ideally it should be about half a centimeter longer than the other keys for that finger. This makes it easier to 'get at'. I notice that on my Schreiber 6010s this is so. This amounts to good key design.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-06-13 23:07
Is it the length of the touchpiece or the stretch to reach it which gives you grief?
The RH touchpieces can be re-angled relatively easily (by bending them) to bring them nearer the lower ring key pillar which is beneficial to players who find it a stretch to reach the E/B touchpiece without uncovering the RH3 chimney.
I had an older beginner who had trouble reaching the RH E/B touch on her Yamaha 250, but she had no problem with my Selmer CT or Series 9 as the RH pinky touches are very angled on these. So I re-angled all of the touchpieces considerably which involved filing the lower ring key pillar to bring them in as close as possible. The thumbrest was also relocated around the joint to be nearer the ring keys as well as repositioned a bit lower to ease the stretch.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: gkern
Date: 2013-06-13 23:27
Thanks, I will see which horn the key is easiest to reach, then see if my tech can do a little bending on the others. My CT is one of the easier ones also; the Penzel-Muellers not bad either. Part of the problem is that sometimes the last joint in the little finger does not want to bend, so I have to attack the key with it straight.
Out of curiosity, how old was the older beginner? I am 75 and have been playing for about 3-1/2 years after a 53 year hiatus after high school...
Gary K
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2013-06-14 00:37
I worked with a wonderful man a few years ago who was about your age, and he also had trouble getting his right pinkie to do what he wanted it to do. After about a year of playing, the flexibility in that finger improved (an interesting form of therapy), but he still had a hard time with the right E-B key. We came up with an unorthodox solution. When he needed to use this fingering, he'd hit the F-C key with his fingertip while bending the finger down and hitting the E-B key with his middle joint. He made it work, and he did it quite well.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2013-06-14 02:13
I'm hesitating to evoke my conclusion: the only way I will be able to comfortably use the RH E/B key is to amputate about 2/3 of the last joint of that finger.
My too-long pinkie has to be curved too much (takes too long) to get the finger tip onto the key.
SIGH
Bob Phillips
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-06-14 03:55
If the touchpiece were to be raised, would it be possible to operate the key with an area slightly higher on the finger?
Tony F.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-06-14 07:15
Hi Gary, she's in her late 40s and has small hands as well as not having the flexibility in her fingers as a youngster would.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-06-14 11:28
Is your problem that you can't reliably reach the E/B key, or that your finger gets jammed under the F/C key above it?
You can address either problem by adjusting your right hand position. Lay your right forearm and hand on a table, palm down. Note that you can move your hand at the wrist to the right and the left.
Moving your hand to the left (toward the thumb) to make the key easier to reach, and to the right to give your little finger more space. There are simple exercises to strengthen these muscles. Hold your right arm palm down and reach over it with your left hand, wrapping your fingers around. Rotate your right hand as far as possible toward the right and pull back with your left hand, resisting the pull with your right. To go the opposite way, put the heel of your left hand on knuckle area of your right hand and push, resisting the push with your right hand. For me, it works better to pull and push with my left hand against resistance, rather than use my right hand to overcome the pressure from my left.
Everything depends on your anatomy. I have wide palms, long middle and ring fingers and short thumbs, index fingers and little fingers. You use whatever hand position works.
It's not easy to change your hand position. When you stop paying close attention, you go back to what you're used to. A change in the position of the thumb rest, resting the bell on your knee and using a neck strap can all help. I got a lot of help from a physical therapist who specialized in musicians. She saw the problem immediately and showed me what I could do with hand position and what alterations I needed to make to the thumb rest position.
For my hands, the Leblanc "jump key" design is much more comfortable than Buffet or Selmer designs. If only they played as well for me.
If changes in hand position don't do enough, lengthening the E/B key is not a difficult operation. For example, moving your hand left makes the E/C key easier to reach, but makes it more difficult to reach the lowest side key with your right index finger.
Again, a physical therapist's advice is essential, as is the advice of a repair tech who does key alterations.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
