 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2016-04-17 09:27
Whew! I'm having a blast, and getting better at music this weekend! My thoughts and the story, below!
I'm playing Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". REALLY funny musical! I showed up to my new band last week and immediately got asked to help out with playing a musical out in the community.
Them: "You get here JUST in time. We need an extra person for a musical. How's your flute chops?"
Me: "Can't play flute. But my goal is to learn it by next year."
Them: "No problem. You can transpose it and a lot of it is doubled anyway."
Me: ".....ok"
So I got the music at the first rehearsal on Sunday, and since then have been sight-transposing the flute lines and playing clarinet. First of all, I am LOVING playing the musical! The fun (in a sadistic manner) of playing flute in key of Gd, transposing to clarinet and trying to catch all those accidentals they threw in, then after a few measures off, playing clarinet in F#, then clarinet in key of D, then flute in key of B (putting the clarinet in key C#! and those accidentals!), the cuts in the music..... it's really giving my brain one HELL of a workout!!! But I'm getting through it! Not perfectly, certainly not after five days of seeing the music, but I'm getting enough of it to be an asset and not a hinderance! And it is a BLAST!!!
I've made up my mind to do three things......
1) Learn flute. I can make the sound, I can play slowly, but I need to seriously work on my flute chops - learn the extended range, work on tone, and be able to read faster and better.
2) Save up some cash and buy some more horns! I have a student alto and will be receiving a student flute in the mail this week, but I want to add at least a tenor sax to the stable, and maybe in a few years have the technical facility to upgrade my saxes and flute.
3) Do a whole lot more musicals!!! MAN this is fun! And the tunes are so freakin' catchy!
I mean, yeah, it sucks when you see that piece of music in the key of F#, or Db, or have to transpose from a 'hard' key into an even 'harder' key, but the satisfaction of getting that lick, or finally nailing that transposition and awkward interval leaps, or just hearing your contributions.
Well, glad you read my incoherent post. Just happy to have done this and looking forward to doing a whole lot more!!!
Alexi
PS - and REALLY looking forward to working on flute!
US Army Japan Band
Post Edited (2016-04-17 09:28)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2016-04-17 14:25
In high school, we did Pajama Game, in which I played clarinet and alto and bari sax. It was amazing fun, though the faculty blue-noses cut out even the slightest spice. A picnic announcement that said "50 cents and all the beer you can guzzle" had to be "50 cents and all the ham you can eat."
How do you get time off from your military duties? And tell us about when and, if you like, why you changed units.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-04-17 14:38
If you want a real doubling workout, then the Reed 3 book for 'West Side Story' will give you that - piccolo, flute, oboe, cor, Bb and bass clarinet and tenor and bari saxes. I've also taken a soprano sax to do some of the trickier stuff in 'Cool' and an Eb clarinet where the clarinet parts are in unison with the Reed 2 player when they're on Eb, so a total of ten instruments.
But that does mean having to learn oboe and getting access to a cor anglais if you don't have one and substituting them for clarinet in this (and any shows with specific oboe/cor parts) is a cop-out in my opinion as clarinet won't have the same tone quality that the oboe/cor solos need. But it's a good workout should you want to take on the challenge.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2016-04-17 14:39
Both of those are fun shows. Pajama Game was one of my first musicals way back when the Goodyear Theater (right across from the plant in Akron) was doing several huge productions each year.
On Forum, listen closely to the words on "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid." Who ever heard of "graceful as a grouse..." but listen to some of the other phrases. Broadway comedy at its best. However, if you get a chance to work The Full Monty or Legally Blonde, those are two of my more contemporary favorites.
Yes, doubling is a must and flute/piccolo are not all that difficult. But you need to learn the flute fingering for certain notes but can always use certain clarinet fingerings in fast passages.
HRL
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Author: kevinbarry
Date: 2016-04-17 14:49
Good luck you are doing well!
It reminds me of my days in a British army band. At the time we were based in a town called Ipoh in Malaya (as it was then) and a handful of our brass and woodwind players were hired to go up to Penang to play in the pit for The Mikado. We were augmenting a Chinese string orchestra. I went up as second clarinet with all the other musos, except for the first clarinet who was to join us the next day. We had about one and a half hours rehearsal with the string orchestra. Turned out they had been practising for six months - and they were damn good! The show opened the following night - but in an hour and a half rehearsal we did not get through the entire book. So we each took our parts back to base and finished looking at them and practicising the next day.
That evening I happily turned up to play second clarinet only to discover that the first clarinet player had not turned up. The conductor said - "OK, you'll have to do it!" I pointed out that I had not seen the first clarinet part at all and I would have to sight read the entire show and this on opening night, Not a pretty thought. His response? "Tough! Just do your best". I thought it wise to say that I had never even seen the show before nor heard the music so I would be flying blind. "Tough! Do your best".
The first few pages were not bad going. Then around page seven I turned over and saw "Turn to A clarinet" - which of course I did not have. So there I was, sight reading and transposing at the same time, and this on a sold-out Opening Night with all the local bigwigs present. I struggled along. Eventually the arranger kindly let me go back to Bb clarinet, which was a relief.
That is, until I turned a page and to horror the single bar at the top of the page ran right across from one side to the other. It had 64 notes in it, although I only counted them later, going down from about top C above the stave. At a swift glance I decided it looked chromatic and did my best. I confess that I did not get all 64 notes in but I got quite a lot, all things considered. The result sounded like a scream which I confess worried me not a little. Then I realised the sung words onstage were "Now you would have said that head was dead" and my "scream" came immediately afterwards. The audience laughed aloud. I sweated. Mind you, we were located in the tropics so we were sweating pretty much even before we began.
What about the first clarinet player, I hear you ask. He never did turn up.
A week later, back in our base camp, he looked a bit sheepish and muttered that something had cropped up.....
I loved the Gilbert and Sullivan show by the way and have been a fan ever since. Working in a pit band turned out to be my favourite way of playing too. OK, I spell words in a funny fashion; us Brits are like that.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-04-17 16:07
I've found the trickiest quick change is when going from clarinet/bass clarinet to flute or piccolo as I can't get my chops relaxed and set in time to get a note out of either of them straight off.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2016-04-17 16:40
Yes, Chris P. And there is a tendency to over-blow the flute/piccolo as well.
HRL
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Author: Roxann
Date: 2016-04-17 18:57
Boise Music Week (in May) is doing A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum this year and I'm playing Reed 5, which is clarinet and flute. I thought I would transpose the flute parts so I could play them on my clarinet, but Finale doesn't work well with handwritten scores, which Forum is. SO...thanks to the advice of a BBoard member, I purchased a C clarinet from ProWinds. It has not yet arrived, but I'm practicing the parts on my Bb clarinet so I'm ready when it does. I play 4-5 music theater shows a year and I'm thrilled to be able to double on the flute parts with a clarinet. Luckily, we're not Broadway, so subbing a clarinet for a flute is just fine. Earlier this year, I got to play in Seussical and got to play the Bass Clarinet, Tenor Sax, and clarinet parts on my one Bb clarinet. After playing the Tenor parts, I was all ready to start taking sax lessons...those parts were a blast! Anyway...the C clarinet will be a lot of fun to play...and I won't have to learn a new instrument. I told my clarinet teacher that I'd purchased a C clarinet and she said she'd never heard of one. Evidently, young children in Asia who chose to learn the clarinet start on a C clarinet so that they're in the same key as most of the other players. Once they've mastered it, they transition to Bb. Makes a lot of sense from the point of view of a music teacher!
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2016-04-17 22:10
Quote:
Boise Music Week (in May) is doing A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum this year and I'm playing Reed 5, which is clarinet and flute. That's the book I'm playing. Reed 5.Quote:
How do you get time off from your military duties? And tell us about when and, if you like, why you changed units. Time off isn't needed. Since this is a community level musical, all rehearsals and performances are after normal work hours anyway so I go to work from 9-5, rehearsals from 7-10. If it was during the day, I wouldn't be able to do it cause Army comes first (unless I wanted to do it REALLY bad in which case I could probably use vacation days).
When did I switch units? Monday the 10th was my first day at work at my new unit (which the first week or so is usually getting all sorts of inprocessing signatures throughout post, settling your travel accounts, receiving your household goods shipments, etc.) So I'm BRAND new to Huntsville, but seems like a pretty cool area!
I'm in the Active Army band system (not special band system) and we routinely switch units every 2-4 years. I had been at fort jackson for 4 years, and it was time for me to move somewhere and another clarinet player to go there to replace me. I prefer switching out every few years as I tend to get bored, and don't like to get stuck in the 'routine' of the same Army missions year after year. So now I'm in Huntsville, AL (Redstone Arsenal) and it's a nice change from Columbia, SC. Nothing against Columbia or Ft Jackson, but after four years, I was more than willing to try something new. And I'm sure after four years over here, I'll be ready to change scenery and missions again.Quote:
If you want a real doubling workout, then the Reed 3 book for 'West Side Story' will give you that - piccolo, flute, oboe, cor, Bb and bass clarinet and tenor and bari saxes. I've also taken a soprano sax to do some of the trickier stuff in 'Cool' and an Eb clarinet where the clarinet parts are in unison with the Reed 2 player when they're on Eb, so a total of ten instruments.
But that does mean having to learn oboe and getting access to a cor anglais if you don't have one and substituting them for clarinet in this (and any shows with specific oboe/cor parts) is a cop-out in my opinion as clarinet won't have the same tone quality that the oboe/cor solos need. ...That sounds like a blast!!! I need to buy a few more instruments though....and, probably learn them too....!
As to the "tone" of the oboe, I completely agree that playing it on clarinet or flute won't convey it well. However a few years back, I found out that soprano sax, played a little on the bright side, does a pretty good job conveying the tonal change that the oboe does. No, it does NOT sound like an oboe. But it sounds different enough from anything else, that it'll cut through and add that distinct voice that an oboe does. You'd still have to transpose, but it fits well in lieu of an oboe.
Now to get ready for the final performance. And tomorrow I should receive my flute and I'll be in that practice room working my scales and getting those slightly different fingerings!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2016-04-18 00:38
Alexi: You may already be aware of this but...an Asian manufacturer has begun the manufacture of soprano saxes pitched in C. For covering oboe parts without having to transpose, this could make life a lot easier. The Sax On The Web forum has a few threads on the new Asian C sopranos and it would seem that they're at least a serviceable instrument.
That said, vintage Conn, Buescher, Holton, and Martin C's, along with their stencils, aren't too hard to find.
A few years ago, I bought a Taishan-built B-flat soprano with the idea that I'd upgrade to a vintage American model eventually. But, the Taishan proved to be so nice, I don't think I'll ever replace it.
Post Edited (2016-04-18 00:39)
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Author: Wes
Date: 2016-04-18 08:42
Alexi, the flute and piccolo are not easy to learn to play, especially without an expert teacher. It is easy to get a sound, but to play in tune requires special ways of playing that some experienced flutists and piccoloists never learn. I'm thinking of people who have played for 40 years and still detune a concert band with out-of-tune, mostlly sharp piccolo playing. The flute is less critical but so many amateurs play the third register terribly sharp and their C#s very flakey. If you have no access to a really expert teacher, check the James Galway site as he gives very valuable information for free. Good luck!
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2016-04-18 14:48
Wes,
As always you make excellent points.
I still chuckle about the oboe lesson you gave me (on your Loree no less) in the restaurant parking lot in LA way back when. I saved your excellent drawings BTW; beautiful work. But that occasion only re-inforces your comment that one really needs to consult an excellent teacher at critical times.
HRL
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2016-04-20 05:32
Attachment: My new flute!.jpg (65k)
Quote:
Alexi, the flute and piccolo are not easy to learn to play, especially without an expert teacher. It is easy to get a sound, but to play in tune requires special ways of playing that some experienced flutists and piccoloists never learn. I'm thinking of people who have played for 40 years and still detune a concert band with out-of-tune, mostlly sharp piccolo playing. The flute is less critical but so many amateurs play the third register terribly sharp and their C#s very flakey. If you have no access to a really expert teacher, check the James Galway site as he gives very valuable information for free. Good luck! Talked with our band's flautist and she said the EXACT SAME!!! She talked about the people who play flute as a secondary instrument and how there are even "pros" (air quotes were used) who have the technical facility, but their tone and tuning sucks. So we're helping each other out. I train her at the gym and help her get in better shape, and she trains me on flute and I get that in better shape!!!
I brought my flute to a local dealer to get checked out. Unfortunately, it was in pretty bad shape, with some rusted adjustment screws and for a little more than the cost of trying to overhaul it and replace stripped screws, I bought myself a decent student flute!!!
Time to get to work on my tone!!!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
Post Edited (2016-04-20 05:33)
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2016-04-20 16:24
You can't go wrong with your choice of a Gemeinhardt student flute or your new "exercise" pal. What a great swap on talents.
HRL
Post Edited (2016-04-20 18:02)
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