Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2016-05-31 02:44
Gene wrote:Quote:
Tony's observations here work equally well in the string world.
Much of what we play on the violin isn't about finger speed, but rather limiting the distance that each finger travels so that it doesn't require that one make a burst of inaccurate motion. Beginners who haven't achieved this discipline yet tend to play with what I call a "whack-a-mole" approach, where each finger not only tries to hit notes independently, but also tend to travel an excessive distance up and down. All I'd want to add to that is that in the clarinet world, it MAY be more useful to drop the 'limiting distance of finger movement' criterion and replace it by a 'generally slow movement' criterion, as I explain in the posts I referenced.
Why?
Well, the difference between the worlds is that in the string world you are working with essentially four fingers of the left hand – perhaps five, including the LH thumb – and have to deal with exquisitely controlled sideways motion as well as up and down motion.
On the other hand, we mostly don't deal with sideways motion, and are talking about nine mostly independent fingers. You CAN – and some teachers have done this – require that movements are small. But then you can see very able players doing the exact opposite, and it makes one wonder about the necessity of that approach.
I find that to demand small finger movements of myself involves using opposing muscles more than is necessary. (I need those oppositions when I'm playing 'trill-like' passages, but not otherwise.) So for me, 'usually letting my fingers be slow' and dropping the 'usually moving a small distance' requirement has worked better in general. Others may find the opposite.
There is an idea around here that there must be 'a right way' to do all this. (You should do what Stanley Hasty/Kal Opperman/Stanley Drucker/Anthony Gigliotti/Daniel Bonade/.....said you should do.)
But I think, and have always thought, that you do better to analyse the problem and understand WHAT IS REQUIRED BY THE SITUATION.
That puts all of us in the real world; and we can deal with it as we see fit – to be judged by the results.
Tony
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The Clarinet BBoard
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