 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: mmatisoff
Date: 2016-08-12 23:05
I realized a few nights ago that if I overblow on A5 I can easily reach F6, and without those crazy fingerings. Best yet, it's in tune (at least on my tuner, as there aren't any musicians I can play with around here). Oddly (or maybe not), I don't see technique in either of my resonance fingering books (Morales and Ridenour). Just wondering if anyone else uses this technique. I have most of Rose Etude 32 #11 down. Still stuck, though, with the jump from Bb to D. Other jumps don't bother me. Just that one.
Post Edited (2016-08-12 23:08)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2016-08-12 23:44
mmatisoff wrote:
> I realized a few nights ago that if I overblow on A5 I can
> easily reach F6,
I haven't tried this - maybe I will later when I'm warming up for a rehearsal tonight. In theory that fingering should produce an F# (the next usable harmonic in the series for TR xxo|ooo), but maybe it comes out flat enough to be F.
> I have most of Rose Etude 32 #11 down. Still stuck,
> though, with the jump from Bb to D.
Do you mean the one near the end of bar 7 (after the sixteenth notes)? How are you fingering Bb? Does D6 speak easily for you by itself? What happens when you slur down from D to the Bb after it? If the descending interval works easily for you, then you need to figure out what's different between the the first Bb (before the D) and the next one in the way you're producing them. With all the other more formidable leaps in this etude, it sounds like you're somehow psyching yourself out on this one. It may be as simple as rushing at the end of the sixteenths and not fingering either the Bb or D cleanly. Try slowing down just a little so the sixteenths are perfectly even and concentrate on playing the Bb cleanly - maybe even hold it for an instant - before moving to D. Always without changing your embouchure or breaking the continuity of the air stream.
Karl
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Author: mmatisoff
Date: 2016-08-13 20:53
I'm practicing what you suggested. It helps a lot. BTW, I have problems going from Bb to F and coming down from F to Bb. Part of my problem is that my air flow has been changing. I'm working on that, too. One question, regarding overblowing A5 to F6. I find that I'm changing my embouchure ever so slightly to make the jump. I find the same to hold true going from Bb to D. Do some notes require changes in embouchure?
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2016-08-13 21:41
You should be able to make the jump without a change in embouchure. It seems very dependent on the mouthpiece/reed combination. With my favourite mouthpiece I can do it with no change, but this doesn't hold true with some other mouthpiece/reed combinations.
Tony F.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2016-08-13 22:21
mmatisoff wrote:
>BTW, I have
> problems going from Bb to F and coming down from F to Bb.
Have you tried the closed F fingering (TR xxxAb | xxx)? It tends to speak easier than the regular fingering in leaps.
regarding overblowing A5 to F6,
> I find that I'm changing my embouchure ever so slightly to
> make the jump. I find the same to hold true going from Bb to D.
> Do some notes require changes in embouchure?
Ideally, no, at least not a conscious one. If the reed is responsive and your air stream is continuous, Bb to D shouldn't need any change and A to F6 using either your fingering or the closed one would only need one to control the intonation. BTW, I tried that fingering last night and was surprised to find that it did produce a slightly sharp F6 - much closer to F than to F# as I had expected. Still, to use it on my clarinet, I'd have to find a way by either a change inside my mouth or some mechanical method (closing a key somewhere farther down the instrument) to bring the pitch down a smidge. And it doesn't slur easily. I should have realized that A would overblow close to F because one of the alternate fingerings for F#6 is to overblow Bb5, so it's consistent with clarinet idiosyncrasies, if not with the harmonic series that's involved.
Coming down, in my experience, is usually a problem for my students because they do make a significant change in embouchure or they reduce their air stream (or both) to coax the lower note to speak. I find the best result comes from not slackening my embouchure at all (and certainly not tightening it). The reed seems to need that stability to remain under control. I'm sure there are players with other approaches, so in the end you may need to experiment a little.
Karl
Post Edited (2016-08-13 23:11)
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