Author: donald
Date: 2017-08-20 07:48
I agree with the points that Mr Pay makes above- and I have worked with Trombone players and Violinists with fine intonation who are able to play in so well in tune because they have "learnt to play in tune" rather than because they play instruments that are "in tune". [this issue came up with a colleague here in Auckland a few months ago when we were discussing an article by Dr Benade. He made the above point in relation to the oboe, and like Mr Pay was thinking about tone and musicality as well as intonation].
That said, I have also been harrassed by an annoying Violist telling me (in rehearsal with Auckland Chamber orchestra) that my low F was flat- and found myself having to tell him that he had (in this instance) the choice of the F being in tune, or most of the other notes being sharp. It was in my power to minimise the problem but not eliminate it.
Another time, I spent a few hours working on a friends clarinet adjusting pad clearance and tone holes (closing a few up with carefully applied blue tack). With a more even scale that player was able to shape her sound more easily, and expend more energy on MUSIC, as less effort was being used adjusting for intonation discrepancies. So obviously there is more than one side to this issue [and the "less effort on the clarinet, more energy for music" point was also made to me in 1998 by Tom Ridenour].
Mozart concerto high D/C#? My solution is to play it WITHOUT the little finger key, as by that point in the movement my clarinet has warmed up and I'm tending a little sharp anyway... I like to play the passages before this at a dynamic that helps keep the pitch down, but at the high D I bring the dynamic down a bit, which makes the D (using a flatter fingering) in tune, and the C# maybe on the high side. I've always proposed this solution to any students I teach this piece (not many in the last few years, it's true), and my advice seemed to work for them (ie, the D never seemed badly out of tune, and the C# never stuck out as incredibly sharp).
dn
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The Clarinet BBoard
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