The Clarinet BBoard  
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Author: seabreeze  
Date:   2018-06-27 22:18 
  
Enjoyable article.  The author, Eric Seddon, is also a bulletin board member who posts as "The Marlborough Man."
  
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Author: ned  
Date:   2018-07-04 09:32 
 ''...I believe Shaw expanded these "short finger exercises" extemporaneously to reach Double C, ...'' 
 
For the benefit of this particular player, are we referring to concert C or clarinet C? 
 
thanks...
  
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Author: John G.  
Date:   2018-07-08 02:47 
 Ned, concert Bb.......double high C on clarinet. 
As for Mr. Seddon's article, (and this is only my personal opinion) I believe Artie's mastery of the extreme altissimo was more a product of simply practicing the hell out of it and that not so little something that very few of us mere mortals have.......an incredible amount of God-given talent.   Combine the two and I think you'd get.......Artie Shaw.  ;-) 
 
John
  
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Author: ned  
Date:   2018-07-10 05:42 
 Thanks John G...this self-taught player needed to know exactly what altissimo note was in question. 
 
I can JUST touch the 3rd Ab above middle C on the piano, but not cleanly. 
 
It has been a helpful exercise reading about Artie Shaw's rehearsal regimen (the little that we know) and attempting to put it in to practice. 
 
In the short time that I have included the altissimo in practice (at the beginning of my routine) is has improved my embouchure and tone - and the low notes ''seem to take care of themselves'' to paraphrase the writer.
  
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Author: John G.  
Date:   2018-07-10 07:24 
 Ned, it's a NEVER ending journey.  One that keeps pushing and inspiring us, yet drives us all freaking batty at times!  Keep fighting the fight! 
 
John
  
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Author: Philip Caron  
Date:   2018-07-10 17:49 
 Hi ned.  To the right of the "Clarinet BBoard" banner on this and all board pages is a graphic showing C4.  For a description of Scientific Pitch Notation see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation.  It's the only general purpose way to refer to pitches without confusion. 
 
If the C4 shown is what you mean by middle C on the piano, then the Ab you refer to is Ab6.  When I returned to playing that same note was difficult for me also.  My preferred fingering is TO|oxx|oxo plus either pinky F/C key, but there are others. 
 
If you're interested in extending upward, then work on it every day at least a couple minutes.  Try for a sweet sound, and for an embouchure that works in all registers with little adjustment.  Some setups work better than others.   
 
I at least do scales, 3rds, and a little extemporizing as high as I can every day, and often work on sounding the next note or two.  It's not systematic or even very deliberate.  My working range with double-lip has gotten to G#7, and I'm confident to E7 - I used a leap from G3 to D7 in a cadenza in a solo performance last week.  I know how to play up to C8, and after adding teeth to reed I've extended to E8, though it wasn't real pretty.  I'm a solitary amateur; if I can thusly do then anyone can, or better.  Uh, if they want to.
  
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Author: ned  
Date:   2018-07-11 04:56 
 Thanks Philip...I'll look in to what you say. It will take this non-reader some time, but these days, that's something I seem to have. 
 
At present I am ''overblowing'' on an Albert system, so without resorting to the tuner, I am unsure of the accuracy of my pitch. It sort of ''sounds'' OK, but we'll see.
  
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Author: Burt  
Date:   2018-07-11 21:26 
 Your equipment has a major impact on being able to hit the super-high notes. I made changes in my equipment which help overall playing, but make C7 weak and anything above it nearly impossible. For me, it was a good tradeoff. 
 
Burt Marks 
Rideour Libertas (formerly Vandoren pre-R13) 
Vandoren M30 (formerly Leblanc refaced) 
Legere Signature (not European) 3.25 (formerly Canyes 4 or Gonzales FOF 3.5) - this has the biggest impact on the super-high notes. The switch to Legere has drastically reduced the time for reed maintenance.
  
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