The Clarinet BBoard

Re: When to alternate hands on pinky notes

Author: SecondTry  Date:   2024-12-28 21:24 I would recommend playing this with the pinky configuration that is most comfortable to you. I would recommend practicing stuff like this with all possible pinky configurations so as to develop the muscle memory to handle such variations for times when using the other pinky, or varying pinkies proves easier or necessary. In my "next life" I want to write an etude book, in some ways not different from Tom's excellent one referenced above, that offers such varied and random musical phrasing that it has limited ability to be memorized, forcing the player to maximize concentration, only mine would be focused on a player learning to recognize, by reading ahead a note or two, and/or recognizing patterns, when notes must be taken with a particular fingering in order to not "get stuck." For example, when the notes , and appear in sequence, most of us know that taking that with the chromatic key will lead us to far more difficulty in playing the following than taking the with the middle finger. Such a book would explore when sliding off, for example, the / lever on to the / lever is necessary (or advised even if in possession of a clarinet with a left pinky / lever, when to use/not use chromatic fingerings and when, for example to use alternate fingerings of to be able to take the note that follows with greater ease. It would cover situations where mid note pinky swaps are necessary, and when forked fingers are often easier (or advised against), and useful fingering alternatives in the 6th octave range to go from one note to the another or gliss between them. Post Edited (2024-12-29 00:15)

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Re: When to alternate hands on pinky notes

Author: SecondTry  Date:   2024-12-29 00:43 Tom: Yes, both expressly covered in their own sections, and reinforced in exercises whose primary focus may be something else but still trains the proper choice of alternate fingerings, your book is an excellent one. For example, and simply one of hundreds, in the first measure of Tom's "Seconds and Thirds exercises" in the book, Tom throws at us a , , and , I am sure by design, which the experienced clarinetist knowns best requires the to be taken chromatically, so the can be taken chromatically, so the is easier to make without the presence of unwanted notes that can occur when moving the conventional way between the and with the pointer and thumb. Maybe cheating, (lol) but I have all sorts of scribbled notation in its confines on what pinky to take a note with, if mid note pinky swaps are indicate, or chromatic or slide fingers required, to name but a few approaches best warranted by a passage. About two years ago I put this on my golden era R13s https://www.clarinetworks.com/product/bolt-on-alternate-e-flat-key/ but practice as if I both have and don't have access to this key. For those new to pinky swaps, envision a clarinet with no left / key and music that demands, for example these 4 notes to be played in succession: , , and again. Well either that or note (but not both) will need you to swap pinkies mid-note to insure that the is taken with the left pinky to make the possible.

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