The Clarinet BBoard

Re: LH Eb/Bb key - anyone ever needs it?

Author: SecondTry  Date:   2025-08-24 06:38 Erez, IMHO there are enough places in music where one may need to move quickly from to to such that the is taken chromatically, and as a result, the before it may best be taken chromatically as well, with the very key you look to part ways with. Sure, you could roll your right index finger up from a taken with the side key to then voice an in this scenario, or even effect an with a fork fingering, or play the with just the left pointer finger non-chromatically, but all this said I might consider practice that helps you get use to not hitting this key you wish to remove. It's funny you refer to the optional left pinky lever as it too was a key, when I first played a clarinet equipped with one that took about two weeks to not accidentally hit, but then when I got use to it I stopped accidentally hitting it and it does, like the key you wish to remove, come in handy at times. Here's another example. On page 14 of Bearman III, when tasked with playing interrupted scales in D b major you'll be tasked with playing , and quickly in a row. Playing the with that chromatic key is bound to be easier than sliding your right index finger down one key on the side from the chromatic (or playing a fork fingered ) or playing that with the left index finger only, so that you can take the with the side key, which seems prone to error to me. Of course you have to do though what you think is best and if the key has to go, see if you can find a repairman with a spare one of those keys so the actuating mechanism can be filed away. In my opinion that chromatic key is more important than the same sliver key for the right hand. Alternatively maybe the key can be removed and a rubber stopper of the right size placed (and maybe glued) in the tone hole not unlike such stoppers are used at ends of a clarinet section when testing for leaks with a magnehelic machine.

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