 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ruben
Date: 2026-05-27 12:35
Some people have great facility playing the altissimo register on very weak reeds. Jazz musicians tend to do this best: Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Tony Coe (they played on number 2 reeds!) How do/did they do it?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
Post Edited (2026-05-27 12:36)
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Author: donald
Date: 2026-05-27 14:43
First you need to be able to produce the harmonics on the fundamental- this means a rich vibrant note with a wide spectrum. Choking the reed with excess jaw pressure, or playing a hard dead reed that produces a dull tubby sound (read as = "dark") with little flexibility might make a "nice" sound but inhibits the full range of harmonics in your sound.
Once you have this, all you need to do is "voice" the altissimo. It's not like weight-lifting, you don't need to clamp down on your mouthpiece like you're worried it'll fall out of your mouth. You need to "shape the air" the right way, and bingo you have the altissimo.
That's all, it's not really that hard.
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2026-05-28 01:30
Again, what Donald said. Also depends on what you call a had reed. I use VanD 2.5s. With a really good one I can occasionally get a weak Ab7. But have been using these reeds for over 50 years. I take more mouthpiece the higher it gets.
The Most Advanced Clarinet Book -- Songburd Music (paper and digital)
Search title. Amazon.com (search Tom Heimer).
Boreal Ballad solo -- Songburd Music item -- search title.
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