 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ted Donaldson
Date: 2001-09-06 12:24
After spending a week at one of the best band camps in my state (Florida State University) and being in the top band, playing stuff where the bass actually has the melody, i returned home to the oohmpah and wholenotes. I guess i can just get really good with the whole notes, and then practice etudes and solos a little more. 1st chair out of 2 though, gives me a little compition but not much, since the girl didn't want to switch and is currently rebelling against my band director. At least we get to play a highschool level song for festival, i have the melody in that alot too (I asked him for a copy so i could impress everyone when we play it for the first time.) Should i find a community band in the area to join or something to have more challenge? My local community college won't take middle schoolers, so i must look farther. I might try the florida youth symphony orchestra, and i have all state and all county coming up. Thanks for reading this. I guess this is just my monthly blabbing.
Thanks
Ted
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-09-06 13:48
Ted,
If you continue to play bass clarinet, you will always have to deal with oompah, whole notes, and having your part doubled by the bassoons, the euphonium, the saxes, the trombones, etc. etc. ---- at whatever level you play. Even in the best community/concert bands and wind ensembles. And orchestra parts for bass clarinet are fairly few and far between, and often not very meaty. So learn to accept it, and remember our motto: "Every note's a solo!".
If you can't handle that, then go back to soprano clarinet and sit in the section with the dozen other players all playing the same part as you.......see, there ain't no perfect world!
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Author: bob hoit
Date: 2001-09-06 14:29
well i just had to say something.
wind band bass clarinet parts are not the most interesting parts in the world, fine.
however, orchestral parts are plentiful, and usually good. Orchestral bass clarinet playing can be very fulfilling. Unlike most band arrangements, if an orchestral score has a bass clarinet part there is reason for it, wether that be a solo or just tone colour.
however neither of these options has really interested me too much. I feel in love with bass because of the solo and chamber music written for it. now i undersand that you are only in jr. high, and that most of the "real" solo works out there tend to fall into the incredibly difficult catagory, but it is never to early to start learning high registers and to start looking at solo pieces like Isang Yun's monologue(difficult but managable) also there are lots of options for chamber playing, from clarinet quartets to bass clarinet duo's, trio's, and quartets.
Also i strongly suggest maintaining a decent level on clarinet, becuase if you feel there might be a possibility that you would want to continue after high school, there is no way to get around having to play clarinet well. I realize that is a long time in the future for you, but you seem to have a real desire to play and you shouldn't let your current situation get you down to much. there are always opritunities to play if you take the time to look for them.
good luck
sincerely,
bob
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-09-06 17:13
Bob makes a very important point: Maintain proficiency on the soprano clarinet, even when bass clarinet is your primary instrument! I failed to do this when I was in high school/college, and I'm sure that my deficiencies on soprano clarinet have hindered my musical advancement to some degree. I realize that many bass players find it hard to get motivated to play those little clarinets (I know I did!) but it really is important. As has been written before many times, most college/conservatory degree programs, and nearly all symphony orchestras, require a bass clarinetist to show, first and foremost, proficiency on the soprano clarinet. And there's no doubt that it will open up your perspective on bass clarinet playing, as a side benefit.
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-09-06 17:55
Most of my clarinet playing is on bass but yesterday I got my soprano out and took it for a drive. The quicker response makes it alot of fun to play after spending time on the bass. But there's something satisfying about the low register of the bass that you'll never get with a soprano. It's a good idea to keep your soprano chops up even if bass is your main axe. And check out the Bach Cello Suites on bass. This is music you can sink your teeth into for the rest of your life. You do need a low C bass to play these though.
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-09-06 21:14
Check out the Sponsors section, there's a website devoted to the Bass clarinet as a solo instrument.
<www.new-music.org>
The Bach Suites for ViolinCello transcription is very cool.
Not cheap, but cool.
Did I mention the stuff was cool?
anji
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-09-06 22:32
The only thing hindering my musical advancement is a distinct lack of talent.
Other than that, I progress towards mediocrity!
Onward to the middle...
Seriously, check out what 'crossover' players like Quarteto Gelato and Yo-Yo Ma seek out from the library.
If you're stuck in an orchestra that only plays chestnuts (who isn't?), form your own little consort and play the things YOU like.
Enthusiasm combined with skill is often infectious.
Play the stuff you enJOY and the audience will come to you.
I know the neighborhood skunks dig what I'm laying down.
anji
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Author: willie
Date: 2001-09-07 03:52
If the local college or community band won't let middle schoolers in, keep looking, or bug 'em to death. My daughter started playing in one com. band when in 8th grade and it really helped her a lot to play more challenging stuff. Later she started playing bass in our other com. band in the 9th grade. It not only helped her advance at a faster rate than the other kids in her school, but she also landed two scholarships when she graduated last spring. It helped too that she took lessons from the clarinet guru at one of the colleges. Keep on trying!
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Author: IHL
Date: 2001-09-07 06:48
are (or were) bass and contrabass clarinets used in any jazz pieces like the Bb's are? They would make a nice touch, in my opinion.
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Author: IHL
Date: 2001-09-07 06:48
are (or were) bass and contrabass clarinets used in any jazz pieces like the sopranos are? They would make a nice touch, in my opinion.
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Author: Stephen Froehlich
Date: 2001-09-07 14:01
There is some really interesting Jazz work with Bass Clarinet. It has a tone very suitable for more avant guarde (sp?) Jazz. I always start this discussion by mentioning Eric Dolphy. People also like to mention Sneezy sponsor Sherman Friedman (sp?). Honestly, I haven't bought anything of his yet.
The Bass has a very unique tone and modern composers love it. There are steadily becoming more and more real bass parts out there.
The problem is that pieces contrived specifically for school playing (what you're pretty much stuck with until high school) can't assume that a bass will be available (think small school), so they can't give it a unique part. The basses range is truly bass, so you get bass lines most of the time as opposed to tenor counterpoint (which, of course is also perfectly playable with a Bass Clarinet). There are some real treats out there in the band literature, though. I am blessed that the music director of my community band has a tendency to gravitate towards the pieces that were arranged for full wind ensembles with no apologies. This gives me some fun and hard parts to play with.
A really fun middle school piece with an equally fun Bass part is "Silent Movie Music" - its a hoot. The Bass gets to play the villan. I don't know the composer but you might ask your band director about it. Can anyone think of any others that Ted might request of his director?
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-09-07 14:06
Sherman Friedland is a columnist on Sneezy and doesn't have much to do with jazz. Perhaps you were thinking of Michael Lowenstern, who <i>is</i> a sponsor of Sneezy and is a wonderful player.
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Author: David Pegel
Date: 2001-09-08 02:23
You wanna talk oompah and whole notes? Try contra. But since that doesn't have as many parts...
I think that it's great that you're going for a youth orchestra. If you make it, stick with it!! They can actually sound like a professional orchestra if they play right.
(I myself am thinking about re-joining the local High-schooler orchestra next year when my schedule's not so full, as a bass clarinet in lieu of a bassoon. They're kinda rare here in Nashville...)
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Author: Stephen Froehlich
Date: 2001-09-08 03:48
Mark is right, I was thinking of Lowenstern.
My deal on contras is that I flatly refuse to play a contra part that is just doubling the tuba. If you can keep it to the contra parts that were originally scored for contra, you're probably in for some fun. I did play a few of very interesting Contra parts in college.
- One was a solo variation on that theme by Paganini that everyone does variations on that was in an inebrated style (EEb).
- Another was a fast ostanato (sp?) part on a piece called "Circuits" from a composition prof at U. of N. Texas (BBb - can you say plumbing?).
- The last was a divisi BBb contra part in a Gunther Schuler 12 tone piece. That was actually under his baton. At the time he was being a grumpy old man in a wheelchair after surgery and we a less than perfect ensemble but it all clicked for the concert and I look back on it fondly now.
Honestly, I have a love-hate relationship with the contra. I'll probably end up buying one one of these years. An alto first, though.
I whish I could think of more middle school level pieces with fun Bass parts. High school gets much more interesting. If you're lucky you'll get to play La Fiesta Mexicana which has a killer Bass part and is thought by some to be the best piece written for wind ensemble thus far.
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Author: IHL
Date: 2001-09-08 06:01
vive bass clarinet.
A couple of years ago our school did not have a bass clarinet, yet one of our songs required just that instrument (it was specified in the score and we had no bassoon either) to play solo several times during the piece. The initial solution was for one of the alto saxes to *sing* the part, until one day I found a slide-whistle in the fx drawer of the music room. The result was, when everyone was expecting a low noise, they instead heard a very high-pitched recorder noise coming from the back of he room. And yes, I did play it in tune
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Author: Becca
Date: 2001-09-08 23:43
If you are looking for a community band in Central Florida, try Melbourne. Community Band of Brevard is out there and there is another Melbourne community band. I don't have age specifics though. Also, try Florida Young Artists Orchestra (www.fyao.com) Good luck!
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