 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Charlie Coleman
Date: 2002-01-13 23:58
Hello to all: I have been playing clarinet and tenor sax in our church praise band for the past five years. And for the past five years I have been struggling with the keys that we end up playing in. D, E and A concert. It's not too bad on the tenor since I play that mostly. But when I pick up the clarinet for a quiet passage, the fingering can be atrocious - at least for me. I know that with more PRACTICE, I could be better, but at my age 69+++, I thought it might be worth while to pick up an old Albert horn in A. Now I see that a Boehm horn is available in A. I guess I'm just looking for some direction, or information where I might find a repairable horn reasonably priced. I have checked ebay, but when I see one that might be ok, it quickly goes out of my range. Maybe I should switch to GIT-TAR. ;-) Thanks for reading and for any suggestions. Charlie C.
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-01-14 02:44
Charlie ... have you given buying a C clarinet any thoughts? It would mean you don't have to read off of transposed parts and could pick up the piano part (for example) and just play off the treble. Just a thought, best of luck.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-01-14 05:09
From the looks of things, Charlie, you're hanging out with guitar players...
And, if I'm not mistaken, you're having trouble playing in sharp keys which those guitar players just Love
D, E, A equates to E, F#, B - fairly difficult keys for any Bb clarinet player but especially for one who's primarily a sax player. A C-pitched clarinet wouldn't help much, in my opinion, 'cause it's still in D, E and A - lotsa sharps : An A clarinet, on the other hand, would put you in F, G and C and those, as we all know, are much more comfortable keys for almost everyone.
I don't know that an Albert in A (I play Albert, by the way) would improve things much since (I assume) you already play Boehm... unless you just like those roller pinky keys. Alberts in A seem to draw pretty substantial prices on eBay, often outdistancing Boehms :[
In my opinion, eBay prices over all seem to be drifting far away from the bargain range these days. Personally, I'd take Dee's advice to heart and frequent the Sneezy ads. Or, post a 'looking for' ad yourself with the price you're willing to pay (factor in a 'donation' to Sneezy in your calculation
Best wishes, Charlie. I know an A horn would help and I hope you find one at a reasonable price.
Happy tootin' :]
Ron B
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Author: Charlie Coleman
Date: 2002-01-15 01:11
Thanks to all who have responded to my post. I will check Sneezy's ads. Several years ago I had several alberts in B, E, A, Eb, but let them go for nothing. Why? Who would want to play those old things! : - ( BTW, the sharp keys don't seem to be that bad on tenor, maybe because of the spacing of the keys. Regards, Charlie C.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-01-15 02:53
David -
I don't find those keys difficult either. I've played in many a country/western outfit (whatever that is - 'guitars rule', I guess in my time. They all preferred those keys. Ancient history. I recognize though, that many clarinet players I've known through the years don't like those particular keys. I agree with Charlie, too, that as I recall they did seem a little more comfortable(?) on tenor sax. Don't ask me why, they just did. Anyway, an A clarinet might help in Charlie's situation. But, again, I don't know - I never played an A clarinet in a guitar-dominant 'band', praise or otherwise.
Happy tootin', Charlie
- ron b -
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2002-01-15 03:23
Probably seemed more comfortable on tenor because there's no register break - you don't need to flail around with the left and right pinky keys to play middle B and C#, not to mention jumping down with "full hands" to A/A# and back up.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-01-15 05:29
That's undeniably about as good an explanation as any I've heard, Steve. Well, actually, I haven't heard an explanation before yours... just now. I hadn't really thought about it either, those middle notes. Your analysis makes perfect sense. Thank you
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2002-01-15 15:39
I can't take the credit for it either; someone pointed that out to me once, about clarinet vs sax fingerings.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-01-15 17:20
How much we see, how much we do, how little we notice....
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