 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Suzanne
Date: 2002-02-20 01:22
My student is interested in the contra alto clarinet, and so I am thinking that she might like to at least read off of some good bass music, since there isn't much composed for the contra, and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good publications. She is an eighth grader.
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Author: Sally Gardens
Date: 2002-02-20 06:30
Not a teacher, but grew up playing bass clarinet and always enjoyed this piece: Sonata in A Minor, by Benedetto Marcello, originally for string bass, arranged for bass or contrabass clarinet in Bb, published by Southern Music Co. (Obviously for contra alto the student will either have to play unaccompanied or have an accompanist who can readily transpose. Since you're talking about something just to play for development/enrichment, accompaniment is probably not an issue, anyway.) The Southern web site lists it as "Grade 3" in difficulty.
http://www.smcpublications.com/catalog/music/instrumental/woodwinds/clarinetab.htm
This might be too difficult for an 8th grader, but Weber's Concertino has been arranged, I believe, for ALL of the clarinets. (I personally like it better on bass than on soprano. ;-)) You might be able to find it with accompaniment arranged for Eb contra alto.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-02-20 17:09
You could certainly play the Weber Concertino on bass clarinet, though it's noticeable more difficult than on soprano simply because of the weight of the keys, the longer key travel and the slower response.
The Concertino on an Eb contra-alto is problematic. Few instruments have a pad under the left index finger, so putting a bass-clarinet-style pinhole in for the altissimo doesn't work. I explored the possibility with Steve Fox of putting an English-horn-style split key on my Selmer, but he said it would be a major project. At least one site (Henrik Bok's, I think) has substitute altissimo fingerings for Eb and BBb contra, but getting facility on these is a job for the Boks of this world, and not us mortals.
On the Eb contra, you can read a bass clef part as if it were in treble clef, moving the key signature 2 degrees in the "sharp" direction. Thus any tuba solo should go well.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2002-02-20 20:25
You've probably already thought of this but just in case.... If your student will play any recitals with piano accompaniment, you might want to explore solos for (Eb) alto clarinet. There isn't as much written for alto clarinet as for bass but, perhaps because there aren't many (any) professional classical alto soloists, what does exist is usually not extremely difficult and much of the literature may be age appropriate for your student. Another avenue you might explore, if performance with piano without serious transposition is an issue, would be music for baritone sax. To find some specific pieces, try entering any composer's name in the Sheet Music Now box at the top of this page. That will take you to their web site. Then delete the composer and put in "alto clarinet" without the quotes (or "baritone sax" or "bass clarinet"). The "alto clarinet" will, unfortunately, yield a number of pieces involving voice and clarinet as part of an ensemble but it will also yield some options for alto clarinet.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Sally Gardens
Date: 2002-02-20 23:16
>You could certainly play the Weber Concertino on bass clarinet, though it's noticeable more difficult than on soprano simply because of the weight of the keys, the longer key travel and the slower response.
Well, that's true of playing anything faster than a largo pedal tone on the bass. ;-) An experienced bass clarinetist (particularly one for whom b.cl. has been her/his primary instrument of study) is used to the feel of the instrument, and should be able to tackle literature comparable to a soprano clarinetist of equal experience and aptitude. However, as I noted above, the Weber is probably challenging for many 8th graders even on soprano; for someone just starting on contra alto, prolly not yet. But it's a challenge to look forward to, and the easier parts of it are certainly worth an attempt even now. ;-) Refuse to let the low clarinets languish in pedal tone purgatory!!!
Sorry. Got a bit carried away there...
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Author: William Hughes
Date: 2002-02-21 03:25
To get the real feel of the contrary beast, your student should play some tuba, some bassoon, some string bass, a little Eb horn music, an occasional bari sax part and a smattering of alto clarinet. That's what she is likely to see on the stand in front of her at any given time along with the rare and coveted actual written for EEb contra alto clarinet part.
Somewhat more seriously, I use an advanced tuba book for practice exercises (Tyrell, published by Boosey & Hawkes). Plenty challenging for me.
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Author: wwelch
Date: 2002-02-21 22:02
I use for practice with my contra-alto "Advanced Studies" from the works of Julius Weissenborn adapted for alto and bass clarinets bt William E. Rhoads. Ordered it from Southern Music. I think an eighth grader should be able to play most of the music.
Bill
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