Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-01-25 22:25
Through many years of training I’m pretty good, at least in the basic key signatures, and maybe reading ahead a note or two (or reading notes as a group) to know where to stick my pinkies, and in what order, so that, say, a clarion D# is free to be played with the right pinky.
An advanced clarinetist worth their weight in salt knows, for example, when ascending the key of E major scale, to take the clarion B with the right pinky, so the adjacent C# can be played with the left, followed by the D# with the right.
And I’m no Superman. Throw in the need to swap pinkies mid note, or double sharps and flats, and don’t expect me to play it right the first time, particularly at 120, even if correct annotations appear in the music as to fingerings.
Why is this necessary? How much could it possibly cost even the mid-range clarinet manufacturers to throw in a left Eb/Ab lever, that like all the other left pinky levers, could be removed if the user desired. Its placement could certainly be arranged in a way that does not find it accidently being played in lieu of other left pinky keys. Providing it would prevent all “you can’t get there from here” finger situations with the pinkies.
Nearly all other fingerings on the instrument, barring maybe bad commitment to a chromatic fork fingering with either hand, don’t find it impossible (if not easy) to get to the next note without having to stop airflow, even for a brief second, to avoid playing a note not in the music.
The clarinet is challenging enough. Yes, people learn to live without they key. But I’d like to see it as standard equipment, not on just advanced instruments, but particularly entry level clarinets. And if not that, then at least designed into the clarinet, so that it can be acquired either upon purchase, or later on, without our bboard’s Chris P having to use his mechanical virtuosity to retro design one for you at no trivial cost.
What do you think? As for me, the grandpa argument, "I had to hand crank my car to get it to start, and so can you," just doesn't fly. We innovate to make life easier. I don't seek a clarinet that plays itself, just one that plays easier.
Post Edited (2015-01-25 22:27)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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