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Re: A to C smoothly

Author: Phil Freihofner
Date: 2007-01-24 23:37

The following has helped me immensely.

Notice that there is a "click" when the key reaches the fully open position. If it is hard to feel, try putting your teeth on the binding of the reed (and just fingering without playing). It might be good to do individual fingers first before doing them at the same time.

The goal is to make sure that the opening "click" matches the exact moment the other key closes the tonehole.

If it is still hard to get the "A" key (left middle finger) and "F#" key (right index) coordinated, there are two tests that will uncover a disrupting influence:
1) Check the placement of the finger when off of the key. If it has moved to a holding position that is too far away, it will take longer to close.
2) Check the weight of the finger when it is on the key. If it is too heavy, it will take longer to rise off of the key. (My bet is that this is the culprit, that you are storing tension in one or the other finger that you did not previously.)

Assumption: You are moving your fingers quickly. The springs are good and springy.

The following is radical, and I'm not sure it helped or not:
Increase the push of the spring on the A key so it more closely matches that of the F# key. I did this, over the objections of my repair person. It's a tricky operation, as the spring also needs to match the G key and A-flat key, otherwise the keys start popping up at different finger tensions and you have a mess.

I made the change, and like it enough that I'm leaving it as it is rather than having my repair person put it back to "normal." He thinks the A and G are now too stiff. I disagree, but maybe its because I've played piano and am used to heavier resistance. I'd rather have keys matched in resistance than individually as light as possible. (Of course, if you add too much resistance, it slows down the action when closing the key, and that's going too far.)

Good luck. Please let me know if you give these suggestions a try and whether they were fruitful or not. I'd much appreciate it.

http://adonax.com

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