 The Fingering Forum
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Author: PSU Bass Clarinetist
Date: 2002-01-10 20:55
What are the major scales for the bass clarinet, how are they played, and what notes are used? I played the alto clarinet in high school, and I only know those scales!
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Author: Torus Tubarius
Date: 2002-01-10 23:06
Hello there. There are two ways you could mean your question, either technical or theoretical.
Theoretically speaking, all major scales are the same no matter what instrument you're playing on in that they are all the exact same sequence of notes. The A major scale is always A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#-A no matter what. The Bb major scale is always Bb-C-D-Eb-F-G-A-Bb no matter what. The D# major scale is always D#-E#-F##-G#-A#-B#-C##-D#, though it's easier to think of that sequence of tones as Eb major which most people do. So what you should be memorizing is the sequence of notes, not the sequence of fingerings since if you know all the fingerings for your instrument you can come up with any scale given you understand the sequence of tones in that scale and how those tones are played on your horn. The reason I'm saying all this is that there have been many people on here asking for the fingerings to scales, and I hope they take this idea and use it to really understand music instead of memorizing fingerings.
That brings me to the technical aspect of your question which you probably really meant, that is, are the fingerings for the notes the same from alto to bass clarinet. I believe, though my knowledge of clarinet is limited, that yes indeed all the notes are fingered virtually the same. However be sure to remember that many bass clarinets are pitched in the key of Bb, while alto clarinets are pitched in Eb. So if you're playing a Bb bass clarinet what is a C major scale on the bass will sound like what a G major scale was on the alto.
Anyway good luck to you.
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Author: Eoin
Date: 2002-01-11 07:44
Torus's answer is a good one. Scales on the Bass clarinet are the same fingerings as scales on the Alto clarinet. If you are using music written for the instruments, you will not even notice that they are in two different pitches, because the musical notation takes this into account. Some Bass clarinets have extra notes at the bottom of the range below low Eb.
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