Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2007-02-18 00:33
There are people who play arabic tuning on clarinet, but I sure don't know how they do it. All the instruments I know of use western chromatic tuning. You will have to find someone who uses maqam on clarinet and have them teach you fingerings.
Every instrument has a "startup cost", to get a stable and pleasant sound, to develop technique, and most importantly to get all your internal "wiring" in order so that you can make music. On some instruments, such as flute, it is initially realtively easy to make a sound, but then to sustain that sound and make it focused and controlled takes a lot. On clarinet, I think it is harder to get that initial sound and make it sing. The worst two things about clarinet are 1) it overblows in 12ths instead of octaves, and 2) intonation relies on the skill of the player much more than for other wind instruments.
The biggest issue is whether you play another wind instrument already: flute, sax, oboe, bassoon, recorder, or even ney. This will give you some kind of start on clarinet. The entire approach to phrasing on a wind instrument will be new and perhaps confusing if your only prior musical experience has been on oud.
|
|