 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ElisaUK
Date: 2007-01-03 21:57
I have great difficulty playing F sharp (and C sharp) without knocking the tip of my right hand little finger on either the F (C) or the G sharp (E flat) key. It is has actually become quite painful! It is not as though I have very fat fingers. My little finger is really quite tiny and I am sure that many clarinet players have much larger fingers than mine. It just seems difficult to tuck my little finger down into the gap between the two other keys. I practise very slowly moving the little finger from one key to the next but cannot imagine ever being able to play them very fast. Is this a problem that other people have difficulty with?
Elisabeth
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2007-01-03 22:41
I have no idea for how long you're playing, but your finger will become more agile every day. Took me about half a year to reach the RH E/B without squeaking or slipping off with the ring finger.
Part of my warm-up routine is to finger the pinky keys in rapid and changing sequence. And I need to clip my pinky nails pretty close, else I slip off the key.
For fast playing, you'll have to alternate left and right pinkies - that's why they're here (the German system has rollers between neighbouring keys to facilitate faster playing).
So, to answer your problem: Yes, I've struggled with it too. Thought I'd never do it.
--
Ben
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2007-01-04 00:32
Hi Eliza UK - Welcome, I cured some of my "fleeting-touch" problems for the Rt L F 4 keys by raising the level of my thumb rest [I like the inversion method, others like the adjustables] so that the Rt 1st finger and the thumb are at about a good "pinch" level. You might experiment by simply putting your thumb on the TOP of the T R and see how that works for you. If it helps, ask your tech to invert the TR [its simple] for further trial. Luck, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: clarinetwife
Date: 2007-01-04 01:58
Hello, Elisabeth
Don made a good point about possible rh alignment issues. I know the position of the thumbrest on my A clarinet makes my hand ache, a little different problem from yours.
For finger placement on the pinkie keys I would also try a simple "noodling" exercise where you play the pinkie notes in question interspersed with the non-pinkie G or D.
For example play F G Ab G F G Ab G F lower register, in front of a mirror if possible, starting slow and building speed.
Then play F# G Ab G F# G Ab G F#.
Also, does your pinkie slip off the intended key towards the other key at all, or is it mostly hitting them both at the same time?
Good luck!
Barb
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Author: ElisaUK
Date: 2007-01-04 12:09
Hallo dear fellow clarinettists, You have given me a wonderful New Year gift! Thank you for your extremely good advice re my poor little "pinkie".
The best thing of all was Don's suggestion to experiment by putting my thumb above the thumb rest in order so as to get a good pinch level between the first finger and the thumb. MAGIC!! My whole hand feels as though it has been released from an instrument of torture. He suggested that it might help just to invert the thumb rest, but I don't think that in my case it would alter it enough to cure the problem. So I have ordered a Kooiman thumb rest (not too expensive) which my tech man will fit for me. I hope that will sort the problem for good. Thank you Don.
And I have already tried out Barb's noodling exercise in front of a mirror. Very good. Most revealing! No, the problem is not that the pinkie slips off the intended key. It has been just grazing the G sharp key before reaching the F sharp key which has gradually made the tip of the finger very sore. With my thumb above the thumb rest the problem becomes almost non-existent, (although I will take Ben's advice that I should keep my pinkie nail very short!)
One curious thing is that I have just going again on the clarinet having left it hibernating in its case for fifteen years. And I don't remember having this little finger problem when I was playing before. Being somewhat advanced in years (64 tho' very young at heart!) I wonder whether age has changed the shape of my hand and that it is this which has caused the problem.
Anyway, now I can get on with lots of useful and painless practising! And until the Kooiman thumb rest arrives it doesn't seem too difficult to play without a thumb rest at all. My thumb feels as though it is on holiday!
Thank you again.
Elisabeth
Elisabeth
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2007-01-04 18:08
You are very welcome, Elizabeth, thats what this "forum" is for. Sometime back, [I'm 87 1/2] I discovered this mfgr's "flaw" [which is still in operation!!, but at least many co's now put on an adjustable which may help] on my Leblancs and Selmers [alto and bass included] and being a retired researcher, experimented as above. When I work-up a student's cl to playability, I suggest an exercise to them to improve their break/cross fingering, is to play the first several phrases of 76 Trombones starting on open G. Then, [if more "exploratory"] start on A, F# etc, so that the [possible availability] of the Left L F alternate Ab/Eb lever's value becomes evident. 'Nuff [too much?] for now. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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