 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-12 01:52
I’ve just received the part for this piece by Peter Maxwell Davies. There’s a solo passage where the two clarinets, in octaves, are like Scottish bagpipes. The first clarinet it’s largely in the altissimo and there’s some tricky ornamentation. I would post an image of the relevant section, but as it’s a copyright piece I’m not sure about the legality of doing that. So I’ll describe the series of notes.
There are Altissimo grace notes/ornamentation A6, E6, F#6 leading main melody note B5.
Another awkward interval is A6 grace note down to melody note F#6.
The A6 and F#6 aren’t the best of notes on my Bb either, even trying a few alternative fingerings, and with not the best of reeds (I really don’t want to flog my good reeds on this, just at the moment). Can anyone suggest some alternative ways to approach these passages?
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2026-01-12 02:29
Maybe overblowing Bb (Bb6? 2 spaces above the staff) for the F#s? One of my favourite fingerings. My grandfather was born on Sanday, Orkney.
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Boreal Ballad for unaccompanied clarinet-Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001314.
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Post Edited (2026-01-12 02:31)
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-19 15:28
TomH - Thanks.
F# isn't the real problem. It's going from the A6 down to the E6. Lipping can't make it quickly or cleanly enough. I think I really need fingerings for the two notes that allow the tube to contribute to a quicker response. Obviously, there isn't time for a lot of finger movement between fingerings that use very different fingers/keys. I've been through the alternative fingering sources I have and there isn't anything that works. It's easier on a C Clarinet, but I'd rather not swop clarinets.
I'll try to provide an image of the passage.
Post Edited (2026-01-19 15:44)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2026-01-19 20:30
I'm not sure how idiomatic this register is for a bagpipe chanter.
My first thought would be to play it, not on a C, but on an Eb clarinet.
Second thought would be to find other grace notes that would be more graceful on a Bb clarinet but still within the bagpipe idiom.
If you're playing A6 with the RH Eb key, it might slip down a harmonic to E more easily if you use RH C# instead - TRK OXX | OOO C#. My experience is that the jump between harmonics is cleaner in both directions with the C# key than with the Eb.
Karl
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