 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Roys_toys
Date: 2016-07-31 23:17
I have developed a new problem which I havnt been aware of before .
When playing lots of fastish quavers which include clarion C, Ab ( left pinkie) and Eb ( right) ,when I go from Eb (right) to C (left) ,my left pinkie often ( say 25%) finds the Ab key rather than the C lever. This can happen even though I now give it extra thought, it just lands on Ab 25% of the time. So I end up with mind and main fingers set for clarion C, but the clarion Ab pressed. Result: slurp or no speak .
Its probably no coincidence that there have been quite a few Ab s in earlier bars. It occurs slurring or tonguing. I havnt had a problem with finding the C lever when not coming from Eb, even with earlier Ab s.,and I dont get this doing scales.
I normally think through right – left passages and ensure I alternate.
But I can solve this problem, giving myself more certainty, by ignoring left and sliding from Eb to C with the right pinkie sax style, this hasn’t let me down yet.( I can't slide up C to Eb so easily, fortunately I don't need to)
I would appreciate any thoughts : ..
Is sliding here an acceptable solution ? or should I keep trying to make right - left work ? The problem is that it ( left pinkie on Ab not C) always catches me by surprise even when I’m deliberately thinking about where it is. So I cant really think how I might “learn”..
My kit is a standard R13 … no left Eb, no rollers.
If anyone can offer advice, my thanks in advance
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2016-08-01 00:18
My Arioso came to me with LH F/C lever much lower than on other clarinets I was used to. Especially odd since my Lyrique (prototype 2nd- supposedly same design) had a high and very solid feeling and quick to close LH F/C. On the Arioso I was able to bend and adjust position, and install a bumper* into the lower part of the mechanism to make it close with less travel. Not as good as the Lyrique, but much easier to play accurately. Pretty sure I also repositioned the Ab key.
So I suggest you compare LH F/C position and travel-to-close on several clarinets, and see if yours is unusually difficult. If so, a competent tech should be able to improve it.
*...which got removed when I sent it in for service which made it bad again, so I had to reinstall it. Even though I had enclosed a note to them to please fix it in a more permanent manner. But the service was no charge other than shipping both ways, so I had no basis for complaint- and anyway would not have wanted to pay again or wait for another shipping round trip. Some things are best described in person to your tech, and verified same way when finished.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2016-08-01 07:59)
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2016-08-01 00:52
You might also benefit from some practice time in front of a mirror. Memorize a short passage that brings out the issue and play it a bunch of times per session over a few days and see if your accuracy improves. Sometimes bringing vision into it is enough to correct an otherwise stubborn issue with fingers.
To answer your more specific question about the hazards of sliding when keys are available to avoid it: the answer depends partially on your goals. If you want to have the technique to be able to sight-read a wide variety of music competently it's pretty important. That C to Eb change the other direction is gong to come up quite a lot in the average course of playing at even an intermeidiate level. If you just want to play the particular pieces you are doing now, you can probably get away with it. For the vast majority of us this would be a bad habit to be avoided if at all possible.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2016-08-01 02:44
My students don't see anything wrong with sliding from Eb to RH C. They do it all the time. I correct them, and the really persistent ones change during the rest of the lesson but come back the next time sliding again. [sighs]
Stan's suggestion about checking into the position of the LH C key on your clarinet would have been my first suggestion as well. LH C may be too low for your comfort. Also, it may be that the LH Ab key is down lower than it needs to be. The Ab spatula may be unnecessarily large. If you have a tech who is mechanically skilled, he may, while watching you play, notice something about the way the keys are laid out that can be tweaked.
Sliding is a kludge at best - if it doesn't have an audible effect on the connection then no one will know. But it's a little tricky to do it in fast passages with good rhythmic control. There are no rollers on the keys as there are on saxes and (I think) oboes and maybe on older clarinet systems. Sliding down from Eb to C isn't so hard to do. Sliding up from C to Eb is much more awkward (at least for me) and unreliable.
Karl
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