 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: huff n' puff
Date: 2009-09-15 10:16
Hi, all....... just one of those useless thoughts that sometimes flit through an unoccupied mind.
Has anyone noted whether the top clarinettists have short podgy fingers or medium to long fingers?
Is there an advantage or disadvantage to either?
I can just play 10ths on the white notes of a Piano, and sometimes wish that the first finger of my right hand was a little podgier when I reach for the B spatula in the clarion reg.
Maybe what really matters is the relative lengths of ones fingers.
Any views?...... H. n' P.
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Author: Steve L
Date: 2009-09-15 11:27
At various times when I was at school I had two clarinet teachers, one had long slender fingers and the other, an ex army bandsman had short podgy fingers. Both were great players.
I think that its less the dimensions of the hand but more the attitude and focus which makes a good player.
I would also say that if the dimensions of your hand would make clarinet playing difficult, then the thought of picking one up and trying would probably never enter your head.
You might wish that your first finger of your right hand was podgier but wouldn't that make picking your nose more difficult? :-)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-09-15 15:48
I have known great players with both long and short fingers. At least for this matter, what counts is talent, not anatomy.
On the other hand, I have large palms, plus long, unequal-length fingers and shortish thumbs. Alas, it seems that Buffet designed its keys for hands unlike mine -- probably for smaller ones. I have trouble in particular with the lowest side key for Eb/Bb, for which I must fight the urge to straighten out my right index finger.
The Leblanc jump-key design puts the side keys further up, perhaps 20 degrees rather than 25 degrees from the top. These fit my hand naturally, and if I were making my living by playing, I'd have my Buffet side key tops extended to the Leblanc position.
If only I could find a Leblanc jump-key clarinet that played as well as my R-13.
Ken Shaw
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Author: huff n' puff
Date: 2009-09-15 20:07
Hi, Ken.......... as I think about it, there probably isn't an answer. I remember my first clarinet where I had to remove that key to be able to play it at all, so if I had a podgier 1st RH finger, I might be closing the tonehole better but I'd be hitting the side key on my present instruments.
Is Tom Ridenour telling us something about hand shapes and sizes with his "saddle" thumb rest?
I suppose it is quite miraculous that clarinets can be so similar, yet can be played to a fair degree of competence by so many varied hands.
Flutes and saxes having closed toneholes (mainly) do not have these problems- I used to play my Alto outdoors with gloves on.
If it were not for spoiling the appearance of my instrument (or the expense of a spare key), I would slice almost a quarter inch off the tip of my C key.
Chris P.......... if you are within radar, have you any idea how bad the key on my B12 would look if I shortened it without replating?........... H n' P.
(I mean would the polished base metal look similar to the nickel plating?)
Edit,,,,, Sorry, in the third line it must have seemed that I don't know my right hand from my left!
Post Edited (2009-09-18 14:03)
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-09-15 21:00
I have long, skinny fingers. The skinniness helps for playing eefer (where it's very easy to accidentally hit a sliver key). I also find having long fingers helps when playing throat Bb's, since it's not too hard for me to combine the side key Bb fingering with a RH resonance fingering.
I do wonder sometimes, though, whether some of the general recommendations that some teachers make with regard to hand/finger position are more applicable to people with smaller or larger hands than I have.
Also, on the subject of fingers, one peculiar thing about my hands is that my middle fingers naturally want to bend upward at the finger tip (in other words, I was born with a slight Boutonniere posture to my middle fingers--click the link to see what I'm talking about). I wonder if anybody else has (or knows somebody who has) fingers like this and how it affects the way they play (or the way they *should* play) the clarinet.
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Author: huff n' puff
Date: 2009-09-15 21:53
Thanks mrn....... and for the link.......... fascinating....... the complexity makes you wonder how we manage to function at all- Had a shoulder injury years ago, and was staggered at the complexity of the muscles in that area.
The closest I have come to NOT playing an instriument was when I tried the concert flute.......... the fingers were willing, but my left hand simply wouldn't hold the darn thing. Just didn't bend he right way- certainly compared to some female players that I watched.
You've lost me a bit with your reference to resonance fingering with the side Bb.......... my fault no doubt....... tried to work it out but couldn't replicate what I thought you were describing.
The Bb thing has been occupying my thoughts for a while...... may post about it.......... Bash on regardless...........just going to use the fingers I've got.......... H n' P.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-09-16 15:26
The fingering I was referring to was:
A o x x (3rd side key from bottom) | o x x F/C
It's the one fingering I could think of that would seem to require long fingers to do.
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Author: huff n' puff
Date: 2009-09-18 14:21
Mrn....... Hi, and thanks for the clari-fication (sorry about that). I tried this at home and I wondered what pills you were on when you devised it- (kidding).
Do you actually have time to assemble your fingers for this, and do you use it often? I take it that you play the left-hand C key?
Haven't checked any fingering charts- is it a recognised alternative?
When I tried it on my trusty B12, there was a slight difference in quality, but certainly not enough to justify using it.. but then the Bbs- both side and "pincer" plus shading ( for me it is xxx and C key)- are so good that it never occured to me to experiment with alternatives.
Thanks again for making contact.............. H. n' P.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-09-18 16:54
huff n' puff wrote:
> Mrn....... Hi, and thanks for the clari-fication (sorry about
> that). I tried this at home and I wondered what pills you were
> on when you devised it- (kidding).
> Do you actually have time to assemble your fingers for this,
> and do you use it often? I take it that you play the left-hand
> C key?
:) Actually most of the time I use the RH C key (I have long fingers). This is the resonance fingering I generally use for A. I generally use this Bb fingering for Bb's that follow A's in sustained passages where I don't cross the break afterward or for A-Bb trills.
> Haven't checked any fingering charts- is it a recognised
> alternative?
Well, I use it, and it works, so it's recognized by me. 
As the late Jack Brymer (former principal clarinet of the London Symphony) once wrote, "Any fingering is good enough for any note, provided it produces the note....a clarinettist is to be an inventor of clarinet fingerings."
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