 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: fassopony
Date: 2010-10-15 16:04
I quit playing for 20 years and have recently (last week
LOL!) decided to play again. It's been great except the C# thing! I have been playing with a pal who plays piano, they transpose everything so it ends up with me F#, G# and C#. It's fine except when I need to go back and forth from B to C#, trying to slide my left pinky is just not working. In fact, anything to that C# seems tricky.
I did buy some of the Rubank method books but for some reason I seem to have a brain block trying to figure this one out?
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2010-10-15 16:09
Use the RH fingering for the C#! I'm assuming you mean middle line B and third space C#...
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Author: fassopony
Date: 2010-10-15 16:14
RH!? Keep in mind I am old now, it has been 20 years I have to still count lines to figure out what key to play
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2010-10-15 17:33
Hehe...In my opinion, the C# is only played by the left hand key about half the time. Obviously the right hand key is used the other half!
There are "standard" fingerings for both B and C, and of course for Eb (D#), but the C# is really dependent on context...
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Author: gsurosey
Date: 2010-10-15 17:48
If you're referring to the B and C# in the middle of the staff (as Katrina asked), thus those notes right above the break, there are pinky keys for both the left hand and right hand (LH and RH). Sliding between those notes on the same side is harder than alternating pinkies. Which note you play on which side depends on what is comfortable for you and the context of those notes (ie, is there an Eb right before or after those notes, etc).
I'm one of the few people I know that tends to play LH C. The exception to that is if I'm going from B to C, then I'll put B on the left and C on the right so I'm only lifting 1 finger. I've always had a fascination for "alternate" fingerings, so at times I randomly throw them in. I've also tried clarinets that have the LH Ab/Eb key on them. I found that the LH key mostly got in my way and made life more difficult.
Good luck and welcome back to playing! I've been playing for 21 years now and I still love it.
Rachel
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Author: fassopony
Date: 2010-10-15 17:56
Thanks both of you I am going to try the RH, I found a fingering chart that made sense
It has been fun this past week!
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Author: Drakiej
Date: 2010-10-15 18:03
thats interesting because the LH C is hard for me to get at most of the time so I use RH C most of the time and found that using my LH D# is as easy to use as my RH D#, as for RH B/E I use LH because my RH Bb/Eb gets in the way and I never really used my RH B/E anyway.
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Author: fassopony
Date: 2010-10-15 18:13
Nice to know I am not alone in that it is hard to get the left hand C# LOL!!!
Is the lack of any noise, obscene honking and squeaking, etc, more of a fingering issue or a mouth (embouchure) issue?
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2010-10-15 19:28
It's hard to tell what the problems you're having are caused by on an internet forum. If possible try finding a teacher even for a few basic lessons!
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2010-10-16 13:39
> more of a fingering issue or a mouth (embouchure) issue?
Could be both. Could be your instrument is poorly after 20 years sabbatical. It's one of those things where an experienced player will be able to tell you almost immediately, once they see it.
A guilty secret: my brain has always been backwards and prefers RH B and LH C#.
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