 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2014-11-10 21:29
Does anyone have a suggestion on how best to improve the ability to trill between E flat 5 and F5, short of maybe acquiring a clarinet with a left hand side alternative pinky lever for E flat 5/A flat 3?
I'm not sure a trill option brought about by such additional hardware would be better than the basic fingering, just, maybe, some fingering that the musician could switch to for a duration, and then back to the original fingering, during a long trill.
Of course the same question applies to the trill between A flat 3 and B flat 3, as the fingering is identical baring the left thumb’s position.
Note: so we’re all on the “same page,” below, I have number the fingers on a hand starting with the thumb as digit 1.
Please bear in mind, it’s not that I need to hear, “there are no magic solutions to clarinet play. Practice the trill slowly and for short durations, and work your way up to faster and longer durations.” Equally important I’ve tried the trill with both digits 3 – 5 up and down, and digit 3 solely, up and down, and each approach has its pros and cons for me.
Is it better to work on just one of these two trill methods? Is there some “magic” fingering to do this?
Interestingly enough, a similar trill on the left hand, involving the corresponding fingers, (e.g. say A flat 5 to B5) offers me little issue. Still more, a hardware alternative IS available for those who face such issues vis a vis Stephen Fox’s C#/G# touchpiece, even though I suspect this device’s use to shine, differently than above, as an alternative for trills solely involving the left pinky.
http://www.sfoxclarinets.com/Accessories.html#clar acc
Are there “clarinet-in-case” exercises to improve finger dexterity? Perhaps I need to take my fingers to yoga classes (yuck yuck).
For what it’s worth, this is not an age related problem (yet) for me. My ability to affect this trill has improved over time, not diminished since I was a teen.
Thank you.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2014-11-10 23:16
My students always find this problematic, but I trill with RH 3 and 4, leaving the pinky (5) on the Ab/Eb key. For me it's an easy fingering - the 3rd and 4th fingers are not nearly so unbalanced in agility or strength as the 5th finger is with either of them - and the intonation of F5 (or Bb3) is not an issue.
My students, on the other hand, seem to have trouble holding the 5th finger still and get into all kinds of coordination issues when they move all 3 fingers together (or not together in most cases). IMO F/Bb is too flat if you only move the 3rd finger, and for me that's mentally harder than moving both 3 and 4.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-11-11 06:08
Gosh I've always done the just the middle finger when trilling from fourth space "Eb" to the "F" above. The intonation is much more centered on the 'base' note. I don't find the flatness of the upper member to be much of an issue.
It seems then we are also talking about the trill from the "Ab" which is the first ledger line above the staff to the next "Bb." For this I also disregard the questionable intonation of the upper neighbor and simply use the lowest side key to move to the "Bb" trill.
Keep in mind that it is also called a "shake." We are "shaking" the written note, which is the note that the listener is focused on (and the one on which the surrounding harmony is dependent).
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: qualitycontrol
Date: 2014-11-11 06:13
Yep, trilling with just the middle finger works fine for me too. Give the trill some good support and the F comes out fine, even if you are pinching it a bit with the 3rd RH finger down.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2014-11-11 06:20
WhitePlainsDave wrote:
> Interestingly enough, a similar trill on the left hand,
> involving the corresponding fingers, (e.g. say A flat 5 to B5)
> offers me little issue.
Do you mean literally Ab5 to B-natural5? Or Bb5? From your comment about the fingering's being analogous for the LH to the RH trill you asked about first, I assume you mean B-natural. I'm pretty sure (it's an augmented 2nd, not as common a trill/tremolo as the whole step on the RH) that I would normally do that the same way I do the Eb/Ab-F/Bb one on the bottom section - keep the pinky down on the Ab key as an anchor. That you find it easier with your left than your right to coordinate 3-5 just reinforces the notion that fingerings are personal and what works for one player isn't always the best choice for another.
Karl
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Author: brycon
Date: 2014-11-11 06:33
Quote:
Gosh I've always done the just the middle finger when trilling from fourth space "Eb" to the "F" above. The intonation is much more centered on the 'base' note. I don't find the flatness of the upper member to be much of an issue.
It seems then we are also talking about the trill from the "Ab" which is the first ledger line above the staff to the next "Bb." For this I also disregard the questionable intonation of the upper neighbor and simply use the lowest side key to move to the "Bb" trill.
Keep in mind that it is also called a "shake." We are "shaking" the written note, which is the note that the listener is focused on (and the one on which the surrounding harmony is dependent).
Those are quarter-tone fingerings? The pitch doesn't bother you?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-11-11 06:51
Ummmmm......
Those are "get your butt out of trouble when you have a lot more to worry about" fingerings that pretty much work in context.
To answer more directly - no.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: brycon
Date: 2014-11-11 07:18
In the context of tonality, quarter-tones don't work.
And I think that an audience member with moderately discerning ears could hear the difference between a whole-step and roughly three quarters of a whole-step.
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2014-11-11 07:51
Mr Krelove:
Your query and suspicion that I was referring to B5 being the higher note in a left hand trill, not B flat 5 is in fact correct.
Clearly, the A flat 5 to B flat 5 trill, or its lower register D Flat 4 to E flat 4 counterpart are quite difficult trills to play long and fast, but interesting enough, are also addressed, as you may know, with another piece of Stephen Fox hardware, different than what I reference above, that he calls his “bis” touchpiece.
http://www.sfoxclarinets.com/Accessories.html#clar acc
Happy trails…I mean trills.
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