Author: Jordan Selburn
Date: 2019-11-06 01:51
Are you referring to the left hand pinky Eb/Ab key, the one not found on every clarinet?
If so, I have found it very useful for exactly the reason you mention. That key can be a helpful "bail out" option when playing unfamiliar music (whether sight-reading or just not sufficiently practiced) and you find yourself on the "wrong side" with your pinkies.
There are also pieces that would be very challenging without such an option. One example is Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements - the bass clarinet has a fairly rapid low passage that virtually requires a left hand Eb/Ab key. It includes low Fb-Db-F-Ab-Fb-Ab-F : since the Db (just below the staff, the highest note in the passage) must be played with the left pinky, the Ab must also. The alternative is to slide from the F to the Ab with the right pinky; possible, I guess, but vastly more difficult.
Jordan
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The Clarinet BBoard
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