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Re: Bass clarinet ergonomics

Author: cearnsh
Date: 2023-06-07 17:16

My 'main' bass is a Buffet Prestige with a nicely angled neck which fortunately avoids this issue. I also have an old Vito bass for use at outdoor or otherwise less secure gigs. This has the nearly horizontal style of neck and I have to play this with instrument leaning away from me at the top. Two reasons for this position - I have problems with my own neck which means that I need to play with my head tilted slightly down, and my clarinet embouchure just doesn't work with an almost horizontal mouthpiece (though it's no problem on tenor sax, don't ask me why!).

Over the years I've learned to support the Vito for the short left-hand notes by resting the middle joints of one or more right-hand fingers against the pivot rod on the lower joint, and/or the left-hand little finger against the instrument body just above the pinky keys. It takes a bit of practice, but it should be possible to find a way support the instrument quite securely without having to resort to a neck strap.

Chris

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Bass clarinet ergonomics new

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