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 Best fingering for this passage
Author: Gordon Giedt 
Date:   2026-08-15 01:10
Attachment:  Finger Question.png (11k)

Which pinky (L or R) would you use to finger the B# in the clarion passage:
G# - B# - D# - G#?

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 Re: Best fingering for this passage
Author: Chris P 
Date:   2026-08-15 01:48

Use the Sp.Th.xxo|xxo cross fingering for the G#, LH F/C for the B# and RH D#.

If you have a LH Ab/Eb key, you can always take the B# with the RH and the D# with the LH lever. G# with the cross fingering as mentioned above.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010


Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist

Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes

NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.

The opinions I express are my own.

Post Edited (2026-08-15 01:55)

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 Re: Best fingering for this passage
Author: Gordon Giedt 
Date:   2026-08-15 02:20

Thanks for the G# cross fingering! Didn't know that one. Now to practice it up to speed!

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 Re: Best fingering for this passage
Author: Paul Aviles 
Date:   2026-08-15 02:25

.........or



just slide your RH pinky from the C to the D#




.........Paul Aviles



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 Re: Best fingering for this passage
Author: Gordon Giedt 
Date:   2026-08-15 02:58
Attachment:  More Slides.png (40k)

That's why I originally asked. It actually works better for me to slide the LH pinky from G# to C, but sometimes I forget and play the C with RH and have to slide to the D#.

Here is another passage that I'm trying the split G# fingering. I usually slide RH from the D# to the C# (with a clipped fingernail and "nose lube"

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 Re: Best fingering for this passage
Author: SecondTry 
Date:   2026-08-15 03:00
Attachment:  Ab_Eb_Pinky_Exercises (1).pdf (25k)

Simply for the opportunity to learn, you might want to try a conventional left pinky G#, then take the B# with the right pinky, and while playing that B#, mid note, switch to the left pinky so you can play the D#.

This is not to conflict with Chris but rather to introduce the necessity in clarinet (especially if lacking a left pinky D# key) of learning mid note pinky swaps, even if they may best not be used here.

Of course if the passage is fast, this may not be easy. And if the passage is slow, and the conventional G# fingering voices better for you than Chris' alternative fingering, it may be an argument to possiby consider this approach.

I've attached an example of music that helps you encounter and train this.

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 Re: Best fingering for this passage
Author: Gordon Giedt 
Date:   2026-08-15 03:31

Second Try,
Thanks for the tips and exercises. You may have posted them before; the exercises look familiar. I played through them and my brain hurts (but I don't hate you).

The passages I was asking help on are quick, so the cross G# voicing is fine, and the mid-note pinky swaps impractical. However, I should practice mid-note swaps more often.

Even after 60 yrs playing, there is always something new to learn!

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