 The Fingering Forum
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Author: Björn
Date: 2005-02-01 14:37
Is there someone who has/ plays alto clarinet or bassethorn? I would like to know more about it: how to play, how often is it used in an orchestra, why should I learn it,...
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Author: stevo
Date: 2005-02-01 21:03
my school has one, but hasn't used it for ages
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Author: Theboy_2
Date: 2005-02-02 22:05
alto clarinets are called the beast. they are hard to tune, and hard to keep in tune. they are used rarely in modern music, they are more common in orchestral music, where a full sound is needed. an alto clarinet is a colour instrument, much like a piccolo, or contrabassoon(not saying they are never need as an integral part). beside tuning issues, they are not to different then a bass clarinet in playing. hope this helps.
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Author: petey
Date: 2005-03-18 10:51
I play [the alto] in Symphonic Band at my college, and I love it. It's a little harder to play some notes in tune, but once you get your lip under control, it can be very sax-like, and fun.
I'm also playing Bassett Horn in a Mozart wind ensemble piece, and it's really hard (the horn, I mean). But I'm really just an intermediate level player, so it's my fault, too. For some Mozart, it's "indispensable".
It seems both instruments are either love/hate in the clarinet world.
Also, about the alto: I'm not aware of any classical literature for it, but there's a lot of band music that has parts for it. I think school teachers use them to get kids with bigger hands or whatever ready for bass clarinet or Bari sax. Still, I think the alto's COOL, but I'm pretty lonely in that opinion. I know of two great jazz players you've probably never heard who like them, Jim French, and Hamiet Bluiett.
Cheers.
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Author: Tim
Date: 2005-03-31 11:43
I'm one of those who love the alto clarinet. Though it's mostly used in clarinet choirs and in the symphonic band, there's no reason it couldn't be written for in orchestral scores.
Intonation problems are probably due to using a student-quality instrument instead of a professional one. There's nothing unique about the range of the instrument which would make it impossible to make an alto with good intonation.
In my opinion, the instrument blends stupendously with the cello, and can be used to give tenor string lines a much fuller tone. It also complements the bassoon and english horn nicely. At piano/pianissimo levels, it can add focus and character to french horn parts. We just need to get the word out to composers that they should check out the possibilities.
If you get a violin/violin/viola trio out and have two clarinets play the violin parts as written, you can comfortably cover the viola part on the alto clarinet by lowering the note down two steps (if it's on the line, down to the next line; if it's in a space, down to the next space), pretending it's in treble clef and adding one sharp to the key signature. Instant trio! (Vln/Vln/Vla trios are available all over the place.)
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Author: musical lottie
Date: 2005-04-01 15:34
Harmony instruments ROCK!! Although unfortunately I have not yet got my mitts on an alto cl.
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Author: Kels
Date: 2005-04-08 01:20
I play the alto clarinet and decided that I liked it a lot better than the typical Bb Soprano Clarinet. It took a bit of time to adjust to it, but I have nicked wonderfully with it.
A good quality instrument, care when picking reeds, and a good mouthpiece can do wonders. My alto has a beautiful, rich quality and a lot of people enjoy it
I can say, being in a typical symphonic band, that at times there are not parts written for the alto clarinet, however in more contemporary pieces, most of the time there are alto clarinet parts that provide some variation. I actually enjoy playing the contemporary pieces and having the ability to blend beautiful with the french horns, saxophones, etc as written in the part.
In older music like Mozart, there is a bit of a demand for basset horn/alto clarinet.
I can say that I haven't experimented with more yet, but I have found the C* Mouthpiece to be nice along with Vandoren reeds.
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