How can we include the clarinet in our family string ensemble?

December 31, 2016 at 08:29 PM · The clarinet is tuned by adjusting the distance between the mouth piece and barrel.

December 31, 2016 at 09:07 PM · Make sure she is thinking concert pitch instead of written pitch because the clarinet plays a major 2nd below written. When tuning, tell her to tune to concert A instead of just A.

December 31, 2016 at 09:28 PM · If she's an inexperienced clarinet player, you're going to have to write out her transpositions. You may find this helpful:

http://www.skyleapmusic.com/ClarinetSpace/understanding-clarinet-transposition.html

December 31, 2016 at 09:41 PM · If you are playing very common holiday carols, you could try getting her, as a gift, a Bb fake book such as the Christmas Real Book. It'll be useful if ever she switches to tenor sax.

Try typing "tuning clarinet" into YouTube and see what pops.

January 1, 2017 at 12:14 AM · Does she have a teacher? If so, s/he might be able to assist.

January 1, 2017 at 12:20 AM · Is this even a plausible idea, Tom? As far as I can tell, Krista is talking about an informal family jam so I don't know what's up.

January 1, 2017 at 05:46 PM · there is a series of "Music for Three" and "Music for Four" books that allow for a wide variety of instrument combinations. If I'm not mistaken, there are parts for clarinet.

January 1, 2017 at 08:04 PM · What Mary Ellen said - that's the thing to do. It's what I did 15 years ago when my violinist granddaughter wanted to form a small ensemble with some of her friends including another violinist, a cellist and a clarinetist. We prepared a Christmas program to play for for their parents.

Normal clarinet are the B-flat (which is typical in bands) and A clarinet. In these instruments the instrument plays the named pitch when reading "C." Experienced clarinetist can learn to transpose when reading C-instrument clefs - kind of as violinists playing viola would do.

In Mozart's music, that favors the A-clarinet, the clarinet parts will appear written in a different key than the strings. One potential problem with transposing parts for clarinet when playing with other instruments is that notes played in some keys will not always exactly match any temperament for some notes in the key of the music. String players can adjust to them - actually so can experience wind players to some extent - but it is not so natural a thing to do.

Mendy's idea is a good one - published by "Last Resort Music Publishing."

January 2, 2017 at 05:18 AM · > The clarinet is tuned by adjusting the distance between the mouth piece and barrel

I know this isn't directly related to the thread, but I would not advise this.

The clarinet is tuned by first pulling out in approx. 1mm increments between the top joint and the barrel, then between the top joint and bottom joint. This is the standard method taught to all of our students. Pulling out at the mouthpiece is a last-resort option when due to environmental conditions you are unable to get the pitch down even after being pulled out 2+mm at the barrel. Players who have to deal with this a lot will have a longer barrel to compensate, because pulling out at the mouthpiece can absolutely wreck the intonation of the instrument.

January 2, 2017 at 11:50 AM · If I understand correctly a clarinet in B-flat and a clarinet in A differ just a half tone. Why does such a small difference justify using two different instruments? I suppose this is because, say, a scale in A major, or a scale in broken thirds, is very awkward to play fast on a B-flat clarinet? Or perhaps legato becomes impossible in certain awkward keys? But then my follow-up question is, why do flutists apparently have no need for different instruments? A similar situation exists in brass instruments. Are the reasons there the same? Sorry for asking but the honest truth is, I've asked this question to wind players in my amateur orchestra and they could not really answer! I asked a trumpet player, why do you have to transpose? Why does a child learning the trumpet not immediately learn to play the concert pitches? He couldn't really answer me! Really I would like to have more insight in this!

January 2, 2017 at 04:52 PM · Thank you for all of your replies. Yes, she plays the Bb clarinet and she doesn't have a private teacher. Her school program has not taught her how to transpose so the music books Mendy recommended might be the ticket. We only see each other 3-4 times a year so there's plenty of time to work something out before we get together again. I'll look at the link Mary Ellen mentioned too. It would be good practice for me to transpose the music myself.

January 2, 2017 at 05:57 PM · With the right kind of software you can scan in the concert key part and then transpose it all at once with a few mouse clicks. Not really sure how well that actually works though.

January 3, 2017 at 03:00 AM · If you want to spend a little more time with the carols you all can try and have a transposition learning experience. There are plenty of resources online if you get stuck.

January 3, 2017 at 03:36 AM · It's not that legato is impossible in any key, but in the past clarinets had much fewer keys, so executing more virtuoso passages required more awkward fingering patterns. Having instruments available in multiple keys, like soprano clarinets in C, B, and A simplified things when real chromatic fingering options mechanically didn't exist. Remember also that the clarinet overblows a twelfth instead of an octave (which is the case for the oboe, flute, saxophone, etc.) which complicates fingering slightly. Fast forward to today, and let's look at Copland's "Hoedown" from Rodeo, the standard part is written for Bb Clarinet. As the orchestra is in the key of D Major (2 sharps, concert pitch), the Bb clarinet is in E Major (4 sharps). If one switches over to the A clarinet, they end up in F Major (1 flat), which is far easier to execute from a technical perspective. With enough orchestra and chamber music written using Bb and A clarinets, you pretty much need to have both unless you only play band music all the time. Thankfully, you can get a pair of professional-level clarinets starting around $5000 these days (and less if you buy used and its a pretty healthy marketplace) so if you are committed to it from financial perspective it's really not that difficult to have both. Also, while the difference is small, on average the Bb clarinet sounds a bit brighter and responds more quickly than the A. It's not quite as drastic as violin to viola, but you get the idea.

Trumpet players are in the same boat. A professional trumpeter will own at minimum standard piston Bb and C trumpets, a smaller Eb/D trumpet, and a Bb/A piccolo trumpet. From there, there are rotary versions of the Bb and C (preferred for Germanic repertoire), the Bb flugelhorn, the Bb and C versions of the Cornet (a different instrument that is more conical versus the more cylindrical trumpet), Bb and C bass trumpets, and all sorts of other exotic but related instruments. While orchestral trumpeters will sometimes rely on their C trumpet exclusively to play parts written for trumpet in A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F, and G, depending on the ensemble, composition, player there may be reasons to require a specifically keyed instrument (a Bb trumpet sounds bigger than an Eb trumpet, for example).

French horn players used to have a different horn for each key...then moved on to having different "crooks" that could be changed to set the horn into each key, then moved on to having rotary valves. Modern iterations of the french horn can have two or three independent sets of valves, allowing the instrument to switch to different keys using thumb levers. This works when the sound only comes out of one hole. :)

January 3, 2017 at 12:22 PM · many thanks for the explanations Gene. I remember a passage in Swan Lake that our clarinetist found basically impossible to play. the next rehearsal the other clarinetist brought her A-clarinet on which the passage was a piece of cake. in a sense the whole situation seems to be comparable to fiddlers who also retune their fiddles depending on the key, instead of learning the positions. I guess there are no positions on a clarinet, perhaps that is a good analogy why it is essential for them to have different instruments. imagine we could only play in one position. some passages would be next to impossible, and not because of the range, just because how the notes lie in the passage.

January 3, 2017 at 04:59 PM · In my youth orchestra, I provide parts transposed to Bb clarinet for students who don't own an A clarinet yet (or are unable to borrow one as I always have my extras loaned out and in use 100% of the time). Swan Lake in particular, I know which movement you're probably talking about, No. 5 Danse hongroise. It's absolutely maddening on the Bb clarinet (transposed from A) especially up to tempo. Couple that with students who are not all that technically facile in A, E, and B major (lots of side keys), and not having kept their instruments in the best maintenance and you get a couple train wrecks. ;)

Your analogy is quite accurate...look at beginning/intermediate players who jump back and forth between 1st and 3rd position instead of using 2nd position. That's how playing B and F# major on the clarinet feel initially until one practices it enough to get it fluid and second-nature. :P

January 3, 2017 at 08:29 PM · My first instrument (at age 8) was the B-flat cornet. All material I played at first was transposed for the instrument, so it was several years before I found out what concert pitch was, and that I wasn't in it. Transposing (e.g. from concert C to the B-flat instrument's D) involves adding two sharps. This made it trickier for me; unlike a stringed instrument, it's easier to play flats on a horn, rather than sharps. Still, writing out transpositions is the best way to get your niece playing with you.

It might be time for some ear training too. If you can get your niece to learn a simple piece well enough to play it by ear, the next step is to play it in different keys. This is a valuable skill which will serve her well in the future.

January 4, 2017 at 12:22 AM · Wow, what a wealth of information! I had never been exposed to the clarinet before and had no idea how different and challenging they can be.

January 4, 2017 at 02:36 AM · I concur with Charlie. Learning to recognize intervals accurately is crucial to things like improvisation, sight-reading, composition, and playing chamber music!