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Playing The Clarinet Essay

453 Words2 Pages

Alto saxophones and clarinets mostly have different fingering combinations. However, there are some similarities between the two instruments. Often, someone who has the ability to play clarinet can quickly pick up the saxophone. This is due in part to the embouchure that is required for playing the clarinet. Clarinetists need a stronger embouchure than a saxophone player. The embouchure is the muscles and position of the lips that help to play an instrument. Range The clarinet is capable of going much lower than the alto saxophone. The alto saxophone does not have the capability of playing most of the written pitches in the lowest register of the clarinet — the chalumeau register. However, the clarinet and the alto sax both have the ability to play notes in the center of the range known as the clarion register on the clarinet. The chalumeau register starts on E below middle C and ends on B-flat below middle C. The lowest note on the alto saxophone is an A below middle C. Low Register In the first octave of the alto sax from A below middle C to D-flat one octave above middle C, the fingerings for alto sax and clarinet do not match up at all. You will need to learn a completely new set of fingerings for this register if you would like to learn to play the clarinet and alto saxophone. The best way to learn new fingerings is to consult a …show more content…

While each instrument will sound in a different register, the actual written pitches for all of the saxes use the same fingerings and the same is true of the clarinets. For example, the soprano sax actually sounds a whole step lower than the alto saxophone. But it is given the name soprano sax because of its shrill timbre. The same is true of the clarinets. This makes it possible to easily switch between any clarinet type, whether it is soprano, alto, bass or contrabass. For the saxophones, there are soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxes that all share the same

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For example, Bubber Miley, who used a plunger to make a sound often described as “wa-wa”. Another example is Joe Nanton, who was known for the growl sound omitted from his trombone. Alto saxophonist, Johnny Hodges, cornetist, Rex Stewart, and trumpeter, Cootie Williams, all were included in the ensemble at times, but were not permanent members. Ellington also had a variety of on-off contributors, such as John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach. In fact, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and Duke Ellington performed in a trio.

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European music gave to jazz the instruments of the marching band and the European system of harmony. Harmony means the chords that fit with the melody of the song. The chords played by the piano, guitar (or banjo) and bass (or tuba) form the song’s accompaniment. Ragtime was a style of piano music played in the 1890’s that helped develop the early style of jazz. Although they are similar, ragtime and jazz have two important differences.

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Both players in tandem break away from the repeated strains to riff a short, yet complex, blues melody, before incorporating it into the undertones of the continuing song. Both players were able to command the band in a few measures, showing the trumpets true dominance over the band in that brief moment. Louis Armstrong later became one of the biggest names is jazz. He played with such virtuosity, and had the ability to span a wide range of notes. In addition, he also played in a smooth legato style, and was able to improvise flawlessly.

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Jazz is most often thought to have been started in the 1920s as this explosive movement, but that is in fact not the case. Starting in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century many African American musicians have started to explore their taste in improvising, and where better to do that than New Orleans (Anderson). Before the 1920s these jazz musicians have already been going around sharing the unique sound, but up until then, jazz had remained majorly in New Orleans. Interestingly during this period, a common jazz band would consist of a cornet, a clarinet, a trombone, and a rhythm section when at this period of time the clarinet is not commonly associated with being a jazz instrument, it moved into being the saxophone rather. A big

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Armstrong’s Hotter Than That had a variety of instruments playing in the piece, but the clear focus was on the interplay between Armstrong’s trumpet and scatting and Lonnie Johnson’s guitar. The trombone, clarinet, and piano were used throughout the piece to add a variation in sound to prevent the piece from sounding to monotonous. One section I appreciated was the end of Armstrong’s first trumpet solo transitioning into the clarinet solo, which was accentuated by the clarinet playing a single, syncopated high note. Throughout the clarinet solo, Johnny Dodds utilized many blue’s slides, which I think added an interesting dynamic to this otherwise concise piece. In regards to Armstrong’s solos, both trumpet and scatting, his improvisational

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