Ok I sound reallllllly squeeky on a high B and C and all the notes above them. I can't play anything above high E. It's also hard to switch from medium G (no fingers) to high B and C (I don't use the 5 finger pad in the right hand I use the 3 cluster pad in the left hand). Maybe I shouldn't use alternate fingering? I have been playing since september and I really like it. I play on a 2 1/2 and I really want my high notes to sound like my low notes.

I also want to say there should be a section of music for Bass Clarinets because I looked at the clarinet music and its too high for me and maybe a seperate fourm for bass clarinet.

Thanks if you reply with help! -Tango

Oh and I forgot one thing! For the "Prefered Instrament" section could you ass Bass Clarinet?

are you a soprano clarinet convert, or started altogether in september? if you've converted, theres some embochure differences that could be what's giving you greif. if you're a new player, work on scales and playing smoothly up to the notes. also, try both fingerings for the B/C notes that you say are giving you trouble. alternate fingerings sometimes sound different than standard, though both sides are fairly standard for those notes. the high notes will never sound exactly like the low notes, because each register has a distinctive flavor, but you do want to keep your tone nice throughout the entire range. try messing with your embochure. my band director tells us that the thing to do about pitch is anything- the same can apply here. try something and if it works, great, if not try something else.

i recommend the Sorcorer's Apprentice out of the clarinet music section... it's not high, and [i think] it sounds better on bass than soprano! i think this isn't the proper place for questions about site setup, though- possibly the general category forum?

Thanks! I just started Bass Clarinet this september and I haven't played any other type of clarinet.

I teach private lessons, and the first thing I do is have students play lots of register slurs. Doing them right can fix your high notes in a couple weeks or so. Also, it's really important that your horn not leak. Leaking bass clarinets will play low notes well, but they won't play high notes at all. I'd suggest having a teacher play your horn to see if it needs adjustments. Good luck!

Well for me its hard to slur from high A to High B.... thats one finger down to like all fingers down but I'll keep that up. My Band Teacher would probably know if my horn was leaky. Also on the high notes on the E key (First key on the front with the left hand) it has a hole in it. In my book in the fingering section it has nothing that says if it should by covered or not. I find it easyers to cover on the low notes but for the high notes I don't know.

That hole on the front is for notes above high C (2nd ledger line above the staff). For everything lower, keep the hole covered. You'll squeak if it's not covered.

As for crossing the break (A-B), you'll want to master going from 2nd-space A to all the notes below before trying to go to the higher 3rd-line B. For example, play 2 half-notes slurred and repeat 50 times: 2nd-space "A" down to 1st-line E, then A to below-the-staff D, then a to low-C, then A to low-B, then A to low A, then A to low G, then A to low-F, then A to low-E(below the 3rd ledger line below the staff). If you can successfully slur from 2nd-space A to low-E, then going up to 3rd-line B is easy. It's the same thing, but with the register key added.

Keep your fingers relaxed and ON the keys. They should nearly always have contact with the keys on Bass clarinet. Master playing all of the intervals above and you'll be good to go! Good luck!

"Also, it's really important that your horn not leak. Leaking bass clarinets will play low notes well, but they won't play high notes at all."

I've recently discovered just how true this statement is. My horn developed a leak, I think in the lower of the two octave vents. Notes below low F would jump up as if the register key was pressed, and nothing above the staff would come out at all. I took it to the director in charge of instruments (it's a school horn) and it's being fixed now.

I just wanted to share the story because your director might NOT know that something's messed up with the horn, particularly because some things can occur from teh horn getting out of adjustment, not just because something happened to it[like getting dropped] or it's broken.