Altissimo Studies for Clarinet

Description

Clarinet in Bb — The Importance of These StudiesToday’s clarinetist is obligated, by contemporary literature, to play in the altissimoregister more often and for longer phrases than was required in most of the literatureof the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For this reason, clarinetists need to be asproficient and relaxed in the altissimo register as in the chalumeau and clarion registers.In the past, etudes have been long works centering on a technique to be acquired.Concentrating on the altissimo register in this manner makes the performer becometense and have difficulty listening to the high pitches for a long period of time. Filas haswritten these ninety etudes as three-line exercises. They are short, musical, enjoyable,and effective for practicing.The Filas studies were selected because of their excellent acceptance and success withflute students. They have been transcribed to keys that focus on extending the clarinetist’srange gradually from D6 to A6.Recommended ApproachFor the intermediate student, the etudes should be assigned one at a time. The advancedstudent will be able to handle a page for each lesson and complete the exercises in asemester.Students should be given instruction in the best fingerings to use in the key being studied.Practice should begin at a metronome marking of q.=60 and should increase each dayby approximately eight degrees until the next lesson, when the etudes are performedat about q.=100 to 120. Practicing with a metronome is critical to the development of asmooth, even technique.—William R. Higgins This fine set of short altissimo register etudes should be part of a steady diet of technique exercises for developing clarinetists. Students will learn to perform in both legato and staccato articulations.