Clarinet fingering systems

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  • Clarinets from Leitner & Kraus

  • German clarinet (original Oehler with 22 keys, 5 rings and a lid)

  • Reform Böhm clarinet (with 20 keys and 7 rings)

  • French clarinet (original Böhm with 17 keys and 6 rings)

The grip system for a woodwind instrument is the way in which the player on the instrument creates the possible tones with his fingers using the flaps on the instrument. There can be different flap and thus handle systems for an instrument, which are usually also connected to different inner bores of the instrument, which in turn result in a different sound.

Grip systems for the modern clarinet

There are (essentially) two fingering systems, the German system, also called the Oehler system, which has been further developed from the historical clarinet , and the French, also called the Böhm system. Accordingly, one speaks of a German or an Oehler clarinet and a French or a Böhm clarinet.

  • Early clarinet with 4 keys, mouthpiece in the bubble position

  • Iwan Müller clarinet

Both would be inconceivable without the clarinet, which can be described as the first modern clarinet: the clarinet developed at the beginning of the 19th century by the Russian clarinetist and clarinet maker Iwan Müller (1781–1854), whose innovations revolutionized the entire construction of woodwind instruments. In detail: While up to then inadequately closing felt pads were used for the keyholes provided with keys - due to the inadequacy of the keys, their number was kept small - Müller developed leather upholstery; In connection with this he sank the tone holes for the keys and surrounded them with raised conical rings. Finally, the flaps with tilting mechanism that had been in use until then were largely replaced by spoon flaps. All of this combined resulted in the tone holes closing perfectly when the keys were operated. This in turn made it possible to equip the clarinet with 13 keys instead of the usual 7. These three inventions are still part of every clarinet and other woodwind instruments. Müller then devoted himself to the up to then inadequate intonation of the clarinet, which he was able to improve significantly by a different arrangement of the tone holes combined with the new mechanism, so that it was possible to play in almost any key without any problems. He also invented the ligature and - immensely important - the thumb rest. With a more favorable weight distribution, the latter created the possibility of blowing under the view instead of blowing over the view, in which the mouthpiece was attached the wrong way round from today's perspective, i.e. with the reed facing up - see Figure "Early Clarinet" -, with the problems associated with it, especially with staccato. After some initial difficulties, the Müller clarinet gradually became the standard worldwide after its introduction in 1809, especially in the 20s of the 19th century.

The Böhm clarinet was developed in France between 1839 and 1843 by the clarinetist Hyacinthe Klosé and the instrument maker Louis Auguste Buffet by partially transferring to the clarinet the key system and glasses system invented for the flute by the flutist and flute maker Theobald Böhm . She received 17 flaps and glasses with 2 rings on the upper part and one with three rings on the lower part and an additional ring around the tone hole for the right thumb on the underside of the upper part. It was much easier to play than the Müller clarinet or even a historical instrument with four to seven keys and opened up new playing possibilities that could not be achieved on the Müller clarinet. Particularly characteristic was the new redundant flap technology on the lower part for the two little fingers with four flaps for the right and three for the left finger as opposed to two flaps previously and without redundancy. However, these flaps in particular required a further inner bore with a significantly larger cone on the lower part of the lower part of the instrument. The resulting impairment of the intonation was compensated for by lengthening the lower piece and thus the clarinet by a total of 10 to 15 mm and a corresponding offset of the lower tone holes. There was also a wider undercut of the tone holes and a wider mouthpiece, which in turn required different reeds. As a result of these operations, however, the characteristic sound of the clarinet that had so fascinated Mozart was lost. Richard Strauss spoke of the nasal French clarinets after conducting in France. After further development of drilling techniques, the sound of the German clarinet is now described as pure, sonorous and warm and that of the French as sharper, richer in overtones and more flexible. Clarinets with a German bore are more suitable for classical music in terms of sound, while those with a typical French bore are more suitable for jazz and pop music. How a clarinet actually sounds in individual cases depends not only on the design, but also to a large extent on the player's imagination of sound and his ability to realize this idea.

In 1905 the key system of the Müller clarinet was significantly expanded by the clarinetist and instrument maker Oskar Oehler . He increased the number of keys to 22 and took over the glasses system from the Böhm clarinet, to which he added a third ring on the upper part. Now there were two technically fully developed and roughly equivalent handle systems. Although the Oehler clarinet was and is easier to play than the Müller clarinet, the Böhm clarinet was and is superior to the Oehler clarinet due to the redundancy of the keys intended for the little fingers. With it keys with many accidentals can be played more easily, which also makes transposing easier; In addition, there are still sequences of notes that can occur in modern compositions that can only be played on the Böhm clarinet. A few years ago, Sabine Meyer had to refuse the premiere of a composition intended for her on the grounds that it could not be carried out on a clarinet with a German finger system - and that is what she plays. On the other hand, there are also passages that are easier to play on the German clarinet.

In both systems there are clarinets that are equipped with a larger or smaller number of keys, including those that were not invented by Oehler or Klosé / Buffet, but by later clarinet makers. In this respect, the names Oehler and Böhm for clarinets that do not have exactly the mechanisms developed by Oehler or Klosé / Buffet and are limited to them are problematic, apart from the fact that Theobald Böhm himself is not the author of the fingering system named after him for the Clarinet is. Regardless of whether there are more or less flaps, it is basically the same system, the German or the French, as they are preferably called since the development of Oehler.

Distribution: The German system is now only common in Germany and Austria, the French in the rest of the world.

Variant of the German clarinet: the Viennese clarinet

There are differences in the inner bores within the same handle system. These can be narrower or wider. So z. B. with one Bb clarinet the narrowest diameter at the top of the upper piece is 14 mm and with another 15 mm. Austrian clarinetists and clarinet makers have developed the so-called " Viennese sound ", which requires a further hole, but also wider mouthpieces and reeds. In this respect one speaks of the "Vienna clarinet" or the "Vienna model" of a clarinet that is basically German.

Variant of the French clarinet: the Reform Böhm clarinet

The inner bores of clarinets are not continuously cylindrical, but either only or preferably have a more or less strong cone on the lower part, which influences the sound, see note 3. In the second half of the 1940s, the German clarinet builder Fritz Wurlitzer developed a clarinet French fingering system, in which he changed the bore so that the sound almost corresponded to the German clarinet in order to combine the advantages of both systems. Above all, he reduced the taper from 7 to 4.5 mm and also changed the mouthpiece. This variant is still popular among Böhm clarinetists in a number of countries, albeit a gradually decreasing number.

Variation between the systems: the hybrid clarinet

According to a publication from 2007, “it has recently become increasingly evident that more and more professional clarinetists, in collaboration with instrument makers, have individual instruments designed for the needs of musicians based on either the German or French system”. For such clarinets offered exclusively by German clarinet manufacturers, some use the term hybrid clarinet, others use a modular clarinet. The starting point for this, however, is, at least so far, a clarinet with a French fingering system, which is optionally made with a traditional or extended French hole or with a German hole, also on the upper section with either French or German glasses and optionally with a number of additional mechanisms that are supported by the German clarinet adopted or inspired. The appearance of such a clarinet is similar to that of a Reform Böhm clarinet with extended action, as shown above. If it was made with a German bore and a German mouthpiece, it is identical to a Reform Böhm clarinet. Clarinets of this type find buyers worldwide, even if only because of the high price, only relatively few, e.g. B. the Israeli clarinetist Shirley Brill and the American clarinetist Charles Neidich .

Web links

References and comments

  1. ^ On the Müller clarinet as a whole: Stephanie Angloher, The German and French Clarinet System. A comparative study of sound aesthetics and didactic communication, inaugural dissertation to obtain a doctorate in philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich , 293 pages, Herbert Utz Verlag GmbH, Munich 2007, pp. 18-25
  2. ↑ Clarinet History
  3. ^ Jean Christian Michel, Histoire de la Clarinette
  4. ↑ Stephanie Angloher, the German and French clarinet system. A comparative study on sound aesthetics and didactic communication, inaugural dissertation to obtain the doctoral degree in philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich , 293 pages, Herbert Utz Verlag GmbH, Munich 2007, p. 29
  5. ↑ Stephanie Angloher, the German and French clarinet system. A comparative study on sound aesthetics and didactic communication, inaugural dissertation to obtain the doctoral degree in philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich , 293 pages, Herbert Utz Verlag GmbH, Munich 2007, p. 46
  6. ↑ The conicity (difference between the smallest inner diameter at the top of the upper section and the largest at the bottom of the lower section) is approx. 3 mm for historical and German clarinets, and approx. 7 mm for Böhm clarinets.
  7. ↑ Stephanie Angloher, the German and French clarinet system. A comparative study on sound aesthetics and didactic communication, inaugural dissertation to obtain a doctorate in philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich , 293 pages, Herbert Utz Verlag GmbH, Munich 2007, p. 43.
  8. ↑ Berlioz, Hector, Instrumentation Theory. Supplemented and revised by Richard Strauss, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1904, p. 214: "The French clarinets have a flat, nasal tone, while the German ones approach the human singing voice."
  9. ↑ Erin Bray, The clarinet history
  10. ↑ Stephanie Angloher, the German and French clarinet system. A comparative study on sound aesthetics and didactic communication, inaugural dissertation to obtain a doctorate in philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich , 293 pages, Herbert Utz Verlag GmbH, Munich 2007, p. 27
  11. ↑ Stephanie Angloher, the German and French clarinet system. A comparative study on sound aesthetics and didactic communication, inaugural dissertation to obtain a doctorate in philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich , 293 pages, Herbert Utz Verlag GmbH, Munich 2007, p. 246
  12. ↑ so z. B. here: configurator model 1000/1000 + / 3000 A / B. on the website of the Manufacture Schwenk & Seggelke, accessed on October 22, 2019 .