Bass Clarinet Help

Ninja can

Hey there. My Band director gave me the great privilege to play Bass Clarinet. But Sadly I cannot reach as high as I could on my soprano clarinet... I was curious if anyone had tips for hitting notes above a high "A" on a Bass clarinet. Also all the notes below it don't sound as full as the lower registers...
 
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I played Bass Clarinet for a few years.

You need to tighten your jaw and improve airflow. High notes are hard to hit and, if they fail to come out, will sound not entirely unlike a shrieking cat if that cat had its vocal chords mutilated. Do a lot of breathing exercises and practice a lot. You are probably only supplying enough air for a soprano b-flat clarinet atm. Bass Clarinets are bigger and need more air to not sound like shit.

:toast::pimp::toast:
 
^pretty much that. more air fixes everything. though, when I played, I found that I had to slacken my jaw a little bit, compared to soprano. more relaxed embouchure worked better for me (obviously still tight, but not as tight as on soprano).
 
Thank you so much, Just finished practicing it I'll probably pick back up in a couple hours, I'm just about out of power, needed to take a break.

Also figured out prior to seeing your post that the High notes when they fail sound WORSE than when High notes fail on my soprano... DX
 
I'm not sure what music breath exercises are like but here are some simple drama ones I've found. I've done some of these/similar one in my practice, number 7 is one I do daily to just expand my diaphragm and how to help find it. When doing them just remember to never hold your breath in.
 
I actually played a lot of bass clarinet while minoring in clarinet in college. One main way to play high notes on the bass clarinet is through alternate fingerings. You may know that even on Bb soprano, you can play altissmio notes using the keys you use to play in the throat register, like the keys you use to play G#, A, Bb, B, and C all below the break. So for instance, the thumb, the octave key, and the G# key will produce an altissimo D.

This group of fingerings sounds bad on Bb soprano, so they are typically used only for trills or rapid chromatic playing. But on bass clarinet they can sound excellent, even better than the traditional altissimo fingerings on some instruments.
 
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