This month’s clarinet warmup is excerpted from Tone, Technique and Staccato by Avrham Galper. Mr. Galper was a well-respected Canadian orchestral clarinetist and teacher who had a long and fruitful career. This book was published 25 years ago as part of the Avrham Galper Series from Mel Bay. There are many wonderful and unique offerings in this book covering every fundamental essential for developing a sense of artistry on the clarinet and I would encourage any serious clarinetist to purchase it.
The exercise I have chosen is one that I have found very helpful early in my practice sessions. It allows my fingers to get accustomed to the clarinet keyboard as well as becoming more familiar with some practical alternate fingerings. This is an expansion-type warmup which focuses on precise finger placement and coordination. It is important to play this slowly and smoothly so that there are no “bumps” or accents in the phrasing. Speed of execution is not the important ingredient here. Play the warmup with the exact fingerings indicated in order to gain more technical flexibility. (I have added some cross-fingered D# and slur lines to the published version.) While I have just presented the E+ version, please learn this in all the major keys. The benefits are numerous.
Fingering Key:
S=left-hand sliver key (bis key)
X=cross fingered D# (1/1)
R=right-hand fingering
L=left-hand fingering
SK=use right-hand side keys 1&2
———— maintain the same D# fingering