When studying with Eddie Daniels in the 1970s, I asked him how he had developed such astounding technique on all his instruments—saxophone/clarinet/flute. He said that he practiced minor 3rds and their inversion, major 6ths, up and down the full length of his horns. I took that to heart and have at various points over the past 50 years worked in that manner with those intervals. However, I never felt that I had total command of them, certainly not in the manner that Eddie has, and therefore chalked it up to just needing to do them on a more regular basis. Nonetheless, when I was confronted with these intervals (especially minor 3rds) in works like Cavallini Caprice #25 for clarinet or works by Bozza or Ibert on any of the horns, I found myself still scuffling. Over the last year, I have discovered a new approach to practicing minor 3rds and major 6ths that seems to have more lasting results.
I call the exercise shown below Doubling Minor Thirds whereby I play each interval twice before proceeding to the next one. I practice the interval in every possible permutation over a two-octave span. (See exercises 1 & 1A and 2 and 2A notated below.) I find that going beyond that range at any one time proves less beneficial for me. On the clarinet there will be specific areas of the horn that prove more demanding, especially around the throat tones and over the “break.” I have found that practicing even one measure repeatedly and slowly can help alleviate the unevenness in the legato that one might encounter. Try and use as many alternate fingerings where appropriate and diversify your practicing by starting one day with ascending then descending intervals; the next with descending and then ascending intervals. This approach will allow one to concentrate on the finger accuracy and the minimal movement necessary to eventually play the intervals more fluently when they are NOT doubled. Apply the same approach to the major 6th interval–Doubkling Major Sixths
I have taken the liberty to notate all intervals with “flats” instead of mixing flats and sharps together for ease of viewing. Also, I have written the exercise so most of the notes can be viewed in the staff or close to it. By all means, also practice this warmup starting/ending at the very bottom and the top of one’s range. And vary the phrasing markings as you see fit to get the most out of your practice session. Have fun!
*In the next-to-last measure, the first “D” in beat 3 should be a D-natural.