Jason Alder

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This is the newly updated 3rd Edition of the most comprehensive fingering chart for clarinet. The 2nd Edition became widely popular and used by clarinetists around the world, and this new 3rd Edition adds 127 fingerings for a total offering of over 300 fingerings through four and a half octaves in quarter-tones for clarinet, from written E3 to A7.

Author's Notes:

Ten years have passed since releasing the 2nd Edition of my Bass Clarinet Quarter-Tone Fingering Charts, which coincided with the first release of a chart for soprano clarinet. Im now already on the 3rd Edition of both the clarinet and bass clarinet charts, which are being released simultaneously, following the recent release of a compilation of three separate charts for Leblanc, Selmer, and Eppelsheim contrabass clarinets.

The first obvious change in the 3rd Edition is to the title. I have added Altissimo to better reflect that these charts are not only useful for their quarter-tones, but also for their stratospheric range. The charts have also had a formatting revision and are now being published through AMA Editions, available in print as well as digital forms.

The next big change is the addition of 127 quarter-tone and altissimo fingerings, and some corrections and revisions to the existing ones. With these revisions come some new notations of the diagrams. One of these is the use of grey-colored keys, first used in the contrabass clarinet charts, to indicate keys which may be added to help tuning, response, and/or resonance. Rather than creating a new diagram for every possible combination, I thought it would be more effective to show the fundamental fingering in black, with the grey keys as possible additions dependent on what works best for a player and their instrument.

Clarinet Quarter-Tone and Altissimo Fingering Chart

Clarinet Book

Ensemble

Instrumentation:
This arrangement has been scored for clarinet quartet using flexible instrumentation for increased accessibility:

I. E-flat or B-flat Clarinet
II. B-flat Clarinet, Basset Horn, or Alto Clarinet
III. B-flat Clarinet, Basset Horn, Alto Clarinet, or Bass Clarinet
IV. Bass Clarinet (to low D) or E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet

Transposed Score (E-flat, B-flat, Alto, Bass)

Length: 5 minutes

Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced

Notes:
J.S. Bachs Prelude and Fugue BWV 549 in C-minor is one of his earlier works, believed to be a transcription of a work originally in D-minor (BWV 549a). This arrangement has been scored for clarinet quartet using flexible instrumentation for increased accessibility. The score has been written for E-flat, B-flat, alto, and bass clarinet, however, any combination of the included parts is acceptable.

A B-flat clarinet part has been included for Part III to allow for one of the most common and accessible clarinet quartet settings of three B-flat clarinets and one bass clarinet, however, it required transposing some passages up an octave when it became too low, so using a basset horn, alto clarinet, or bass clarinet is preferable. The Part IV bass clarinet requires several low Ds so an extended range instrument is necessary. For a version that doesn't require an extended range bass clarinet, BWV 549a in D-minor is available (AMA-008). This version also retains more of the original octaves in III. B-flat Clarinet.

Richard originally arranged this work for SATB saxophone quartet (AMA-006) and I have adapted it for clarinets. The editing of this arrangement has been in consultation with the Barenreiter (1972) and Breitkopf &amp; Hartel (2013) Urtext editions for organ.

Prelude & Fugue in C-minor, BWV 549

Clarinet Quartet

Instrumentation:
B-flat clarinet 1
B-flat clarinet 2
B-flat clarinet 3
Alto clarinet/Basset Horn/B-flat clarinet 4
Bass clarinet (low C, with 8va ossia)
opt.
E-flat contra-alto clarinet
B-flat contrabass clarinet

Length: 6-8 minutes

Difficulty: Intermediate

Notes:
Johann Sebastian Bach's five-voice triple fugue in E-flat major from BWV 552 became known as the "St. Anne" fugue due to its similarity to the hymn of the same name by William Croft. It is presented here for five clarinets.

Richard originally arranged this fugue with four B-flat clarinets, however this necessitated some octave transpositions from Bach's original composition, so it has been rescored for alto clarinet or basset horn, but if one is not available the original fourth clarinet part has also been included. The bass clarinet uses the extended low C range, but an 8va ossia is provided if an instrument with this range is not available.

The arrangement can also be played as a larger clarinet ensemble or choir with the additional contra-alto and contrabass clarinet parts. The contra-alto part follows the bass clarinet part, but the contrabass follows the pedal line of the original organ part. When adding contra clarinets, the bass clarinet should play the 8va ossia. The added ornamentations have been chosen by studying the performances of prominent organists.

St. Anne Fugue in E-flat, BWV 552

Clarinet Quintet

The most comprehensive fingering chart for contrabass clarinet, with separate charts for Leblanc, Selmer &amp; Eppelsheim extended range contrabass clarinets. It contains over 150 fingerings for each model over a five-and-a-half octave range in quarter-tones from written C3 to B8.

Author's Notes:

Following the success of my clarinet and, in particular, bass clarinet quarter-tone and altissimo fingering charts, I have produced new charts for contrabass clarinet. The focus of these has been the extended range low C models produced by Leblanc, Selmer, and Eppelsheim. Due to the non-standardized design and keywork functionality of these instruments, completely separate charts are required for each model. Players with low E models such as those by Vito and Leblanc may also find these as a useful starting point to discover necessary fingerings, however, they have not been tested on these instruments.

One striking difference of the contrabass clarinet fingering charts to those previously for clarinet and bass clarinet is the lack of quarter-tone fingerings in the chalumeau and clarion registers. The reason for this is that suitable fingerings are just not available in this range. Fingering changes can result in timbral and microtonal changes, but in the contrabass register the pitches are too far away from each for effective true quarter-tone fingerings. If quarter-tones are needed in this range, a combination of fingering, embouchure, and voicing adjustments need to be made. As this introduces far too many personal variables, it is ineffectual to create fingerings for them. The upper register is far more flexible, however, so the quarter-tones begin there.

Contrabass Clarinet Quarter-Tone and Altissimo Fingering Chart

Contrabass Clarinet Book

Instrumentation: 
B-flat Soprano Saxophone 
E-flat Alto Saxophone 
B-flat Tenor Saxophone 
E-flat Baritone Saxophone (to low A) 
 
Transposed Score 
 
Length: 5 minutes 
 
Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced 
 
Notes: 
J.S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue BWV 549 in C-minor is one of his earlier works, believed to be a transcription of a work originally in D-minor (BWV 549a). This arrangement is for SATB saxophone quartet. The baritone saxophone requires a low A. 
 
The editing of this arrangement has been in consultation with the Barenreiter (1972) and Breitkopf &amp; Hartel (2013) Urtext editions for organ.

Prelude & Fugue in C-minor BWV 549

Saxophone Quartet-SATB Quartet

Variants on an English Melody is a theme with orchestrational variations of a traditional English folk song arranged for clarinet sextet. In the second variation, the alto clarinet, being the middle register voice, has the solo line while the accompaniment figure is passed around and through the whole range of the ensemble. A Basset Horn part is also included as a possible substitution for the Alto Clarinet. The E-flat Contra-Alto is the preferred instrument for the bottom voice, as it creates a more balanced blend with the ensemble, however, a B Contrabass part is included if one is not available.
While originally written as a sextet, the piece could also be played as a clarinet choir. The alto, bass, contra-alto, and opt. contrabass parts do not require instruments which go below low E, and the bass and contra parts stay mostly in the chalumeau register.
Instrumentation: E-flat Clarinet, B-flat Clarinet 1, B-flat Clarinet 2, Alto Clarinet (opt. Basset Horn substitution), Bass Clarinet E-flat Contra-alto Clarinet (opt. B-flat Contrabass Clarinet substitution).
Length: 3.5 minutes
Instrument ranges (written): E-flat clarinet: chalumeau C4 – altissimo E6, B-flat clarinet 1: chalumeau C4 – clarion B5, B-flat clarinet 2: low F3 – clarion F5, Alto clarinet: low E3 – clarion A5, opt. Basset horn: low D3 – clarion G5, Bass clarinet: low F3 – clarion D5, Contra-alto clarinet: low E3 – throat A4, opt. Contrabass clarinet: chalumeau A3 – clarion D

Variants on an English Melody

Clarinet Sextet

Instrumentation: 
This arrangement has been scored for clarinet quartet using flexible instrumentation for increased accessibility: 
 
I. E-flat or B-flat Clarinet 
II. B-flat Clarinet, Basset Horn, or Alto Clarinet 
III. B-flat Clarinet, Basset Horn, Alto Clarinet, or Bass Clarinet 
IV. Bass Clarinet or E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet 
 
Transposed Score (E-flat, B-flat, Alto, Bass) 
 
Length: 5 minutes 
 
Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced 
 
Notes: 
J.S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue BWV 549a in D-minor is one of his earlier works, believed to have been transcribed later to C-minor (BWV 549). This arrangement has been scored for clarinet quartet using flexible instrumentation for increased accessibility. The score has been written for E-flat, B-flat, Alto, and Bass clarinet, however, any combination of the included parts is acceptable. 
 
A B-flat clarinet part has been included for Part III to allow for one of the most common and accessible clarinet quartet settings of three B-flat clarinets and one bass clarinet, however, it required transposing a couple passages up an octave when it became too low, so using a basset horn, alto clarinet, or bass clarinet is preferable. The bass clarinets do not require the extended low range. 
 
Richard originally arranged BWV 549 in C-minor for SATB saxophone quartet (AMA-006) and I adapted it for clarinets (AMA-007), then made the BWV 549a in D-minor version. The editing of this arrangement has been in consultation with the Barenreiter (1972) and Breitkopf &amp; Hartel (2013) Urtext editions for organ.

Prelude & Fugue in D-minor, BWV 549a

This is the newly updated 3rd Edition of the most comprehensive fingering chart for bass clarinet. The 2nd Edition became widely popular and used by bass clarinetists around the world, and this new 3rd Edition adds 138 fingerings for a total offering of over 400 fingerings through five octaves in quarter-tones for bass clarinet, from written C3 to D8-quarter flat.

Author's Notes:

Ten years have passed since releasing the 2nd Edition of my Bass Clarinet Quarter-Tone Fingering Chart, and in that time I have seen its popularity grow enormously. Many people have relied on it for their fingerings, university clarinet teachers are using it in their studios, and the chart and fingering diagram have been cited in numerous papers and publications. In that time, I have also released two editions of a quarter-tone chart for clarinet with a third releasing simultaneously to this one, and most recently a compilation of three separate charts for Leblanc, Selmer, and Eppelsheim contrabass clarinets.

The first obvious change in the 3rd Edition is to the title. I have added Altissimo to better reflect that these charts are not only useful for their quarter-tones, but also for their stratospheric range. The charts have also had a formatting revision and are now being published through AMA Editions, available in print as well as digital forms.

The next big change is the addition of 138 quarter-tone and altissimo fingerings, and some corrections and revisions to the existing ones. With these revisions come some new notations of the diagrams. One of these is the use of grey-colored keys, first used in the contrabass clarinet charts, to indicate keys which may be added to help tuning, response, and/or resonance. Rather than creating a new diagram for every possible combination, I thought it would be more effective to show the fundamental fingering in black, with the grey keys as possible additions dependent on what works best for a player and their instrument.

My original charts were made using a Buffet Prestige bass clarinet, but I have since changed to a Selmer Privilege instrument. One particular difference with this instrument is the articulated C/G mechanism, which does not allow the key to open when either of the first two fingers of the right hand are down. Some of the fingering additions were to accommodate instruments with an articulated mechanism, and previous fingerings that will not work on instruments with one have been marked as such. The biggest obstacle with this mechanism is for written C4-quarter-sharp, which has no suitable alternative. Another difference is with the thumb key configuration. On the Buffet Prestige and many other instruments, the top key is an alternate for low D3, whereas on a Selmer Privilege and Buffet Tosca it is an alternate for low E3. While its not possible to cater to every different keywork layout configuration, I decided to remove fingerings which use this key in favor of those using an alternate one.

Bass Clarinet Quarter-Tone and Altissimo Fingering Chart

Bass Clarinet Book

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