What fingers do use to play the clarinet?

Answer 1

Your right hand goes on the bottom half of the Clarinet. The side of your thumb goes underneath the holding piece of the back of your clarinet. The other fingers wrap around to cover the holes. your left hand wraps around so that your ring finger covers the last hole on the top half of the clarinet, your middle finger covers the middle hole, and the pointer covers the top hole. The left thumb covers the hole in the back of the top half of the clarinet.

Answer 2

Your thumb goes under the fingerboard and your other fingers press down on to the strings.

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To give this question a proper answer needs a whole book!

First of all you must be sure that you have the right size of violin to suit your body size. Violins come in 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and full sizes.

The next thing you have to learn is how to hold the violin by using your chin without supporting it with your fingering hand. Most people find it is much easier to do this if you have the right sizes of chin pad on the top and shoulder rest underneath, to suit you and the violin. It's a bit like finding the right kind of saddle to seat you properly on the back of a horse!

Then you have to make sure that each of the strings is the right thickness for the note it has to play. It is important to get them right otherwise they will not "tune up" properly. If you have them too loose they won't be playable and if they are wound up too tight they may snap suddenly and dangerously without warning - and could even damage the tuning pegs or holes. So each string must be the right size.

Then you must learn how to tune all 4 strings properly, otherwise nothing you do with your fingers on the fingerboard will sound right.

Looking down on the violin's strings, with the 4 pegs at the top, counting from left to right each string must be tuned to these notes:

G below middle C

D above middle C

A above middle C

E above that A.

Once the strings have been tuned you use the fingers of your left hand to produce all the other notes which can be played on a violin.

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To start with, without even picking-up the bow, learn how to play the first 4 notes on each string clearly and accurately just by plucking them lightly, not firmly, with the index finger of your right hand.

You should pluck each string separately, just above the end of the fingerboard which is nearest to your face. Never pluck strings in the area between the bridge and the fingerboard as that is where the bow is used. In that area, the strings must always stay completely dry - free from any oil or sweat from your fingers - otherwise the bow will not be able work properly.

Now, to start playing notes on a full-size violin, position the fingers of your left hand as follows:

Gently place your thumb under the violin's neck, at a point on the neck just below the end of the "scroll", to give the instrument some very light support and - without placing any other fingers on any strings or the fingerboard - pluck the A string gently with your right index finger so that the A string's "open" first note sounds strongly and clearly. It is best to start quite slowly at first, so that your hands, eyes and ears gradually get used to doing it.

Then, to sound the 2nd note, place your left index finger about 1 inch (2.5 cm) away from the top of the fingerboard and press down gently on the A string. Make your finger curve into an arch shape like an upside down letter U so that your finger doesn't touch the E string at all. Then pluck the A string gently so that the 2nd note, which is B, sounds strongly and clearly. Start slowly at first, so that your hands, eyes and ears really get used to doing it.

To sound the 3rd note, keeping the 1st finger in place, place your middle finger about 2 inches (5 cm) away from the top of the fingerboard and press down gently on the A string. Again, make it curve into an arch shape like an upside down letter U, so that it doesn't touch the E string at all. Then pluck the A string gently so that the 3rd note, which is C#, sounds strongly and clearly. Again, it's important just to start slowly at first, so that your hands, eyes and ears get used to doing it.

Then, to sound the 4th note, keeping your 1st and 2nd fingers in place, place your next-to-middle finger about 2-1/2 inches (7.5 cm) away from the top of the fingerboard - it will probably need to stay alongside your middle finger - and press down gently on the A string. Make it curve into an arch shape like an upside down letter U so that it doesn't touch the E string at all. Then pluck the A string gently so that the 4th note, which is D, sounds strongly and clearly. If you start doing it slowly at first your hands, eyes and ears will soon get used to doing it.

When you can do all that accurately and clearly, plucking the A string whilst placing each finger in turn on and then off the string, you'll have made some good progress!

Now do the same to play notes, using almost exactly the same finger positions, on each of the other 3 strings in turn, plucking each one of them on its own. It's easiest to try doing them in this order after the A: first the D string, then the E and after that the G - the most difficult stretch of all.

Starting with the open string in each case, using the finger positions described above:

on the G string you will play G, A, B, C

on the D string you will play D, E, F#, G

on the A string you will play A, B, C#, D

on the E string you will play E, F#,G#, A

Always remember to make each finger curve into an arch shape, like an upside down letter U, so that it doesn't touch any of the other strings. Starting to pluck each new string slowly at first is the best way to master these fingerings, so that your hands, eyes and ears really get used to doing it.

All it needs is practice, practice, practice, until you can play confidently by just plucking and fingering. You should soon find you can easily play runs of notes such as "open -> 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1 -> open" on any string. Then try going from using any finger position on any string to any other finger position - or to an "open" string - on either another string or the same string.

It can help a lot if you can treat it as a game, with someone else calling out the next string and finger number. Then play different notes at random! And, of course, with enough practice, you will soon find you can do the fingering and plucking a lot faster than when you first started.

That is the end of your first violin lesson!

Learning how to use the bow properly comes next, but I'm sorry, I haven't got the time to write about that here...

Getting a private teacher is strongly recommended.

Answer 3

Fingering charts for the clarinet (or any instrument for that matter) are generally included in any beginning method book, available through your local music store or the instrumental music teachers in your school system.

Answer 4

If you're playing A in the octave below middle C, you hold down your thumb, your left index, middle, and ring finger, plus your right index and middle fingers. If you're playing a middle A, you just hold down the teardrop-shaped button above the first hole on the upper joint. If it's an A in the upper register, you hold down the register key and the F key with your left thumb plus your left index and middle fingers.

Answer 5

the fingers of your left hand go on the top half keys and the fingers of your right hand go on the bottom half keys.

Answer 6

The left hand covers the top half (upper joint) of the clarinet, while the right hand covers the lower joint - supported by the thumb.

Answer 7

Keep your thumb on the thumb rest and put your left hand on top and right hand on bottom (if the song requires you to do that).

Answer 8

You use all 10 fingers to play.