Now let’s go even higher: welcome to the altissimo range!

There are many different fingerings for altissimo notes and I could create an entire course on these. So I’m going to keep this simple for you, and not overload you with options to begin with.

Trust me - altissimo playing on the bass clarinet is truly not that difficult. It just requires patience and attention to detail.

As this is a “basics” course - I am not going to go super high. I’ll supply you with the fingerings and method to develop your altissimo range up to altissimo G. These fingering images are taken from ‘Bass Clarinet Technique’ by Stefanie & Joshua Gardner

 
 

1) First let’s start with altissimo C - C# - D - D# 2) Comfortable with altissimo C - C# - D - D#? Now try E - F - F# -G

Something to note - there are multiple ways to play each of the altissimo notes above C. Here I’ve given you the most useful fingerings.

I would try to first play these high notes in the order that they’re written. This will make the voicing easier, as your throat will already be nice and open.

Important tips:

  • Maintain a nice open throat.

  • Try not to ‘bite’ as we get into the altissimo notes - your embouchure needs to remain firm, but rounded. Remember the ‘oohhhh’ sound for the desired embouchure shape.

  • It sounds silly - but thinking about sitting up nice & tall, and sending your eyebrows up, really helps with the voicing and intonation of these notes. The intonation on these notes can be WILD - and therefore needs a lot of practise.

 
 

2) Let’s Practice These Altissimo Fingerings

These exercises are high and probably very challenging for you.

What to do:

  • Do not set a metronome for this to start with. The point of the exercise is to put the new fingerings into practice - just get used to using them first.

  • Spend a lot of time on these. New fingerings take a while to become natural.

  • Print/download this exercise and write in fingerings if necessary.

 
 

3) 3 Octave Scales to Practice Altissimo

Playing 3 octave scales is a great way to practice the new altissimo notes - and is great for intonation! Practise these slurred and tongued.

If your bass clarinet is down to Eb - just start on Eb/E for each of the lower scales.

 
 
 

4) Practicing Voicings For Greater Altissimo Control

Each note on the bass clarinet has harmonics (other notes) possible with the same fingering. You could in fact play the entire register ‘over the break’ without the octave key if you voiced it correctly. How do we do this? To put it simply, to get harmonics above a fingered note, you need to apply more pressure to the reed.

To get the Altissimo notes to speak you need to voice them correctly.

Here is a simple, quick and fun exercise you can do everyday to help gain control over voicings!

What to do:

  • Start on an open G.

  • Tighten up your embouchure slightly, and try to pitch a note higher than the G. This would create Altissimo D. If you are able to do this - then keep going higher.

  • The easiest harmonic to get out is one of the super high ones. If you are struggling to get anything above an open G - REALLY squeeze everything, and this should shoot the note up very high! If you can achieve this, you can then try to relax to produce lower harmonics.

  • If you can hear which note you are aiming for, you are more likely to be able to voice/pitch it correctly!

  • This takes time to build up - try to listen to the pitches I play in the video, and try to match them.

  • More pitches exist in open G than the 5 I play in the video - but these are the easiest 5 to produce.

Watch out for:

  • Make sure you don’t end up ‘biting’ the mouthpiece - we are firming up our embouchure, but this is achieved by the muscles in your embouchure, never your teeth.