What's your Favorite Alternate Fingering?

[InfiniD]

Mine is B flat below Middle C played as 2 & 3.

[MichaelSchott]

On my E3 it’s 3rd instead of 1 and 2.

[John Morgan]

Mine would probably be 4th valve for low C (in the staff - bass clef). Instead of 1&3. Second would probably be 1&2 for G in the staff.

I use the 4th valve for C both for intonation and technique purposes. The 1&2 for G is primarily for intonation (and usually on notes with some sort of "longer" duration).

[aroberts781]

I will share my current favorite because it is fresh on my mind. I have been playing through Bordogni/Rochut etudes and this week I discovered that my high concert A (bass clef) played with second valve was very, very flat on my 3-valve New Standard. After experimenting a bit I found that playing it with first and second was a good substitute.

The high E-flat is very sharp with first valve, which is to be expected. Any of you 3-valve New Standard players out there have a favorite alternate for high E-flat?

On my previous horn, a Schiller Elite, I often needed to use 1 and 3 for middle C (1 ledger line above bass clef staff) instead of first valve only.

[davewerden]

The high E-flat is very sharp with first valve, which is to be expected. Any of you 3-valve New Standard players out there have a favorite alternate for high E-flat?

My favorite solution on a FOUR valve NS was to use 13. However, that will probably be flat on a compensating 3-valve NS. My Sovereign baritone has the same sharp note, and 13 is too flat to fix it. I have not found a solution other than lipping it down!

[JakeGuilbo]

12 for 6th partial Concert F when you REALLY need to lower it

[ann reid]

I have a sweet old Willson that I dearly love, but there are definitely issues with intonation.

Being, as I am, a woodwind “transplant” alternate fingerings for intonation come pretty naturally, and I use them both for intonation and smooth motion within slurs.

I practically always use 1-3 instead of 2 for A natural in the staff (BC) without thinking except in super fast passages.

I’ll add some more to this post when I practice tomorrow. This is a favorite topic of mine!

[iMav]

I have a sweet old Willson that I dearly love, but there are definitely issues with intonation.

I thought I'd seen conversations about your "sweet old Willson" before, but can't locate them. So, I have to ask...

What model (and year/"vintage") Willson do you have??

[Alex]

My favorite solution on a FOUR valve NS was to use 13. However, that will probably be flat on a compensating 3-valve NS. My Sovereign baritone has the same sharp note, and 13 is too flat to fix it. I have not found a solution other than lipping it down!

Yes, the Eb on my Sovereign is so sharp it makes my hair stand up on end. Lipping notes down isn't hard to do. I think its easier than lipping notes up.

[franz]

The high E-flat is very sharp with first valve, which is to be expected. Any of you 3-valve New Standard players out there have a favorite alternate for high E-flat?

I also have a Besson New Standard euphonium which is very high pitched on the 6th partial. For (treble clef) G I use 1-3 (or 1-2), for F# 1-2-3, but for F natural there are no alternative fingerings and you have to lower with your chops (1-3 would be correct on a non-compensating instrument or on a compensated one with 4 valves, (F with 1-3 partial seventh, therefore flat, but the combination of valves 1-3 is too short and therefore gives a high note but, on one with three compensated valves, the length of the circuits 1+3 is corrected with the addition of the steps in the compensation circuit and therefore the result is a seventh harmonic as it should be, i.e. lower -31cent compared to the equal temperament)