Klarinet Archive - Posting 000312.txt from 1995/07

From: John Baetens <JSBtens@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Saxophone Players who St...
Date: Sat, 29 Jul 1995 02:00:43 -0400

This is in response to Sal Lozano's comments referring back
to my old post about clarinet players switching to sax.

>From your comments, Sal, I will venture to say that our difference
in opinion stems from our coming from a different frame of
reference. If you are saying that it would be very difficult for
a professional clarinettist to take up sax for the first time and
quickly reach the same level on sax as he/she is on clarinet,
then I agree. My opinions are definitely based on making the
switch during the formative years.
Well, now having said that, I am once again going to stick my
neck out and stretch it over the old chopping block. When I
was first starting out in music in the late fifties, the sax was
considered one of the premiere rock and roll instruments,
right up there with the electric guitar. The temptation was
there to learn to play the sax to win friends and influence
people, so to speak. What I am suggesting here is maybe
that at that young age during that period of time young clarinettists
may have been a bit more serious about music than their sax
playing peers. This could further explain why they seemed,
at least to me, able to quickly catch up and surpass their sax
playing peers when they made the switch. Then again, I can
think of an exception already. The first bassoon player in our
high school band got a 99 on his solo at the solo and ensemble
festival in Michigan, the highest score in the state. This earned
him a full scholarship at the University of Michigan. He played nothing but
sax until the ninth grade.

John Baetens