Klarinet Archive - Posting 000046.txt from 1996/06

From: Gary Van Cott <mccmis@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Jazz Clarinettists
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 03:41:00 -0400

Actually, I think high school kids today are lucky to have "jazz"
bands. When I was in high school in the mid-1960s, they weren't very
common.

In my high school, with six periods of classes a day, there simply
wasn't room to fit in another music class. Since our director didn't
believe in doing work he wasn't paid for, there weren't any
opportunities after school either. (I don't blame him for this
either.)

But the answer to the question of how to get in the jazz band is to
buy a saxophone. In most high schools, a good clarinetist with six
months sax experience will be in the top five (and probably the top
three) of the sax players.

Gary Van Cott
Las Vegas, NV
mccmis@-----.com