Klarinet Archive - Posting 000157.txt from 1996/10

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fredj@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Thumbrests for beginners
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1996 23:10:03 -0400

Claudia,
Sure, you can put an adjustable thumb rest on a plastic
instrument. Unfortunately, they can be as expensive as the instrument
itself! I think that the reason your mom is having problems is that
plastic instruments are made for children with small hands and the thumb
rest is positioned accordingly. So it is very awkward for adults (with
big hands). I had this exact problem with an adult student. Since it was
a rented instrument, I told him to take it back to the store and get a
wooden student model. The wooden ones are modeled more on the lines of a
professional horn and the problem disappeared.

Fred Jacobowitz
Clarinet/Sax Instructor, Peabody Preparatory

On Mon, 7 Oct 1996, Claudia Zornow wrote:

> Is it possible to install an adjustable thumbrest on a plastic
> clarinet, and is it ever desirable?
>
> My-mother-the-beginning-clarinetist is having trouble keeping the
> right-hand tone holes covered when she uses the pinky keys (low F,
> E), and she feels the thumbrest is in an awkward place for her hand.
> She realizes that learning to cover the holes takes practice, but
> when I told her that adjustable thumbrests exist and are even standard
> on some professional clarinets, she thought that perhaps she doesn't
> need to struggle as much as she is. Any thoughts? She is playing
> on my spare clarinet, a plastic Bundy.
>
> Thanks,
> Claudia
>