Klarinet Archive - Posting 000168.txt from 1997/08

From: Charles <chardy@-----.com>
Subj: Re: How young? No,No,,No
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 1997 10:18:19 -0400

At 08:16 AM 8/6/97 -0500, you wrote:
>On Tue, 5 Aug 1997, Rob Teitelbaum wrote:
>
>> I'm wondering what all of you think--is 7 years old too young to begin
>> playing?
>
>It depends on your brother. First of all, if he's physically large
>enough to play the clarinet, and his fingers don't slip into the
>tone holes, then there's nothing physical to prevent him from
>starting to play. You might put him on a lighter plastic clarinet
>in the beginning, simply to allow him time to adjust to what it
>feels like to play without having to compensate for the extra
>weight of a wooden instrument.
>
>Beyond the above, there is the issue of maturity. He may display
>precocious musical talent, but if his attention span is that of a
>typical 7-year old, then he may have trouble with private lessons,
>much worse with practicing on his own. Probably the only way to
>really figure this out is to go ahead and start him on the instrument
>and see what happens. He may have precocious discipline as well
>when it comes to music, in which case starting him this early
>would ingrain those habits for life.
>
>Neil
>
No matter what the physical size, a seven yar old is too youmg to start on
the clarinet. A couple of good years on a keyboard would be muc more
beneficial. There are too many difficult and discouraging possibilities on
the clarinet for a seven year old to endure and become needlessly
discouraged........Cjarlie

   
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