Klarinet Archive - Posting 000197.txt from 1997/08

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fredj@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: How young is too young?
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 1997 14:59:37 -0400

Rob,
At that age there are two considerations: 1) the size of the child
(because the instrument is a certain size) and 2) the attention span of a
7-yr.-old.
Frankly, the instrument is probably to large - especially the
hand span necessary for the low notes. Using an eefer is problematic
because the transition to a b-flat instrument would probably be difficult.
It is not a tiny step-up change like from a 1/4-size violin to a 1/2 size,
etc. To do something like that, you'd have to move him to a C clarinet
first. Then a b-flat. And most of us don't have those kind of resources
sitting around. Also, the mouthpiece is radically bigger. It's not the
same as having a longer (but not fatter) bow.
As for the second consideration, ANY youngster must have a teacher
who is experienced with young ones. Many good teachers can't deal with a
child that young. There are issues of attention span, lack of focusing
ability, etc.
All in all, I'd recommend another instrument such as piano for
one so young. Either that of, if you want a wind instrument, Recorder.
However, my experience in teaching little ones recorder has been that
after a year of it, they are really ready to go on to a "real" instrument
which makes more sound and which they can see with their siblings who are
in school band. And at that point they are still too small to deal with
the instruments.

Fred Jacobowitz
Clarinet/Sax Instructor, Peabody Preparatory

On Tue, 5 Aug 1997, Rob Teitelbaum wrote:

> I have a 7-year-old brother (yes, it's a large age gap--what can I say,
> we're weird?) who appears to have a good deal of "natural" musical
> ability (he can identify pitches and melodies better than anyone else in
> the house!), and has been interested in learning clarinet for several
> years now. While I certainly haven't discouraged this interest, I have
> previously told him that I thought he needed to wait until his lungs and
> fingers developed a little more before trying to start on the instrument.
> Now my mother thinks he's old enough to begin learning, and is
> considering having him take clarinet lessons. I myself began playing when
> I was 9, which did not cause me an inordinate amount of difficulty, but
> I'm wondering what all of you think--is 7 years old too young to begin
> playing?
>
> TIA,
>
> Rob Teitelbaum
> rteitelbaum@-----.com
>