Klarinet Archive - Posting 000188.txt from 1998/01

From: Dee Hays <deerich@-----.net>
Subj: Re: KLEENEX
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 08:17:53 -0500

Edwin V. Lacy wrote:

> On Sun, 4 Jan 1998, Dee Hays wrote:
>
> >... The astonishing part is that many beginners band books teach the student
> to
> > do exactly that to minimize the chance of breaking the tip of the reed when
> > the put the ligature on !
>
> I don't find that so astonishing. Young beginners _will_ break reeds when
> trying to place the reed on the mouthpiece and then slide the ligature
> over it. For that reason, placing the ligature on first and then
> inserting the reed under it makes good sense to me. If they get serious
> about the clarinet, they will before long get another mouthpiece, anyway.
> So, compared to the problem of many broken reeds, any changes that would
> be caused to a student-quality mouthpiece over a period of perhaps a few
> years would seem to me to be insignificant.
>
> I teach my woodwind techniques class to place the reed in just the manner
> described above, and recommend that they start young students that way.
> Later, I show them other ways of doing it, and recommend that they watch
> professional clarinetists to see how they do this.

Perhaps I should have said that the books show it without mentioning the reason
and discussing alternative approaches and their reasons. That's really closer to
what I meant. Changing the mind of a teenager can be difficult when they are
"programmed" with one way. Kids have a tendency to think there is only one
"right way."

Dee Hays
deerich@-----.net
Canton, SD