Klarinet Archive - Posting 000548.txt from 1998/01

From: lanewhite@-----.com (Lane G White)
Subj: Beginner Beginner teacher questions
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 09:25:44 -0500

On Sat, 10 Jan 1998 18:37:38 -0700 Edinger/Gilman <wde1@-----.com>
writes:

>After 3 months? Oh, about grade 2 or 3, I would guess. The "Hays
>Principle" seems to apply here: beginners have little patience with
>their own progress, even when significant. Man, you teachers not only
>have to be musicians and educators, you have to be psychologists as
>well. My hat's off to you.

This thread has prompted me to get some opinions from the list. I have
played fairly seriously for several years, and started teaching lessons
this summer on clarinet and sax

Most of my clientele are absolutely beginners. When I started out, I
figured things would go fairly smoothly until we got into experimenting
with the high register. What I have not been prepared for is the troubles
with the right hand in the *lower register*. Two of my students are quite
determined to hold their right hand at an angle which causes their right
index finger's lower knuckle to crowd the Eb/Bb side key (sometimes
opening it). This of course also causes them to tend to miss the tone
holes to produce A & G.

What I have done so far is:
- show them the correct hand position and get them to practice it in the
lesson.

- mention to their parents during the usual post-lesson-how's-she-doing
discussion that this is something they need to work on (after one of them
just elected to make a career out of learning to appreciate all the songs
that can be played with the left hand).

- get them in front of a mirror and demonstrate hand position. Asked them
to practice a simple pattern like C Bb A G F and back up in front of the
mirror.

I found with one student that this was the point at which we discovered
her mouthpiece wasn't any good, either. She kept making particularly
ear-piecing squeaks every time she got to G or F. I got her to try mine,
and the problem went away, so Dad is now ordering a *real* mouthpiece for
her.

This is actually the 2nd student whose progress was completely stifled by
the wretched mouthpiece that came with the horn (the other one couldn't
even get a consistent tone until she got another mp).

Three questions:

- are there any other teaching suggestions as to instilling the correct
right-hand position?

- I don't suppose any of us would argue that most student mouthpieces are
fairly impossible, but would I be going overboard if I more or less
required future students to have one of a few "approved" mouthpieces?
I've always resisted the idea of teachers telling students what to play,
but in the context of teaching beginners who have no ideas of their own
and who are just assuming that that piece of garden hose that came with
their Vito is really a mouthpiece, I'm beginning to think I would save
them a lot of grief.

- What are some inexpensive, but decent basic mouthpieces? I've been
telling them to get Vandoren B45s, and pointing them to
Woodwind/Brasswind at about $50 plus shipping.

Gary