Klarinet Archive - Posting 000259.txt from 1998/02
From: Rich & Tani Miller <musicians@-----.net>
Subj: [Fwd: Was it elitism or just an unfortunate figure of speech?]
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 04:42:35 -0500
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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Excuse me sir--you did misinterpret me. My comment about my plastic
horn
(yes I need to dig it out to see if I incorrectly remembered what Selmer
model it was although I swear it is a Signet) was kind of a reminising
of my childhood. I have very fond memories of playing my first horn. I
teach elementary school and maintain a private studio. My elementary
students play on plastic horns and I'm okay with that. That's what
fourth graders should play on. I also happen to teach in an inner-city
school where most of my students are lucky if they have a decent meal
each evening. My kids play on worn, school-owned instruments (anyone
know of grants for buying new instruments?). No they
aren't great (three of my students are playing on horns that are pieced
together from two or more clarinets) and sure I'd like to be able to
choose what they play on. . . but my kids are playing
music.
When I am asked for recommendations by my private students as to what
horn they should buy, I ask the parent a lot of questions--Is their
child considering going into music? How much are they interested in
spending? Are they willing to drive 2 hours to Maryland to try out
horns at Chuck Levin's (good prices!) and the list goes on. I have
students who play on Bundy, Yamaha, Selmer, and Buffet clarinets of all
levels. I'm okay with this. They are making music!!!!! Sure I like my
Buffet (I worked 80 hours a week one summer to buy it!) but there are
other clarinets in this world too. I don't like the clarinet because of
the manufacturer's name stamped on the bell. For my beginner's, they
simply need an instrument that works reasonably well.
My original message to this list was in response to another message
where someone commented positively on the key mechanism of a Yamaha
clarinet. I
was simply agreeing. Perhaps you didn't realize the context of my
comments. I was not responding to the girl who was asking for advice
about buying a wooden clarinet in an "elitist manner."
P.S. I got jumped on because I didn't include the message that I was
responding to. Maybe we should take the time to scroll down through so
that things don't get taken out of context.
P.P.S. How do some of you folks have so much time to read and respond
to all these messages?
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<HTML>
Excuse me sir--you did misinterpret me. My comment about my plastic
horn
<BR>(yes I need to dig it out to see if I incorrectly remembered what Selmer
<BR>model it was although I swear it is a Signet) was kind of a reminising
of my childhood. I have very fond memories of playing my first horn.
I teach elementary school and maintain a private studio. My elementary
<BR>students play on plastic horns and I'm okay with that. That's
what
<BR>fourth graders should play on. I also happen to teach in an inner-city
<BR>school where most of my students are lucky if they have a decent meal
<BR>each evening. My kids play on worn, school-owned instruments
(anyone know of grants for buying new instruments?). No they
<BR>aren't great (three of my students are playing on horns that are pieced
<BR>together from two or more clarinets) and sure I'd like to be able to
choose what they play on. . . but my kids are playing
<BR>music.
<P>When I am asked for recommendations by my private students as to what
<BR>horn they should buy, I ask the parent a lot of questions--Is their
<BR>child considering going into music? How much are they interested
in
<BR>spending? Are they willing to drive 2 hours to Maryland to try
out
<BR>horns at Chuck Levin's (good prices!) and the list goes on.
I have
<BR>students who play on Bundy, Yamaha, Selmer, and Buffet clarinets of
all
<BR>levels. I'm okay with this. They are making music!!!!!
Sure I like my
<BR>Buffet (I worked 80 hours a week one summer to buy it!) but there are
other clarinets in this world too. I don't like the clarinet because
of the manufacturer's name stamped on the bell. For my beginner's,
they simply need an instrument that works reasonably well.
<P><B>My original message to this list was in response to another message</B>
<BR><B>where someone commented positively on the key mechanism of a Yamaha
clarinet. I</B>
<BR><B>was simply agreeing.</B> Perhaps you didn't realize the context
of my
<BR>comments. I was not responding to the girl who was asking for
advice about buying a wooden clarinet in an "elitist manner."
<P>P.S. I got jumped on because I didn't include the message that
I was responding to. Maybe we should take the time to scroll down
through so that things don't get taken out of context.
<P>P.P.S. How do some of you folks have so much time to read and
respond to all these messages?</HTML>
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Content-Disposition: inline
Date: Wed, 04 Feb 1998 17:49:39 -0400
From: Rich & Tani Miller <musicians@-----.net>
Subject: Re: Was it elitism or just an unfortunate figure of speech?
References: <009C1450.948F528D.57@-----.edu>
Excuse me--you did misinterpret me. My comment about my plastic horn
(yes I need to dig it out to see if I incorrectly remembered what Selmer
model it was) was kind of a reminising of my childhood. I have very
fond memories of playing my first horn. I teach elementary school. My
students play on plastic horns and I'm okay with that. That's what
fourth graders should play on. I also happen to teach in an inner-city
school where most of my students are lucky if they have a decent meal
each evening. My kids play on worn, school-owned instruments. No they
aren't great (three of my students are playing on horns that are pieced
together from two or more clarinets) . . . but my kids are playing
music.
When I am asked for recommendations by my private students as to what
horn they should buy, I ask the parent a lot of questions--Is their
child considering going into music? How much are they interested in
spending? Are they willing to drive 2 hours to Maryland to try out
horns at Chuck Levin's (good prices!) and the list goes on. I have
students who paly on Bundy, Yamaha, Selmer, and Buffet clarinets of all
levels. I'm okay with this. They are making music!!!!! Sure I like my
Buffet but there are other clarinets in this world too.
My original message to this list was in response to another message
where someone commented on the key mechanism of a Yamaha clarinet. I
was simply agreeing. Perhaps you didn't realize the context of my
comments.
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