Klarinet Archive - Posting 000372.txt from 1998/04

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Bass Clarinet Majors
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 10:17:39 -0400

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998, Daniel A. Paprocki wrote:
> My first answer is "WHY"? With the job market for performance being like
> it is I wouldn't recommend anyone to major in performance. Get a music ed
> degree and then go on for a masters in performance. Do you REALLY know
> what the competition is like at orchestra auditions? You better have
> something to make a living at besides playing the clarinet. Now I'll
> assume that the student knows the odds and still wants to major in
> performance.

Dan's recommendation is fairly standard, and many people have done very
well following such a recommendation. I would only add that, if the
person is not interested in teaching but gets the degree anyway while the
work towards a performance career, I would not recommend the ed. degree.
In fact, I am on a committee that denies (or accepts) people into upper
division study based on their reasons for teaching, skills, and knowledge
of repertoire etc. If a student ONLY wanted to play but got the degree so
they could feed themselves while they were working toward a job in an
orchestra, we would probably deny admittance to upper division study in
Music. Ed.

> I'm a substitute with about 6 professional orchestras and have done
> about 20 orchestra auditions (a couple for bass). Most of my work is
> playing bass clarinet. Any audition for bass clarinet the orchestra will
> also want to hear regular clarinet and usually the first round is only
> regular clarinet. So why would a student major in bass clarinet? Major in
> being the best musician you can be and a complete clarinetist (can you
> sight transpose, read bass clef, play Eb,etc).

I think the student who was being discussed was ONLY a bass
clarinetist....it sounds as though you are very versatile! The reason you
get those jobs, undoubtedly, is because you are probably very, very good
at all of them!

Roger Garrett
IWU