Klarinet Archive - Posting 000047.txt from 1998/09

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Children and Clarinet Playing
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 12:07:03 -0400

Another concern is teeth--how can you expect a kid to play clarinet before
his/her 2nd teeth are in? The "baby teeth" don't have adequate roots; the
clarinet will rip them out before their time. No front teeth at all could
be a problem, too.

Better to start on piano. My son has already "started," and shows quite an
affinity for atonality (he's 15 mos. old and treats the piano like a noisy
highchair). If a wind instrument is desired, try recorder or a modern
equivalent--they're only five bucks or so, smaller, and don't require any
teeth at all.

kjf

-----Original Message-----
From: Craig Romanec u [mailto:roma1960@-----.ca]
Subject: Re: [kl] Children and Clarinet Playing

I think it's very tempting after hearing reports from string and
piano players having started playing at the age of 3 or 4, to want to adopt
this sort of early start with our instrument. I'm wondering, however,
how plausible this is, as a child's lungs might be too underdeveloped to get

that far with a clarinet. A Bb clarinet requires a lot of air. The extra
pressure, though, from an Eb clarinet I'm sure would only further aggravate
the problem. At what typical age do human lungs develop to the point to
begin to be able to accept adult-level tasks?

Anything below this mark would be best spent learning to read
music. And for that a keyboard instrument such as the piano would be a
better choice, providing a visual as well as aural representation of pitch
relationships (up and down) that no other instrument can provide as well.

Craig Romanec
I am roma1960@-----.ca
---------------------------------------------------
"We will rediscover a river so extravagantly polluted
that new life forms will emerge from it spontaneously,
demanding welfare and voting rights." - Douglas Adams

On Tue, 1 Sep 1998, Ed Lyons wrote:

>
>
> Any ideas on how young a person can start learning clarinet? Is it a good
idea to start a child out on the Eb? or should a parent wait (assuming
there is sufficient interest on the child's part) until he or she can handle
a Bb?
>
> Excuse me if this has already been a thread on the list.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ed Lyons
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------