Klarinet Archive - Posting 000490.txt from 1998/12

From: Michael Cogswell <Michael_Cogswell@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] RE: klarinet Digest 11 Dec 1998 09:15:01 -0000 Issue 812
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 15:50:19 -0500

I've been following this discussion with interest, since I am the rankest of
beginners and am about to buy my first clarinet. (My daughter is the real
musician in the family.)

While I certainly agree that a student will play well on any horn after a
decent amount of time (with the possible exception of myself), I can't help
but wonder if a better instrument won't allow faster progress by allowing
the student to focus on playing rather than struggling to overcome the horn.
In my case, I'm still learning the basic fingerings and scales, with a few
very simple tunes to give me some sense of accomplishment. Right now I find
the large differences in resistance frustrating, since it can make it
difficult for me to get the horn to speak at all occasionally. I'm light
years away from worrying about *HOW* a note sounds, I'm still worrying about
*IF* it sounds at all. I can't help but wonder if a clarinet with more even
resistance would allow me to focus on the basics. Or, when you talk about
better instruments, are you really discussing more subtle differences? Or
is learning to cope with things like the big difference in resistance simply
one of the basics?

Just for clarification, the clarinet I'm using doesn't seem to have any
leaks or adjustment problems. My daughter certainly (with six years of
clarinet experience) has no problem playing it, although she has a low
opinion of it. On the other hand, she has an older Noblet Paris bass
clarinet and a school owned Selmer bass, both of which I find much easier to
play and much more even. Is this typical?

-----Original Message-----
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 22:51:28 -0800
From: "Jason Hsien" <jasonavhs@-----.com>
Subject: Re: [kl] choosing a new clarinet
<snip>
In my HS band, one of our best clarinetists plays an Artley, better than
those with the more expensive Selmers, Buffets, Leblancs... Perhaps that
says something for the performer, but if the player is a beginner (and I
haven't been keeping up with Klarinet discussions, so please correct me if
I'm wrong that this is a beginner we're talking about) and he or she puts in
a decent amount of time, they will play well on any horn.

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