Klarinet Archive - Posting 000917.txt from 1999/03

From: Lisa Canjura-Clayton <lisakc@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: klarinet Digest 16 Mar 1999 16:10:31 -0000 Issue
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:10:54 -0500

At 11:57 AM 03.16.99 -0700, you wrote:
>I have another idea. Lets get clarinets out of marching bands. The amount of
>sound they can put out is a waste of fancy uniforms. Lets get marching bands
>out of music education and into the P.E. departments where they belong.
Let the
>coaches produce the bands for their utilitarian perpose of providing spritit
>and garnish to the athletic programs. Until bands can extricate themselves
from
>being a biological boom box, they will always be licking the toes of those
who
>sponsor them.

LOL! I bet the gentlman who started this thing about how marching bands
are extremely off-tartget has lived to regret it.

I play clarinet in a adult community marching band and in a Dixieland band.
I also play bass clarinet in the related concert band, and pop that moster
out whenever I find a particularly indulgent and tolerant bop group who'll
put up with my very bad and very nascent wannabe Dolphy-ism. I wouldn't
give up any of those opportunities for performance for anything, INCLUDING
and ESPECIALLY the marching band.

Why? Because, as long as you're not howling, say, "Land of 1000 Dances",
clarinets and woodwinds are really a necessary part of traditional marching
music. The best musical education I ever got was from this tiny but tough
Southern lady named Miss Barnett. As our high school teacher, she would
drill our musical butts off in marching band, making sure that dynamics
were damn well respected. When the point was made, our marching band
sounded very balanced, and you could hear the clarinetists very clearly,
even in the heavy brass fanfares. We got 70's at best on how we marched
but beat the pants off the other bands because of the 96's and 98's we got
with our sound. I never got a better lesson in the importance of ensemble
and dynamics until I went through marching season a couple of times with
Miss Barnett. It's just sad that more teachers aren't like her.

In defense of Marching Bands,

------ Lisa K. Canjura-Clayton
/ lisakc@-----.edu/~clayton
/ "Enough philosophizing. Back to hurting worms."
/ -- Rocket J. Squirrel

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