Klarinet Archive - Posting 000434.txt from 2000/04

From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] Music Education = Academic Achievement
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 21:36:13 -0400

leupold_1@-----.com wrote:

I've been remarking to myself for years and years about how many people,
just in general, turn out to have played the clarinet at some point
during their lives. It's absolutely uncanny. I actually feel confident
enough to walk into any given room and get a majority of the hands
raised if I ask the "clarinet question."

I just returned from four days of riding on a train. I spent a few
hours each day practicing. Like you, I was astonished at how many
people walked by and said, "Hey, I (used to) play clarinet too."
The train's conductor sought me out in the dining car on the second
evening and told everyone at the table, "This gentleman plays the
clarinet." An impish 12-yr-old girl who was sitting at the same table
replied, "I used to play clarinet, but then I liked saxophone better,
and now I play violin." So I started to give the child my gentle
version of the "Choose something and stick with it, or you'll never
learn anything" speech. She gave her Mom a significant look, Mom said
"If you want..." and so the kid brought her violin into the parlor car.
I very quickly learned that she plays better violin than I play
clarinet, but we had fun anyway.
As I was packing up, Father confessed that Mom was principal
clarinet in an orchestra, and Mom had tried to convince Daughter to
stick with the clarinet, but Daughter truly liked violin best.
I wanted to ask the conductor if he was a closet clarinetist, or
why did he start the conversation in the first place? but I never had
the opportunity.
My mother's nurse once told me that she was saving two clarinets
and a flute for her own children, waiting until the kids were old
enough.

So I agree that there are more tried-it-once clarinetists in the
world than one might imagine.
Are there any public statistics on how many clarinets are
manufactured each year?

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