Klarinet Archive - Posting 001014.txt from 2000/08

From: "Buckman, Nancy" <nebuckman@-----.us>
Subj: RE: [kl] Which one? (Uh-oh...newby alert!)
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 15:56:11 -0400

-- I can't get much of a sound out of a flute. As a doubler and
pit
musician, flute is a necessary evil. The point here is that I get
dizzy.
Lack of talent perhaps.

As a clarinetist who doubles on all the woodwinds, I can tell you that you
get dizzy because you haven't developed the breath control so you don't
hyperventilate. The flute does not offer any resistance when you direct that
air stream across the embouchure plate. It requires very delicate lip
movement and placement. The only way to develop that control is to play,
play, play and play some more. If you want to play the flute, get busy and
practice. :-) (I am not scolding here, just trying to give you a little
shove to motivate you.)

Nancy

Nancy E. Buckman, Technical Assistant
School of Health Professions, Wellness and Physical Education
Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold, Maryland 21012 USA
nebuckman@-----.us

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kevin Fay (LCA) [SMTP:kevinfay@-----.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2000 1:40 PM
> To: 'klarinet@-----.org'
> Subject: RE: [kl] Which one? (Uh-oh...newby alert!)
>
> Bill Hausmann wrote:
>
> > This is why companies like ours will often go into the schools at the
> band
> > director's request to do "fittings." We allow the kids to try out
> several
> > instruments they might be interested in. If they can't get a sound out
> of
> > a flute, we and they can eliminate that as a choice right away, thereby
> > improving the child's likelihood of success.
>
> . . . and Tim Zehr responded:
>
> <<<My school worked the same way, and they turned me away from the trumpet
> because I couldn't make a sound on it. Well, I have an identical twin who
> exceled way above anybody in his calss on the trumpet, and I am quite sure
> our musical abilities are exactly the same. This is why I believe turning
> away students on the spot doesn't always work.>>>
>
> Two thoughts:
>
> -- I attended a master class given by Allen Vizzuti, a terrific trumpet
> player. After the class, during the appointed autograph time, a sheepish
> young man told him that although he really liked the trumpet, he couldn't
> play it because "his lips were too big"; he couldn't make a sound at such
> a
> "fitting" so he was steered to another instrument.
>
> AV was incensed (noting that "Jon Faddis has big lips too!"). He pulled
> out
> his gold-plated horn, and in front of all of us proceeded to teach the kid
> how to blow. In 15 minutes, the young man was slurring from middle C to G
> above the staff and back, with a big, full sound. I learned a lot that
> day.
>
> To the extent that there is any point here, perhaps that (a) "fittings"
> are
> sometimes suspect, and should be subject to a second opinion, and (b) a
> kid
> will often do better if the task is what he or she wants to do. Remember
> how Harry Truman described how to lead -- figure out what someone wants to
> do an command them to do it.
>
> -- A note to Tim -- I, too have an identical twin. He owns a violin (to
> the
> chagrin of many felines). Don't assume that equivalent genetics lead to
> equivalent talents; you can't photocopy people.
>
> kjf
>
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