Klarinet Archive - Posting 000554.txt from 2001/02

From: CassildaYhtill@-----.com
Subj: [kl] beginning student
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 09:26:24 -0500

On Wed, 14 Feb 2001, Sharon S. Fuller wrote:
> Next school year, I am thinking of
> asking all the parents to buy the same basic mouthpiece. Does anyone have
> any experience with "requiring" a mouthpiece?

I hope you be flexible about it, because the kids won't be all alike and the
parents' budgets won't be all alike. I think you're right about the bad
mouthpieces with the rentals. If you do decide to require a mouthpiece, I
hope you give *a choice* and include some like the Fobes Debut and the Hite
Premiere, which are both good for beginners I think, and also both reasonably
priced. I think sometimes teachers forget *how many* of them are all making
requirements and all trying to do the right thing all at once. Sometimes you
should just provide the information and then leave it up to the families to
decide IMHO.

My son in second grade brought home five notes for me to sign and return in
one day. Three were permission slips required by law for totally ordinary
school activities, one was a complaint he had the wrong type book bag (has to
be transparent or mesh so they can't hide weapons and drugs in it) and one
was a request from the homeroom teacher for a certain type box they should
all get at Staples for pencils and erasers, etc. and she even spelled out
what transparent colors it comes in. (So what happens if you go in there and
the store has a different color not on the list? Is that ALLOWED?) You
know, she is an excellent teacher and that was no big deal, not an expensive
item at all, easy to get, but still, as long as they bring their pencils and
erasers and follow the rules that containers have to be see- through, WHO
CARES WHAT THEY PUT THEIR PENCILS IN!? Maybe I am overreacting. I went to
schools that were too lenient and had low standards, and I deliberately moved
where I could put my kids in a better quality of school that has high
standards, so maybe I'm just not used to it, but I think this kind of thing
is too nit picky. It is domineering and controlling to make the kids be
robot conformists. I said nothing to my son or the teacher, we went and
bought the required plastic box, because I don't want to undermine his
teacher. But sometimes parents want to say, "I know how to take care of my
kids. Just get out of my face!"

A clarinet mouthpiece is different. It is more specialized and important.
So I think that parents would probably welcome some *ideas and
recommendations* about good mouthpieces. But IMHO, telling the parents
*exactly* what mouthpiece to buy and giving no choice would be getting off on
the wrong foot with that class. Remember these parents have a ton of
pressures on us and band is voluntary, so there's a limit on what we will put
up with. Just a thought.

Cass Hill

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