Klarinet Archive - Posting 000118.txt from 2001/06

From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] from the mouths of babes
Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2001 10:56:39 -0400

<<<I was once in Israel to give a clarinet master class. The players were
all young. I talked about the things that were important to them at their
stage of development. At the end of the class, I asked whether there were
any questions? No one replied. No problems? I asked. One kid got up and
said" You know how to play, so you know the problems. We don't know how to
play. We have no problems.">>>

Great story! There is a lot of wisdom there for all of us to consider. It
reminded me of a similar amusing incident. A prominent music store in a
place where I once lived invited a prominent bassoonist and bassoon teacher
to do a clinic or master class. There were about 30 young students in the
audience who had been encouraged by their teacher to attend, or who had been
invited by the owner of the music store. The bassoonist pontificated for
about four hours about how to determine which cane is best for making reeds,
what reed shaper will give the best results in certain situations, special
secret fingerings to help make difficult passages in major works easier to
negotiate, how to change fingerings to solve certain intonation problems of
the instrument. Then, he also asked for questions. After a long silence,
one young student had the courage to ask a question: "Will you please show
us how to put the bassoon together?" Seldom if ever have I seen an
expression of greater shock than that on the face of the clinician. I think
he learned more that day than anyone else there.

Ed Lacy
University of Evansville
EL2@-----.edu

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