Klarinet Archive - Posting 000365.txt from 2001/10

From: "Robert Moody" <LetsReason@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Simpler is Better (Most of the time)
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 01:47:04 -0400

No wait! You're a "band director", aren't you?! I'm not even looking back
to try and recall, I'm just guessing.

Simpler is better.

Let me share something with you all that my current teacher does not truly
believe.

I am in my first year of my DMA at Shenandoah (Dr. Johnston believes that
because he has seen my enrollment, but was a little shaky about it at first,
after seeing my placement exams). I have just finished four years of middle
school instrumental music directing (I did both band and strings). Most of
the students began in the 6th grade with me.

Get this...it is true.

My clarinet students in my band could, by the end of their FIRST(!) year,
play from low e below the staff all the way up to g''' above the staff. The
entire chromatic scale, from memory, up to g''' above the staff. The were
average students, I can guarantee it. [And this was on 2.5 Rico Royals!]

Now...I will stop there and leave this particular post with these thoughts
and requests:

1. Do you believe me?
2. Simpler is almost always better.
3. How do you think I accomplished this "seemingly impossible" (I laugh at
that attribution to this task)?
4. Would you like me to tell you this "simpler is better" way of getting
kids to play to g''' above the staff? [It works for college kids who have
difficulty up there too. That is why Dr. Johnston is curious now whether I
was lying about my middle school kids. I showed it to an undergraduate who
was having trouble in the altissimo and she went to her next lesson as if
she could play the altissimo (to around a''') all along.]
5. If you have the same success with your first year students, please post
your technique for teaching them to play above c'''.

Note: For my examples here, Low C is c', below the staff. Middle C is c'',
middle of the staff. High C is c''', above the staff. c'''' is the
altissimo C some six spaces above the staff.

Robert

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Hausmann" <bhausmann1@-----.com>
Subject: Re: [kl] Re: Eb Reeds for Eb mouthpieces

> At 12:38 AM 10/12/2001 -0500, Roger Garrett wrote:
> If a person says, my reeds are too hard on this particular mouthpiece,
what
> should I do? My first thought is.....what kind of mouthpiece is it, what
> is the tip opening, and what is the length of the curve? Then I am in a
> better position to suggest something than to simply tell them to try
> different strength reeds and brands........even types (Bb vs. Eb).
>
> >Some doctors won't prescribe medication - even if they suspect
something -
> >they often will wait until they know before prescribing. Others
> >don't..........
>
> Isn't this question basically the same as the old joke:
>
> Patient: "Doctor, it hurts when I do that."
> Doctor: "Don't do that."
>
> If the reeds you have are too hard for your mouthpiece, the logical first
> step is to try softer reeds. Just because you play XYZ brand 6 1/2's on
> your Bb does not mean that you will use the same thing on Eb or bass or
> whatever, even if they are the same brand horn with the "same" mouthpiece
> and facing (B-45, C*, or whatever). Too many variables are involved,
> although it certainly suggests a good starting point for your
> search. BEYOND that, you may find useful information about general
> tendencies of some mouthpieces to work with certain reed brands, but, with
> the exception of custom mouthpieces, I suspect that piece-to-piece
> variability might prove to be a more significant factor.
>
>
>
> Bill Hausmann bhausmann1@-----.com
> 451 Old Orchard Drive
> Essexville, MI 48732 ICQ UIN 4862265

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