Klarinet Archive - Posting 000778.txt from 2002/01

From: JMarioneau@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!! Mastercard Clarinet
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 13:45:07 -0500

When I was in high school back in the 60's our entire clarinet section was guys except for the one girl who was the worst player. Our band director was also a male clarinetist. When we would go to all-region band auditions, we would be at the top of the band along with some guys from a couple of other schools. We always thought that glarinet was a guys instrument and we would tell the girls at the back of the region band section "See, we told you clarinet is a guy's instrument." We also would tell our band director that we wanted to transfer to so-and-so school because they had all girls playing clarinet there and they looked so good and smelled great. Of course, after I made the all-state band and then went to college, I had a very rude awakening. No more did I ever say that females could not play clarinet. We live and learn.
James Marioneaux

> Seem like nobody is getting it but I thought the point was the commercial
> shows somebody thinking clarinet is so terrible it is "priceless" to switch
> to another more fun or easier instrument. It is a bad image of clarinets.
>
> I notice something in newspaper ads for Music & Arts, for band instruments,
> the kid they show playing a clarinet is always the most awful pencil neck
> geek with his mouth in a huge geeky grin with too many teeth showing. He
> looks like a natural born fool. What kind of a message is that for kids who
> might want to play clarinet? How do they sell any clarinet that way anyway?
I
> am so glad my son fell for the sound and never mind the image. He is only 8
> but thinking for himself, not a lemming. At the school where he had to
> transfer some kids saw him with the clarinet and start calling him faggot.
I
> don't think they know what that is suppose to mean in third grade but to
them
> it mean geek. He hate that school anyway so they never could turn him
around
> against the clarinet.
>
> Cass Hill

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