Klarinet Archive - Posting 000348.txt from 2002/02

From: Donna Higgins <donna@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Teachers (was LeBlanc Eternite)
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 14:13:23 -0500

Richard Bush wrote:

> It would definitely be worth your while to check it out, but
> keep in mind, if you really don't like anything you play, if
> it doesn't ring your bell, it isn't a bargain regardless of
> the price.
>

Definitely!

Money is always a consideration, but I'd rather spend $2,500 on an instrument
I love than $100 on one I don't like. :-)

I have another question that relates to my A clarinet search, which I was
reluctant to bring up, but maybe it would be helpful to hear some thoughts
about it.

How far should a teacher go in persuading/forcing a student to copy the
teacher's set-up? I currently have two teachers - one for bass clarinet, one
for regular clarinet. Both are long-time professional players whose opinions
I can't just dismiss out of hand.

The problem, for me, is that both of them think the R-13 is the only
worthwhile clarinet for professional symphonic musicians, or anyone who
aspires to a high level of musicianship. One of them, in fact, has told me
the following: (1) I should not even bother trying anything that isn't an
R-13; (2) going shopping in New York (which I'm planning to do) would be a
waste of time because chances are I wouldn't find anything good up there,
unless I got extraordinarily lucky; and (3) I'm not an experienced enough
player to choose my own instrument, so I need to have "someone whose playing I
trust" (i.e., him) choose for me.

Of course, I would never buy an instrument for myself without getting opinions
from others on how I sound. But my teachers are the people I should trust the
most to provide those opinions, and they're herding me in a direction I'm not
sure I want to go. I mean, I might end up choosing an R-13 (I tried about a
dozen yesterday, and liked one enough to put it on hold), but I might find
something I like even better. And it just seems like common sense that if I'm
going to part with a couple of thousand dollars, I should try as wide a
variety of instruments as I can get my hands on. I realize clarinetists have
strong opinions about which clarinets are the "best." But in the case of my
teachers, I feel like their primary goal is to get me playing an R-13, not to
get me playing on the best instrument *for me* (which might or might not be an
R-13).

I'm an amateur who's been playing for the last 10 years or so. I played in
school, then quit after high school graduation and didn't play again for about
8 years. I didn't go to a conservatory or major in music in college, and I
haven't had a lot of formal instruction until the last couple of years. So,
I'm beyond being a beginner, but I'm not any clarinet expert either.

Right now I'm afraid that I'll either buy an R-13 and feel like I was
railroaded into it, or I'll buy something else I like better, and end up
questioning the decision later because I went against the advice of people who
are more knowledgeable about clarinets.

Sorry this got a little lengthy. :-)

- Donna

---------------------------------------------------------------------