Klarinet Archive - Posting 000091.txt from 2002/12

From: "Lloyd, David - Business Directorate,Trading Standards" <David.Lloyd@-----.uk>
Subj: RE: [kl] Benefit of taking time off
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 11:20:33 -0500

-----Original Message-----
From: Deidre Calarco [mailto:dleigh@-----.org]
Subject: Re: [kl] Benefit of taking time off

On 12/5/02 10:12 AM, "Wayne P Hill" <thanos563@-----.com> wrote:

> <<learnt another instrument (guitar) and>>
>
> Good to see another convert to the "dark side" ;-)

That IS great. I was thinking about learning a new instrument, too. Guitar
seems like a good choice because it's so social. You're probably not going
to whip out the ol' buffet at the campfire and have everyone sing along with
flight of the bumblebee...

How do you like it?

-Deidre

The guitar is a very different animal. There are so many levels at which you
can use it.

I've played it for about 13 years now, I played clarinet for about 8 years
before giving it up, mostly because I wasn't satisfied with the teaching I
was getting on the clarinet (completely uninspiring to a fifteen year old
kid desperate to play blues and jazz).

You will find the guitar utterly frustrating and unintuitive to begin with
and your fingertips will hurt a lot. But stick to it and you'll find that
your musical training on the clarinet will help you progress a lot faster
than most beginner guitarists. You should be able to play enough chords to
play camp fire songs within a few weeks. Take another month or so to learn
the minor pentatonic scale... suddenly you can play blues!

Your rhythmic sense and theoretical knowledge can only benefit from learning
the guitar. My sight reading ability on the clarinet when I returned after
twelve years is, amazingly, light years ahead of where it was when I gave
up.

I'll stop there... just go and get one. But don't do what I did. Keep
playing the clarinet at the same time.

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