Klarinet Archive - Posting 000211.txt from 2003/01

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Funny story of the day...
Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 10:52:09 -0500

Rebecca Brennan wrote,
>I practice, practice, and practice the Bb clarinet religiously
>for three months and guess what...
>
>I make 1st chair alto clarinet with around 30 minutes total
>practice.

Excellent! Way to go!

All that work on the Bb clarinet didn't go to waste, either--I'm convinced
that time spent on *any* musical instrument improves playing on all of them,
because musicianship and theory carry over. I wonder if using up a lot of
nervous energy on the Bb clarinet may have improved your playing on the alto
later, too. Maybe when you're more relaxed and not as anxious, you play
better.

You've also mentioned that you like the alto clarinet. I'll bet that has
something to do with your success. I'm convinced that happens with me: One
reason I sound bad on E-flat itty-bitty clarinet is because I really don't
enjoy high pitch. What many people hear as exciting brilliance, I hear as
unpleasant shrillness. I'll bet I mentally block the sound to some extent
and don't really *listen to* myself as well when I play eefer; and
consequently, I don't learn as much. Since I prefer the lower pitched
clarinets, and enjoy listening to their sound, it's no surprise that I play
better on them.

Conversely, I suspect that people who feel as if they got stuck with an alto
clarinet, and who resent getting stuck with it, never will play it very well.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. (In junior high, I did resent getting
stuck on alto at first, because I wanted to play bass. At first, I think I
was almost sabotaging my own practice sessions, bogged down in the idea that
the alto was $#!% and reinforcing that thought every time I practiced. Part
of the problem was a miserable, worn- out, leaking, honking old alto clarinet
that my newly-opened school had borrowed temporarily from another school--the
kind of instrument that would discourage anybody. Then the school's new,
better alto arrived, and I discovered that I loved the sound, after all.
Changing instruments helped a lot, but changing my mind also changed my
playing.) Although it sounds as though you would have preferred to triumph
on Bb clarinet, your appreciation for the alto probably comes through in your
performance.

Anyway, congratulations! Good luck!
Lelia

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