Klarinet Archive - Posting 000428.txt from 2003/05

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Re: reeds/cases, rotating
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 22:03:48 -0400

Rebecca Brennan wrote,
>>All of the private teachers I have had have made
>>such a huge deal out of rotating reeds. It has driven
>>me batty.
[snip]
>>BTW, Nancy, your post was nicely said! I printed
>>your post and some other posts and I am going to
>>give them to my ex-private teacher who yelled at me
>>for using the same reed two lessons in a row.

I also agree with Nancy's message about not making reed rotation into a
religion, but I do rotate them enough to make sure I've always got more
than one good reed broken in for each type of playing I do. A teacher may
ask a student to rotate reeds not because the teacher is a reed fetishist
but because s/he wants to make sure the student doesn't turn into one.
Rotating reeds develops your ability to adapt your embouchure for different
reeds. That's a useful skill, and you'll thank the teacher for it the
first time something bad happens to your best reed, or to your entire case
of reeds, five minutes before a concert. I feel sorry for people who can
only play on the perfect reed.

For instance: You show up at a concert where you're scheduled to play a
solo. You open the clarinet case and discover you've left the reed case at
home. Home is two hours away. The stores are all closed. You don't have
even one reed with you. You have to bum a reed from another clarinet
player. It's not your usual brand and you don't know where it's been. Do
you panic, or do you just rinse off the cooties, slap that board on your
mouthpiece, play like a champ and earn the admiration of everybody who
hears you?

It also saves money on reeds if you can play on nearly anything. I don't
buy the cheapest reeds on the market, but I want my money's worth out of
them.

Lelia
E-mail: lelialoban@-----.net
Web site (original music scores as audio or print-out):
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban

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