Klarinet Archive - Posting 000156.txt from 2003/10

From: Umesh Shankar <ushankar@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] Re: [clarinet] reeds for beginners?
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2003 14:32:58 -0400

Hi Karen,

Apart from noting the band director's obvious idiocy of forcing a
particular reed on a student, which based on history will likely be
pointed out many times, I can offer you a suggestion based on what worked
for me when I was starting out.

I believe that after I moved up from the stock Bundy mouthpiece and Ricos,
i.e., when I got a private teacher ;), I used a Hite mouthpiece with
Mitchell Lurie reeds. The Luries are generally a good deal softer than
Vandoren, and in my experience more consistently playable. They don't last
as long, and I couldn't play as loud, but I think for beginning students
simply not having to fight the reed (and maybe thus practice more) is
probably more important. You may want to consider the students'
mouthpieces in helping them select a reed; perhaps if you have a number of
kinds on hand they can try them and see which works.

Umesh

On Tue, 7 Oct 2003, K. Brannon wrote:

> Hi List,
> I'm teaching several beginners (mostly private school and homeschooled kids)
> and am having trouble figuring out which reeds to start them on. The public
> school band directors in my area insist students use Vandoren 3's but they
> seem too hard at first. I have a reed knife, clipper, and sandpaper kit, but it
> seems to be too much trouble constantly fixing their reeds. (I have enough
> trouble with my own!) Isn't there a "store brand" that is pretty consistent for
> a beginner? Any suggestions?
>
> Karen Brannon
>
>
>
>

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