Klarinet Archive - Posting 000299.txt from 2004/10

From: "musicv" <musicv@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Differing Skill Levels
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 17:49:19 -0400

Christy wrote..

I have great admiration and the utmost respect for someone who honestly
tries, works at it and gives it their best shot but I know that many =
really
don't care. We have quite a few who I believe could be playing far =
better
than they do but they really don't work at it. The evidence is there in =
the
form of an unwillingness to purchase a new reed or mouthpiece, maintain
their instrument or to even carry a fingering chart with them to a
rehearsal, not to mention flabby embouchures that give away that fact =
that
some of these folks don't play more than once a week.=20

----

I've played in a variety of community bands over the years. Many of =
those
players learned to play their instruments as part of a school band =
program
many years ago, and have never had a private lesson in their life. =
They
love to play in the band once a week because it is a fun social evening =
out,
they get to do some community service when the band plays at shopping =
malls
and local seniors homes (who seem to just absolutely love the music
regardless of the quality), and it keeps their "skill" up by giving them =
an
opportunity to play their instrument once a week. This is their hobby.
Most people are extremely busy with work, families, and many other
activities. Some don't have the interest (or perhaps the $) to spend =
time
and money on reeds, mouthpieces, and instrument repairs, especially when
they don't have the personal skill to sort out the relative differences
between mouthpieces, and the ability to match the correct reed to a
mouthpiece. Everyone makes a personal choice as to what they want to =
invest
their precious time doing, and expanding their musical skills may simply =
not
be on their list of priorities. They have the mouth piece that came =
with
their instruments, some reeds that make a sound for them, and they're =
happy.
I think it's wonderful that they're out there playing once a week and =
having
a great time.

If you don't have a musically satisfying time playing with a particular
group, then stop playing with that group. It's a simple as that. And =
then
try and find a group where the majority of players have similar goals to
your own, and play at a similar level to you, or are trying to really =
hard
to at least reach that level. If a group like that doesn't exist,
sometimes you can find a couple gems of players within a community band =
that
you would enjoy playing with, and can connect up with them for an =
evening of
chamber music. =20

The community that I live in and the surrounding region, has a =
population
less than 400,000, yet there are at least 11 community bands. A couple =
are
terrible, most are reasonable, and one is considered semi-professional
(professional calibre players, but who don't play for a living). They =
all
have a common thread in that their members get great enjoyment out of =
their
weekly rehearsals, and there always seem to people in the community that
enjoy coming out to hear them play, regardless of the quality of the
finished product.

Ginny Scarfino
musicv@-----.net

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