Klarinet Archive - Posting 000493.txt from 2004/11

From: "Kevin Fay" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] RE: soprano sax teacher for beginner
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 22:13:00 -0500

Ed Lacy posted:

<<<. . . it doesn't seem to me that beginning on the soprano sax is a
particularly good
choice. Unless the student has a top-of-the-line professional instrument,
with a top quality mouthpiece and reeds to match, the soprano sax can be a
really cranky and idiosyncratic instrument. While the student is learning
the mechanical parts of saxophone playing, it would seem to be to be
advantageous if he didn't also have to deal with the difficult
characteristics of the soprano. I would have recommended to the student
that they begin on the alto sax, or even the tenor. I think that in a later
message it was mentioned that the student in question is an adult, but even
so, there would be special problems to contend with.

Would anyone care to either agree or disagree with this point of view?>>>

All things being equal, I'd start a student on clarinet (of course!).
Starting a kid on soprano is very much like starting a clarinet kid on
eepher. (I find both the embouchures and intonation problems similar.) For
a child with small fingers, though, Eb may make sense - the kinder clarinet
is in Eb for just this reason.

. . . but if this adult student shows up with a horn already, better to give
them a lesson or two than to tick them off by telling them to go back and
get a bigger horn.

I suspect that they started on soprano because they are modeling what they
want to sound like after Kenny Gorelick or Dave Koz. They could do much
worse - both play in tune.

A good teacher will expand their horizons. At least they're looking.

kjf

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