Klarinet Archive - Posting 000088.txt from 2005/05
From: Gary Smith <gary622@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] A splendid experience visitng Himie Voxman
Date: Thu, 05 May 2005 09:12:50 -0400
I missed Dan's original post. Not to take anything away from a great
story, but didn't Hovey write the Elementary method? Or was Dan so
good he started with the Advanced Method? (I realize Voxman was one of
the supervising editors for the whole series, based on how the
authorships are parceled out on the back of the distinctive blue
wear-well cover. :-) )
I think the Rubank books are great if you're giving lessons to
beginners - not so good for self-study, and I could wish that someone
would take them and update things like the fingering charts to make
them easier to understand (just show a complete fingering under each
note), but the approach as to where to start, how to practice crossing
the break, etc. is spot-on. And you get a lot of practice with a
fundamental before moving on to the next thing. Finally, especially
with older beginners, I think the less "cutesy" graphics (or
non-graphics) is a plus.
I have a confession to make - I'm learning the flute after all these
years playing clarinet and sax because every reed book in every show
I've ever been hired for has flute parts. I've been getting the jobs
anyway because I can transpose and nobody here in town plays all three
very well, but it's bothered me. And in learning the instrument, I've
enlisted one of my counterparts from the local orchestra in the flute
section as a teacher, but my first purchase was a new instruction book
with a DVD and all that. Well, the DVD was very helpful, but my next
purchase was a Rubank Elementary book. That and Vol. 1 of the Rubank
"78 duets for flute and clarinet" has been my meat and potatoes. Feels
odd to be playing the top line on those...
On 5/5/05, Vincenzo Zippo - AMT Services <vincenzo.zippo@-----.it> wr=
ote:
> Hi Dan,
> I red your post.
> It was a very nice report about your feel in meeting Himie Voxman.
> I don't know him but, while I was reading your short tale, I was able to
> figure Voxman in his old
> house, I was able to smell the air in that room!
> Tanks to you and Voxman.
> Bye.
>=20
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
> To: "klarinet@-----.org>
> Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 10:54 PM
> Subject: [kl] A splendid experience visitng Himie Voxman
>=20
> > Today I drove from Ames, IA to Peoria, IL. On the way, I stopped in Io=
wa
> > City to meet the man who wrote my first book of clarinet lessons, Himie
> > Voxman. It was a wonderful visit. He is in good physical and
> > intellectual
> > shape at 92 and it broke my heart to have to leave after only about 45
> > minutes. It is that we had a long drive behind and ahead of us.
> >
> > My first book was the Rubank Elementary book of clarinet playing and Hi=
mie
> > had written and edited it in the 1930s. I have no idea how many other
> > clarinetists began with that book, but in Paterson, NJ, everybody used =
it.
> >
> > Today was a very splendid experience. His house is so jammed with music
> > that
> > he is in the position of giving lots and lots of it away, mostly to the
> > University, but even some to the local music store.
> >
> > He spoke of how he studied the process of making metal reeds in the 193=
0s.
> > He said that the only one that worked well was the reed made of stainle=
ss
> > steel. But the problem with the reed was that it was so thin, it was a=
s
> > sharp as a razor blade. After he played Stars and Stripes with it, he
> > received a passing grade in metttalurgy, and never returned to that
> > experiment again.
> >
> >
> >
> > Dan Leeson
> > dnleeson@-----.net
> >
> >
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
> >
> >
>=20
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
>=20
>
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