Klarinet Archive - Posting 000260.txt from 2005/06

From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] beginner's clarinet
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 22:34:22 -0400

Caleb,

I'd be interested to know who asked you "not to get a wooden clarinet."
It is possible he/she only meant to say you don't *need* a wooden
clarinet. Clarinets made for beginning students are of lower quality
than professional clarinets in order to make them less expensive. They
may be made of wood, some kind of plastic composite or even metal. The
majority of inexpensive student clarinets for the past 30 or so years
have been made of plastic of one sort or other, mostly because plastic
is easier to shape in mass production than wood and because it's more
forgiving of poor care and (the bane of marching band clarinetists
everywhere) bad weather. Although we argue about it from time to time,
wood doesn't seem by itself to add much quality to the least expensive
student instrument lines, but it certainly doesn't add difficulty to
learning to play the instrument. What's most important is to have a
clarinet that's well adjusted to be as responsive and easy to play as
possible. A badly adjusted plastic clarinet can be just as difficult to
play as an out-of-adjustment wooden one.

There might, depending on how old you are and where you're going to be
doing most of your playing, be an advantage in the durability of
plastic, but the advice that a wood instrument "might prove to be too
difficult ... for the beginner" doesn't sound sensible unless you've
misunderstood it.

Best of luck, whatever kind of clarinet you get.

Karl Krelove

Caleb Yee wrote:

>Any advice for a beginner like me who's learning the clarinet?
>I've been asked not to get a wooden clarinet becos it might prove to be
>too difficult (and expensive too) for the beginner. Appreciate your
>thoughts. Thanks!
>
>
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