Klarinet Archive - Posting 000187.txt from 2007/09

From: John Dablin <jdablin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Military Bands
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 02:35:42 -0400

On Monday 24 September 2007 03:16, Tom Puwalski wrote:
[ snip ]

> Did you make all state band? if you did were you the best
> clarinetist in the room? Is all you do play clarinet? and then
> only classical music? could someone call you for a gig could you
> take it? If it were a show? a dixieland gig, a bar Mitzvah? What
> can you do?

I can't speak for US bands, but I did spend 5 years in an RAF band
(nearly 40 years ago) and I think it's still true, in a service
band you learn to play every kind of music. This experience is
invaluable if you're to have any hope of continuing as a freelance
musician after you leave. I only play as an amateur nowadays, but I
notice that some others in the band have a lot of difficulty with
anything that's too different from the music they learnt at school
or with their teacher. I'm sure this is true of some college
graduates as well.

John Dablin
Aylesbury UK

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