 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: LiCoRiCeStIcK
Date: 2004-06-12 20:28
I started giving clarinet lessons about 6 months ago. The problem is that up until now, all of my students already had some skills under their belt as well as a method book to work with. I gave a lesson to a 4th grader today who had never even picked up a clarinet before. What kind of method book should I reccommend? Any other suggestions? Please help! I really want to be successful with this.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-06-12 21:22
Our best wishes, L S, its an "open book" for brand-new cl'ists to learn what we know of music [per se] and playing and careing-for cls, your own instincts re: teaching/leading will be very influential, our "helps" will be added [please] and some search of our "archives" may add. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2004-06-12 22:47
I personally have found that using a specific book doesn't really work well for me because the books are designed to be gone through page after page, and I usually end up jumping around so much that the method books "chronological" order of what to learn doesn't match up with the students needs.
I write a lot of my own exercises for beginners. Just long tone type stuff. I also like the Rubank Beginner Books for clarinet. I have a huge stack of method books and after teaching for a while, I kind of just know which exercises from which books are good for teaching certain things.
Where I might start is, after getting a good embouchure and decent sound, just start him/her on open G. Then F. Then practice G-F-G-F-G-F etc. with a metronome. Then learn E. Then play F-E-F-E-F-E, then G-F-E-F-G-F-E... until the student can play G, F, E, D, and C pretty comfortably. Then make up some other exercises with those notes that are step wise... for example. E-G-E-G or G-F-D-E-G-F-E-D.... I just write a bunch of stuff like that to start to get their fingers moving.
I personally introduce tonguing after we learn a few fingers. I don't know if it's pedagologically "better" to do tonguing first or later, but I usually do it later and haven't had any problems.
Then you can move on to the right hand, and basically do the same thing you did with the left hand. Then combine the hands.
I personally feel that it is very important to get students listening and playing duets as quickly as possible. The Yamaha Band books have some good easy duets. I think the Rubank book does too, hard to remember off the top of my head.
Anyway, hope this was a little helpful. Getting a student who has never played a note before can be quite a challenge. Usually the school's beginner band program gets them through the beginning stages of embouchure and sound (although you usually have to fix them when you start teaching those students...)
DH
theclarinetist@yahoo.com
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Author: Camanda
Date: 2004-06-13 00:59
I have a lot of old clarinet method books from my elementary band years around, and I find some of the stuff in my high school book (we use Total Musicianship) helpful for some of the older players or the ones who learn faster. I also have written out some exercises before. Sadly, though, my fellow clarinets in high school have difficulties with some of the stuff I give to the twelve-year-olds. ::sigh::
As far as order of lessons, I like to try to get the kids I teach to develop an embouchure first and learn how to hold the instrument properly, since some of them try to hold it by the barrel, or some of them use their pinkie fingers under the four keys on the side of the upper joint and the four keys at the bottom of the lower joint to hold it. Both the Standard of Excellence and Accent on Achievement methods teach E, D, and C first, and I like to do it that way because it enforces the fact they can't hold the instrument by the barrel, which I find they'll do if I teach open G first.
I wasn't taught to play the instrument one-on-one by a clarinetist -- my band director in elementary school played trumpet and violin, and I was one of three clarinets in my class, with an alto sax, a cornet, two flutes, and a snare drummer. The way I look at teaching kids who are the age I was when I learned, no matter what books you use or how you teach them, they benefit so much more by learning by themselves from a clarinetist. They're more than responsive enough -- wish I could say the same for the freshmen at my school, but...
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Author: John w
Date: 2004-06-13 01:31
Well the first time i picked the clarinet the teacher did basic stuff like first show how to put instrument in mouth and then Doing your first sound with a simple full lenght note then 4 silence beat. then another note
Btw am 15 years old
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Author: ron b
Date: 2004-06-13 06:32
I have one beginner and one almost advanced student at this time. All my beginning students start by observing me assemble and disassemble an instrument (mine, not theirs), its basic care and feeding and how to make a clarinet sound, etc. When the student can do that, usually about five to ten minutes, we're ready for the "trial period". The trial period is a week, two weeks, whatever our schedule happens to be and during that time I ask the student to just play around with the horn, make different sounds, push different keys and close and open the holes just to see what happens. There is no "assignment" and no "rules" to get in the way of "getting acquainted".
Young people seem to enjoy the no restrictions approach and adults appear to have been wanting to do that for a long time anyhow. During our next "real" lesson we discuss what happens when we do so-and-so and why and go from there. By the end of this second session we're playing a G scale and an F scale and doing intervals (3rds).
If they don't already know how to read notes we have some ground to cover with that. We'll do about half and half, note reading and ear training. Then, depending on what the student wants to do, we'll decide which areas to give our attention to. Whether it's aiming toward playing for the fun of it or gaining a place in an organized group, basic note reading is almost a must unless for some reason that won't work. Beyond that point, four to six weeks, every situation is an individual one. But, whatever it is --
the toothpaste is definitely outta the tube... 
- ron b -
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Author: LiCoRiCeStIcK
Date: 2004-06-13 16:44
Thanks a lot everybody! Its all really good advice. Now to actually carry it out...
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Author: Meri
Date: 2004-06-14 19:36
I like the idea of using a main method book, with some supplementary materials that I get from other books or create myself. I do "skip around", more with some students than with others.
One method that I really like is the Paul Harris Clarinet Method, which I originally used with a student who had visual tracking problems. I was using the Galper Clarinet Method for a while with my younger students, until I got this student with visual tracking problems (she was finding the Galper difficult to read) but tend to now only use it as a supplement and for RCM (Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto) exams. With adult students, my choice of beginner method is Paul Harvey's The Complete Clarinet Player, based on tunes that many adults know.
Meri
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-06-16 02:01
I learned from Lazarus (books 1 to 3) ... they worked fine, really. Actually, now I think I possibly started on Tune a Day (these probably are no longer used because better method books are out there) ... but it was so long ago I can't really remember.
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