Author: Ted
Date: 2003-03-30 14:38
This is a difficult subject, as there are as many answers as there are people. I've been a teacher for many, many years and I've seen mixed results with kids starting young, on any instrument. In our modern society we seem to think that if we throw everything at our children they will be enriched, gifted and talented. It doesn't always work that way. Many kids will buckle and flounder from , what seems to them to be, an enormous learning curve and pressure. Some kids take to it readily and easily. It depends on the kid and how it's handled at home. Some kids are late bloomers and florish in there own time, I myself was in this category. That being said, ten is the start of a good age for clarinet, IMHO, if the child has reached some maturity in physical develpopment, meaning hands strong enough to hold the instrument for some duration, fingers to curve and cover holes, enough breath to regulate and control tone, teeth developed enough to form embouchure (teeth don't have to be perfect as they are always moving and changing anyway). I don't mean to sound dogmatic, all this is just a sugestion. I've started kids on instruments (at their and their parents insistence) that I thought they weren't physically ready for and, most times, it didn't work out, but there have been exceptions. Some old Italian clarinettists have told me that they started out on Eb clarinet , as it is smaller, and it worked out great. Good luck - TD
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The Clarinet BBoard
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