 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: CharmOne
Date: 2003-08-25 09:18
On saturday, I came to a music festival (The place where I had my lessons at). However, it was more than to go see the place. You see, I went to the woodwind section and met my clarinet teacher who he was hosting the wind instruments to little kids and he asked me to help out... So I did. I feel glad to help out my teacher teaching little kids how to play a wind instument such as a clarinet, which it was the only instument that I know and was compelled to teach. But, the fact that I enjoyed in teaching little kids and having fun at the same time eventhough they were 5 or 6 years old... My teacher then left me at 2 in the afternoon to go off somewhere important, but I wasn't freaking out for him leaving me early. I was having fun and that was all mattered to me that day. I started from 12 at noon till 4. Sometimes it made me wondered even more when I wanna become a teacher in the future ... What's it like to teach music of your favorite? What Comments, experences, anyone?
Thanks,
CharmOne
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-08-25 10:38
It is like any other job. Some days it is great others it is a pain in the ar*e.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-08-25 15:34
Just remember, that if you become a public school teacher you may be teaching the young through some instruments which are not your favorites.
If you have a passion for teaching, then certainly pursue it ...GBK
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2003-08-26 04:00
I realized between high school and college (where I had initially enrolled as both a MusEd and Performance major) that high-school Band Directorship WAS NOT for me. I didn't wanna sit there every day trying to teach students who were only there because their parents made them or because they wanted to get drunk after the Friday night football game.
So I entered college as a Performance major alone. Long story short, I ended up not trying to get a "real" gig playing, but I play music I love when and where I want to, and I teach PRIVATE lessons. _This_ for me is where teaching is at. I can give every student the attention they deserve rather than having to discipline a whole passel of orn'ry kids. I really really really love teaching one-on-one. Like Mark P. says, some days it isn't the best of fun, but in general, I really am glad I have the opportunity to give these kids the BEST private instruction possible!
Katrina
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-08-26 07:00
I'm a little bit, sorta where Katrina (Hi, Kat! is, CharmOne... maybe. I think... or at least a similar place in the index.
I have one 'student' at the present time. He just turned eleven and has been playing almost ten months. I was at first quite reluctant to accept the responsibility, as I have not taught anyone for a verrry long time.
I'm happy to report that I am pleasantly surprised at how well things are going. He's been playing tunes weekly at a local convalescent facility, sometimes with a piano accompanist, sometimes alone. As soon as he'd learned the C, F and G scale and a few accidentals he started playing to that audience and has been faithfully doing so ever since. Sometimes they sing along, sometimes they just listen. Either way, he plays just for the pleasure of playing. It may be no surprise, at this rate, that he's first chair in our little church orchestra.
He now knows his chromatic scale, alternate fingerings, all majors through four sharps and four flats and we're going through Baerman like nobody's business. He is very self motivated and I'm pretty much there to keep him on track, to give advice on fingering technique, embouchure, proper breathing, etc. He's one of those who, you demonstrate a time or two, explain once or twice and they've got it. A little reminder here and there, and watch 'em take off. If I had the time I'd love to have a dozen more just like him
Experiences like this are as beneficial to the 'teacher' as to the student. Teaching can be one of the most rewarding things you'll ever do. Or, maybe not....
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
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Author: CharmOne
Date: 2003-08-26 19:28
ron b wrote:
"He's one of those who, you demonstrate a time or two, explain once or twice and they've got it."
To tell you the truth, I have played the clarinet 8 months and have a similar story as you've have mention about your student.
CharmOne
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2003-08-26 22:11
Hey Ron! Wassup? 
I have never in umpteen years of private teaching had a student like Ron describes! I've had good students, but the better ones usually come to me a bit further on than 8-10 months.
I dunno...maybe I should push harder?
K.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-08-27 01:36
Well... the thing is, Kat - I DON'T push him. In fact, I started out by insisting that he practice no more than twenty minutes at a time, until his embouchure developed. He's consistently exceeded my recommendation :\ Last week he'd been blowin' for an hour and a half before I showed up. (As long as he's having fun at it, what can I do?) No, I wouldn't push a student either, Kat and I remind myself every time, this is an unusual situation; he pushes himself :|
If you're in this category, CharmOne, well, all I can say is, "If you're having fun, and your chops don't hurt, keep it up ." I would be very interested to hear your story too, CharmOne, if you'd like to share with us.
Maybe you could start a new thread??? Some folks are just naturally more motivated than others.
Kat [ Whazzup?... let's see, (thank you for asking) I'm not finding folks who like to 'jam'. Some moved out of the area, others are too busy - or whatever. So, aside from tootin' a little bit along with my student, I'm not doing much playing lately.
What's going on in your neighborhood? ]
- rn b -
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2003-08-27 04:45
Ron...I should BE so lucky to have a student like that! The ones I have who love to play don't have the raw talent...or the confidence to play the way they can. I've got one kid who plays well with a beautiful sound, but he plays consistently below mf... And he knows it...
Lots of rank beginners right now, too, with school about to start up. Been a busy summer...playing when I can and working part time and trying to hold it alllllll together! (Also getting a divorce, but this is to the good...just makes me more broke! LOL)
Katrina
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Author: CharmOne
Date: 2003-08-27 17:28
ron b wrote:
"If you're having fun, and your chops don't hurt, keep it up"
You know, I had the determination to play the instrument after my father bought the clarinet for me on my birthday and all. With the motivation from old collections of Jazz musicians and my dad, so far I feel being a musician is something I really wanna settle down on.... Not to mention I am going to play through college too.
CharmOne
Thanks,
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-08-27 18:33
I only wish I could be part of the audience when you do, CharmOne. From here it sounds like you have what it takes.
- rn b -
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-08-29 16:22
The great challenge is sustain interest through teaching materials one offers...this is a challenge to any person trying to develop clarinet players and clarinet playing!
David Dow
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Author: Meri
Date: 2003-08-29 20:04
I love teaching my young students, even with students occasionally challenging your ideas; I figure we all have our little quirky habits. I get some great questions too from young students, like one that an 11-year-old student asked me on the fastest note values, and how it is possible to play them. (My reply: the fastest relatively common note value is the 32nd note, though 64th notes are not that rare, but some music prints 128th and 256nd notes, and the reason it is possible to play them that quickly is because most series of fast notes are simple scale or arpeggio patterns, and then showed him a couple of my pieces, just to see if he could recognize the scale or arpeggio pattern. (using scales and arpeggios he already knows, which are now, in two octaves, F, G, A, Bb, C major, A, E, G melodic minor.)
This is one of those students who had a slow start, but now is really flying. I remember how he struggled with embouchure and air for most of the first year (he now has a beautiful sound), and how he struggled with rhythm in 3 years of piano lessons. His rhythm, finger/tongue coordination are all well above average (sight-reading is exceptional for a student his age who has been playing as long as he has, he sight-reads fluently in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4, and to near-fluency in 2/2, 3/2, and 6/8, all note values up to 16ths, eighth note triplets, grace notes, and syncopation. He's also really strong in his understanding of music theory. I have already taught him all the Grade 1 Rudiments, and about 1/2 of the Grade 2. At a recent performance as part of his sister's piano recital, his sister's piano teacher asked me if he was one of my "gifted" students, because of the quality of his playing of the two pieces they were playing together. He has absolutely no resistence to exercises, since somehow he sees the connection between the exercises and the music. I'm waiting to hear the results of his exam about a week ago, but he told me on the phone he's completely confident he did really well, and that the sight-reading was "way too easy." He's in the process of learning his chromatic scale. He didn't have the raw talent (I have a couple who are like that, but they're developing the work ethic), but he had the work ethic. (He is an extremely intelligent 11-year-old) I'm almost finished writing a piece for him, which is a fantasy on the tune "Turkey in the Straw", the only piano tune that he seems to like playing.
I'm very open with my students, and also do duet playing as much as possible.
Meri
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-08-29 20:54
I often marvel at the way we benefit as much, if not more, by being open like that, Meri. I believe students have a lot to teach us, too, if we're 'tuned in' to them. It sounds like you are
- ron -
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Author: allencole
Date: 2003-08-30 08:18
I think that it's particularly pleasant on the clarinet. Logical fingerings at firrst, not too hard to blow, who could ask for more? (as long as the student can seal the holes, of course) You can have a quartet with four instruments of the same size.
It's a terrific beginner's instrument and first-year student can go a very long way. I find that it requires fewer preliminaries than either flute or saxophone.
Allen Cole
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Author: CharmOne
Date: 2003-08-30 09:03
To allencole:
What do you mean "It requires fewer preliminaries than either flute or saxophone."
To Meri:
Your story seem to reminded me of my first music teacher who she loved to teach kids, which she also helped brought my clarinet skills to the point where I'm considered as intermediate at the time. But sadly, after hearing the Seattle news about "school buget cuts" she left my High school to teach music at a Middle School instead. Knowing her for several months was something I wouldn't forget. Every time I ask for lessons or help on something I don't get she's finds time for me and never looks back to say "no".
Thanks,
CharmOne
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Author: allencole
Date: 2003-08-31 05:42
The clarinet has the advantage of over an octave of strong range in the lower register with practically no fingering or blowing complications. If a student's fingers seal the holes okay, and there isn't an inordinate amount of problem making a first sound, a kid can leave the first lesson with a major scale under his/her fingers, and playing a song like Joy to the World or The First Noel. It is not hard to have a beginner playing songs of this complexity in F, G and B-flat in just a few weeks, even if they have difficulty crossing the break.
Contrast with the flute. Its most logical scale is the C scale, but it's impractical in the bottom octave in terms of blowing. Other scales of any ease at all tend to cross the octave break making fingering less logical for a beginner. At best, a flute player might play Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle Twinkle, or at best My Country Tis of Thee. Full scales in flat keys require some fingering practice. I generally combat this with 5 'quick start' exercises which are played over a couple of weeks. Embouchure endurance is also more of an issue.
Sax is easier IMO to begin fingering than flute, but the variations in blowing resistance really throw in a monkey wrench. Most of the easier-blowing scales cross the break, and thus have less obvious logic for the rank beginner. The biggest drawback that I see, though, is its image and the expectations it generates. Clarinet players have few expectations and can be made to pleasantly surprise themselves. Sax players often have great expectations, and it can be hard to keep these intact while players are trying to tame it physically.
Barring any difficulties in covering the holes, I can have clarinet players playing and transposing substantial songs in the same amount of time that I need to get flutes and saxophones playing those songs at all. Clarinet combines three elements that are hard to beat:
1 - A fundamental scale (Low F) that's even easier and more logical than the recorder
2 - Even blowing resistance and--barring squeaks--a fairly mellow sound
3 - A lack of Kenny G. type expecations in most beginners.
Allen Cole
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