 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2004-07-15 01:08
Out of curiosity, because I've only been playing for a year, I'm wondering how my progress matches up to most of y'alls after a year. I don't really go by levels, but I'm going into 10th now, and we were playing grade 4 music, which I could play fairly easily, but now moving on to grade 5, which I pretend to play... So, I guess you could say after a year I'm in between grades 4 and 5... If you're not familiar with the "grades" then just name some pieces you've played in your first year... I'm now working on some Rose etudes, and that's where I'm at now... thanks
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Author: Elizabeth
Date: 2004-07-15 02:09
I started playing in sixth grade, and I started Rose Etudes in eighth grade. I then started Cavallini Caprices in Ninth. Now, in tenth, the books are still with me and I'm playing em' (certainly not for pleasure : )).
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Author: ron b
Date: 2004-07-15 07:16
Such a long time ago you ask about, Li'l Clarinet Girl, it's hard to remember. I'm pretty old now. As near as I can figure, after about a month I was playing in 'orchestra' in, maybe 4th but definitely 5th grade. America The Beautiful and Onward Christian Soldiers was a monumental challenge for us.
A few months later I sorta remember playing popular tunes off sheet music and duets with friends. I think I was still playing Rubank's studies, first book, doing so-so with it and looking at Lazarus's studies. I don't know how far I got with Lazarus but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I'd memorized a couple of scales but I don't remember now which ones. That first year was altogether a trial and a very real pleasure.
Little did I know at the time that music would open the way to experiences and travels most people only imagine. I hope you stay with it, Clarinet Girl, music is wondermus.
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2004-07-15 08:05
Don't worry... I love the clarinet, and music in general, and don't intend to give up in the least bit... You started off really really young, wow! I was just wondering because most kids my age have already been playing since 6th grade when I've just started... It's quite an adventure though, I look foward to it... thanks for caring...
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Author: mags
Date: 2004-07-15 08:37
I am 46 and I haven't played a year yet....maybe about 9 months. I don't know any of the pieces mentioned and I don't have any grades...I just go to a private teacher once a fortnight. I can only tell you I am doing the high A,B and C in the high register.....which I am stuck on. I like to come in here to read the boards....but I really haven't a clue what most people are on about.....even the schoolkids! ...However.....grades or not....I am still 'chuffed to Naafi breaks' that I have got this far...I am a changed woman.....All the very best, Margaret x
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Author: Bani
Date: 2004-07-15 09:46
Hi Mags,
You sound just like me. In my case, I only started taking private lessons last October and did it for until January when a bad cold forced me to give up practicing entirely for several weeks. My work schedule no longer permits me to take lessons but I've been practicing on my own as often as time permits, usually 4 - 5 times a week for 30-60 minutes each. Now I can play some Disney solos but I'm not sure if I'm doing everything correctly.
All the best to all of you.
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Author: Pam H.
Date: 2004-07-15 11:37
I was still pretty horrible as a player after my first year, but that was ages ago. I started in 5th grade and this year I'm out of high school 25 years. I stuck with it though through school and improved quite a bit.
I took about 20 years off of playing and started again with private lessons at the end of 1999. I have improved quite a bit and play in my church orchestra now. I'm enjoying tooting again and will probably never quit.
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2004-07-15 13:37
Started in 7th grade but had a year of practice on the recorder, so the similar fingerings gave me a leg up. Breezed through the Nilo Hovey beginner method and the junior high repertoire but didn't start any real method stuff until high school. By 9th grade I was into Klose and a few Rose studies, where most of our district, region, area and state tryout stuff came from.
Now at age 37, I could probably stand to go over that Nilo Hovey book again...y
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2004-07-15 14:47
Hi,
I, like BobD, was in the last row of the school band after one year. Carl LaMarca, an accordian player to boot, and I fought hard to win last chair. It looked like I would not make the HS band.
Then my mother called Mr. Montgomery (my 7th grade band director) and he got me started on alto sax. I played through the whole elementary method book in a few weeks. There was no turning back, I was totally hooked on sax and my folks bought me a Holton Collegiate tenor sax. In the following three years I moved to a Martin Tenor, then a Selmer Paris, and was first chair at Interlochen and bound for a career as a school music teacher and many, many years of professional woodwind playing.
If Carl could only hear me on clarinet now! ![[up]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley24.gif)
HRL
Post Edited (2004-07-15 16:03)
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-07-15 14:50
In my second year of playing I was performing the Nielsen Concerto from memory at Carnegie Hall with the NYP backing me up, but in the years since my playing has deteriorated to where I'm now performing "Frere Jacques" (key of concert Bb only) off the sheet music, in my bathroom with the door closed.
![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif)
just kidding
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Author: mags
Date: 2004-07-15 15:23
David, that really made me laugh....I feel better now...Mgtx
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Author: Camanda
Date: 2004-07-15 19:11
I had a solo in my first year. I played Au Claire de la Lune by myself, all eight bars. :D I had a break from performance, though, for two years between elementary and high school, and when I came back for ninth grade, I had to fake my way through most of Variations on a Korean Folk Song (grade 5) -- the second and fourth sections, really; I did fine on the rest. The hardest song I could play well that year was Stamp's Chorale Prelude: Be Thou My Vision. I'd say Americans We, but I was playing a second cornet part, so that's not exactly the same as the solo/1st clarinet part I had to teach myself in a week as a junior.
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2004-07-15 20:01
I also had to fake my way through variation on a korean folk song... I could play it, but it was uneven and yucky... I was playin' second clarinet... Anyone wanna join the NPA with me, National Posers of America... hahaha... Well I'm one of them sometimes, but I try... lol...
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Author: leonardA
Date: 2004-07-16 00:59
I've been playing about a year and a half and it's been up and down. See my post on the board called "inconsistent progress." Still, I'm pleased with my overall progress. I seldom have any problem crossing the break and I don't squeak nearly as often as I used to. Even played a simple clarinet solo recently when I played in the show orchestra for a play. I play sax also, and progress on the clarinet is much slower for me than sax. I plan to just keep going and sort of evaluate myself in six month intervals. Good luck and don't give up. Sounds like you're making fine progress.
Leonard
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Author: claclaws
Date: 2004-07-16 02:14
This month of July marks the 1st anniversary of my serious clarinet playing. Last year I mainly revisited Langenus I, but didn't fully cover the book. September last year I took private lesson with my current teacher, and we work on Langenus II . Several concerto excerpts and solo pieces were dealt with as well.
I try to practice about an hour day, except weekends. Perform once a month at church. I also joined/formed two small amateur string-woodwind ensembles.. So clarinet made my schedule quite packed after only a year!
Lucy Lee Jang
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-07-16 14:07
David....but...where were you after the first year?
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-07-16 14:59
BobD,
All seriousness aside for a moment.....I started playing clarinet in the fifth grade on my brother's hand-me-down plastic Vito, taking group lessons in the public school which continued on into the 6th grade (my second year, at which point I wasn't playing the Nielsen concerto, I can assure you!). Starting taking private lessons the following (3rd) year in 7th grade, continued lessons on Bb clarinet for about the next 4 years, then 'broke free' and for various reasons haven't taken a lesson since --- I'll bet I could use a few....I'm basically self-taught on bass clarinet and all the saxophones and flute (and probably thoroughly screwed-up on all of them).
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2004-07-16 18:10
Second/Third (concert/marching) chair in high school, with a decidedly obnoxious "Look at me, I can play the notes!" sound. Granted, I'd been playing flute 7 years before that.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: kdennyclarinet
Date: 2004-07-17 03:06
I began playing the clarinet at the end of my 10th grade year. I was in choir at the time, and got to know the band director because we used the same rehearsal room. I found an old Bundy in my grandma's closet and brought it to school. When I asked the director if I could play it in band, he shook his head a chuckled. When I told him how serious I was about it, he gave in and allowed me to come in during his planning period for some individual help on getting started. I got through the beginning method book in about 2 weeks then started on book two and sailed through it too. I don't think there is anything wrong with getting a late start. Honestly, if I had started in 5th grade, I probably would have been bored and would have quit. Knowing that I had to play "catch up" was a great motivator for me, and I loved the competition! After a couple of months, he put me in the band playing the contra bass "monster" which I actually grew fond of. I still have a love for the lower clarinets anyway (yeah! Lowenstern!). That summer, I took lessons and practiced hours on end. By the time the fall came around, I tried out on Bb clarinet and was 2nd chair! I couldn't believe it! Everyone else had let their clarinets collect dust over the summer while I was working hard (typical). I kept progressing and wound up 1st chair by the end of my 11th grade year. Lots that happened in the span of a year. I loved it! I went on to college to major in music ed then just recently finished my masters in performance. Now I'm a band teacher, performer, and composer. Who knew? I'm just glad that old band director of mine didn't turn his back on me!
Best of luck to you!
K. Denny
BME, MM, DMA
Post Edited (2004-07-17 03:07)
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Author: kdennyclarinet
Date: 2004-07-17 13:35
Well, I'm just now getting my name out there. One of my clarinet quartets was premiered this summer at the OU Clarinet Symposium. That was a big thrill for me! It sounds like you have moved far within a year too. The best thing you can do for your progress is to just never "settle" at a particular level/grade of music based on where "other people" say they were at the same time. Always push yourself. You are your own competition. Plus, you want to avoid using the starting late thing as an excuse.
All the best,
K. Denny
BME, MM, DMA
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Author: BassClarinetGurl
Date: 2004-07-19 00:10
I was on Bass Clarinet....haha...but you already knew that !!!
:)psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't ask) wrote:
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Author: presto214
Date: 2004-07-20 01:27
I started in the sixth grade and my mom was smart enough to give me private lessons at my local music store. I quit the lessons after about 2 months. and after the 6th grade I (and the rest of the 6th grade band) had played through each agonizing exorcise of the Famed "standard of excellence" red book. Now that I think back, I ask myself why on earth did I Quit private lessons. All through middle school I didn't care and then started taking private lessons again in the 9th grade. I started getting serious then and I was way far behind where I coulc've been if I didn't quit back in the 6th grade. But now im an upcoming high school senior. I've played through the rubank, developing clarinetist, rose 32, the Voxman studies, and im not working through the Rose 40 studies and working on the Saint-Saens Sonata. The last movement is VERY challenging. Oh, and I'm also unsucessfully teachimg myself how to finish reeds with the ATG lol.
AAHHH!
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Author: Camanda
Date: 2004-07-20 01:54
> Famed "standard of excellence" red book
Oh, dear, that was one we had to do in fifth grade. In sixth grade, we switched to Accent on Achievement, which had almost all the same songs in it.
Amanda Cournoyer
URI Clarinet Ensemble, Bass Clarinet
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-07-20 14:42
I learned from the "Flair for Flatulence" method book....maybe that's part of my current problem..........
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Author: SGTClarinet_7
Date: 2004-07-20 15:16
I started in 7th grade and that was around 1987. I don't remember much from 8th grade except playing Praises by McBeth/Hummingtune and Frolic/Air For Winds/and anything from Quincy Hilliard, as he was a great friend of my directors. My freshman year though, I was thrown into the lead chair about a week and a half before festival. We were playing Incantation and Dance, and to a young clarinettist it is a difficult part. I've since graduated to playing in Marine Corps and Army bands for the past twelve years, so I like to think I learned a little bit about the clarinet. 
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2004-07-21 14:29
I'm surprised to read how many folks on this list started playing at a (relatively) late age.
I also started (using the Belwin Band Builder, if memory serves) in the 7th grade, in a school system in which most children started instruments in the 4th or 5th grade. Considering the social dynamics of Jr. Hi, this was a cause for almost terminal embarrassment to me. Not only was I the oldest kid in the beginner band, I also had, hands down, the UGLIEST horn in the whole school -- a very vintage used metal jobbie that my folks got from God-knows-where. All the other (4th and 5th grade) kids had these neat black Bundys and Evettes that broke into cute little pieces and fit into clever little square-ish cases. My case looked like it should have held a pool cue. ![[huh]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie11.gif)
One good thing about having the metal clarinet, though, was that it was sturdy enough to survive my holding it by the throat and beating it into my bed when it wouldn't stop squeaking. Try that with your average Bundy! Bad clarinet! Bad! Bad! ![[mad]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie9.gif)
After a year's playing, I was a second in a sizeable (150 piece) auditioned all-county youth band that played parades and ice cream socials around the area. By the next summer, I was first chair first in that band, due largely to the fact that I knew the altissimo fingerings and could more often than not force out the right notes at the right time on "Men of Ohio".
Rose Etudes, Psycho?!?!?!? You're way ahead of the game . . .
You go, girl!
Susan
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Author: Meri
Date: 2004-07-22 00:33
Odd, two "mary's" in a row right next to each other (but spelled differently)...
After my first year, I knew barely an octave of notes, thought the pace of the school program was way too slow, missed so many classes due to other school functions. (obviously music was not a high priority at this school) Fortunately was transfered to a school with a strong program in Grade 8.
Meri
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Author: Rachel
Date: 2004-07-23 02:39
As far as I remember... Best in Class, book 1. Although I might have gone on to book 2 by then. Also, I had just composed my first piece of music.
Psychotic- I have to ask- WHY do you call yoursef Psychotic lil clarinet girl?
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2004-07-23 04:27
hehe... First of all, it describes me to a T... I over practice a lot... So I consider myself psychotic... Although I'm sure there are other psychos out there that practice as much as I do... But usually kids my age aren't practicing nearly as much as I am, but instead having a life... Which sadly, my life is clarinet, not that there's anything wrong with that... I just need a little more of a life... While other kids are talking I'm practicing, and I've called myself a psycho ever since... haha... oh well...
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2004-07-23 16:28
<<But usually kids my age aren't practicing nearly as much as I am, but instead having a life... Which sadly, my life is clarinet, not that there's anything wrong with that... I just need a little more of a life... While other kids are talking I'm practicing, . . .>>
Well, it's nice to have adequate social skills, which you probably don't develop sitting around practicing all by yourself.
On the other hand, if there is ONE message that I would want to impart to teens and young adults, it is that THERE IS LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL! Right now, you have a golden opportunity to develop technical skills in music that will likely serve you well all your days -- and this is the right time to be doing that. Take care of business. There will be plenty of time over the years for chatting and hanging out. Trust me on this one.
Susan
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2004-07-23 18:04
I'm really not developing social skills... haha... I have none... Homeschooling did that to me... But how do you balance clarinetting and having a social life... because for me it's usually one or the other...
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Author: kdennyclarinet
Date: 2004-07-23 22:51
Do your clarinetting with other clarinetters! Form a quartet! Practice together then go out for coffee or something! Was a great solution for me and made some close friends!
K. Denny
BME, MM, DMA
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2004-07-23 23:16
That's a good idea... Half my section doesn't really care though, and probably won't want to because I'm a lower classman.... The other half I might be able to persuade... Good idea... I'll try that when school starts up...
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Author: Rachel
Date: 2004-07-24 01:52
I wish I'd had your attitude at your age, psycho.... I hardly did any practice in my early high school years and in primary school. It comes of being one of the few talented students in a school where most of the musicians were hopeless- when everyone is telling you how good you are, you think you don't need to practice.
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Author: psychotic lil clarinet girl (don't as
Date: 2004-07-24 02:19
True... I'd rather ppl tell me "you suck" rather than " You're the best", so that I can prove them wrong... I think it's called reverse psychology... It only works on me, when I know someone sincerely thinks I suck... Or if someone is better than me and they brag about, that drives me to want to be better than they are... Although the occasional "that's good, you're doing really well, or WOW" is nice I'd rather people tell me what I'm doing wrong so that I can fix it... Or tell me I can't do something, because I just love proving people wrong... I love the whole reverse psychology thing, haha especially when I don't realize someone's using it...
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Author: kdennyclarinet
Date: 2004-07-24 04:00
That reverse psychology was the name of my game with my situation. The more you write, the more you sound like I was! Nothing can stop you! You can laugh (on the inside) when you kick all their butts later!
ha ha
K. Denny
BME, MM, DMA
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2004-07-24 12:52
Dear boys & girls,
If you want to talk about how to accomplish a particular thing, like getting to "all-state" or whatever, be my guest.
If you want to act like children and talk about "psych-out" or bragging about how good you are or might be, please find somewhere else.
Nothing good ever comes about by telling people that they're not good or saying how good you are. All you can do is play the best you can, and the human thing to do is encourage everyone else to do the same thing.
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Author: kdennyclarinet
Date: 2004-07-24 15:23
My previous comment was completely sarcastic. I don't think that the thread is intending to encourage negativity, Mark.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2004-07-24 16:14
The comments weren't directed especially at you; they were in general and applicable to any thread.
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Author: bill28099
Date: 2004-07-26 02:54
OK, now that we are back on topic I'll add my two cents worth. Started the clarinet in June of 1952 (I was 9 years old) and used Lazarus (Bellison) part I and Paris Daily Exercises and Scales. It took me two years to get through Lazarus I. From what I can sort out from the teacher's annotations in my books on June 6, 1953 I was doing page 15 of Paris and pages 86 & 104 of Lazarus. I suppose we had a band in grade school but I don't remember.
Oh yes, lessons were one hour and they were $2.25 each. Played on a tin clarinet that cost my folks $40.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
Post Edited (2004-07-26 03:11)
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