 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: starlight
Date: 2005-03-17 15:13
i've recently entered a music festival too, and didn't do so well. I merely got a merit (80/100). The highest mark was (89/100).
I've played the clarinet since i was in grade seven, and have simply took band classes at school up until now (i am 12th grade now). I've never had a single private lesson in my life, although other people in my class have. I gave it all that i got in the festival, but sometimes i can't help but feel disappointed. I guess competition is only fun if you win.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-03-17 15:21
Look at it as a stepping stone. You hit a lot of good experiences. Audition experience, performance where it REALLY COUNTS experience, a good competition experience (where you were up against other players who have practice to do well in that same competition and everyone there tried hard to do their best . . . which as you know is not always the case in a high school band)
So good luck on the next try.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: msloss
Date: 2005-03-17 15:48
I know this is going to sound a little harsh, but you did reasonably well given the lack of investment in your playing. I am sure you must have gleaned by now from this board that private instruction is essential to becoming one of the leading players out there. It cannot be learned from a textbook, nor in a classroom from a band director, even if he is a clarinetist himself. A runner who only runs 6km a day can't expect to win a marathon because he really wants to. It takes training and conditioning and this is no different.
If this is something that is really important to you and a skill you want to develop, make the investment in yourself and truly develop your playing. Sounds like you've done a lot with a little, so think of what your potential could be.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2005-03-17 17:57
Starlight,
I'm not sure why you are ranting? Was it because you have not taken lessons and now know that that is a integral part of developing your ability on the clarinet beyond just band class? Did you feel that the judging was not impartial or was biased in some way?
Plese help me to better understand the reason(s) for "just ranting."
HRL
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Author: BobD
Date: 2005-03-17 22:33
Quit crying........and get to work.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Contra
Date: 2005-03-17 23:35
Well, I never had private instruction and I can play well. It's amazing what you can do on soprano clarinet after you spend three years on contrabass.
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2005-03-17 23:55
All of my early years I taught myself. After several years of private instruction and now teaching, I can see the huge gaps that were left from not having programmed instruction early on. There's no substitute for taking the lessons that cover all the bases and progressively bring up your skills. Now I'm understanding why some of my marks were lower than I thought they should have been.
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Author: starlight
Date: 2005-03-18 11:54
The judging was fair, just that perhaps nowI regret of not having pushed myself as hard as I could have. My band teacher has told me it's really a waste for me to not have any private instruction, but then my parents were against me to do have anything to do with music. They think music is a waste of time, and insist me on only focusing on my academics. They were even against me in joining the school basketball team or soccer team. If I had persuaded them harder back then, perhaps I would get my private lessons. But living in Asia, it's hard with conservative parents.
I don't know. Sometimes I just wonder what if.... Lots of kids in my school take private lessons, but nonetheless I sit first chair in band and play first clarinet in honor band. Sometimes I feel deprived, but I know it's my own fault that I didn't push hard enough.
Thanks for all the replies
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Author: sinkdraiN
Date: 2005-03-18 13:05
The festival is making you reflect on your playing....sounds like a success story to me!
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2005-03-18 14:01
Starlight --
Your situation vis-a-vis your parents sounds remarkably similar to what I encountered with my parents when I was younger.
From as early as I can remember, I wanted to be a musician. (Perhaps it is more accurate to say, I *was* a musician, I just wanted to become a more skilled musician.) I wanted a piano like some kids want a pony -- and with just about as much chance of getting one (which is to say, none).
I'm a mature adult (aka "old lady") now, but I'd have to say that the frustration of *not* being able to develop the gifts that I obviously had became the fundamental psychological truth of my life, and has colored everything else that I have done.
I would just say this to you: hold onto your dream; believe in yourself. You parents are not always right, but they *are* your parents, and you will have to do things their way for a while. Do what you can now, strive to create an independent life for yourself, and later on, when you have the ability and means to make your own decisions, follow your heart.
It took me many (too many) years to realize that I did not have to be a slave to my parents' (limited) vision once I was no longer a child. Although it seemed a personal tragedy for me to be denied the the tools to follow path that I most coveted (tools which were, indeed, available), the greater tragedy was that, once I was out of their household, I still behaved as if I were their beholden child. I was in my mid-thirties before it truly dawned on me that if music was what I wanted to do, I was indeed free to make that choice and do it.
I did make that choice, as an adult. In bits and pieces, I went to music school; from my early forties, I worked professionally as a musician, am still doing so, and have not regretted this choice for one moment. I regret only that I could not figure it out sooner.
Best wishes to you -- there *IS* life after high school.
Susan
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Author: William
Date: 2005-03-18 14:30
You wrote, "I guess competition is only fun if you win."
So, why not go out and get some (presumably badly needed) private lessons from a qualified clarinetist-teacher, and start having some fun? You seem to have the desire--all you probably need is some good direction. Sounds like the obvious plan to me.............
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Author: ken
Date: 2005-03-18 14:49
starlight wrote:, "I gave it all that i got in the festival, but sometimes i can't help but feel disappointed."
--I wonder what positive, or motivational influence you provided to the players who received lower marks then you? v/r Ken
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Author: starlight
Date: 2005-03-19 15:42
Susan,
I've mentioned about going for a music major in grade 9 or so - the expressions and responses I got from my parents were terrifying. It's too late now to prepare for a music degree, so I must at least wait for four years before I get to pursue my music interest.
And in Hong Kong especially ( I live there), kids generally don't work in part-time jobs like most North American kids do. If I did want private lessons, I don't think I'd be able to afford it.
I used to live in Canada, in Vancouver for about 5 years, and moved back to Hong Kong and have attended an international school ever since. Just thought I'd give more information about myself.
cherrie
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2005-03-19 18:10
Cherrie --
I am sure that right now, four years seems like an eternity. But let me assure you, these next four years will go by very, very quickly for you. And wherever you are today, and whatever you are doing, thinking, feeling, etc., today will most likely change considerably in four years' time. It's just the way of things. You are growing up. As you move out into the world, you will begin to see lots of things in a different light. Trust me about this.
It would probably make things easier for us if our parents could see their way clear to being totally supportive of the professions to which we ourselves feel called. I desperately wanted my parents to acknowledge my musical gifts and encourage me in them. But they never did. In fact, they were actively hostile to the idea. And yours may not ever come around to your way of seeing things, either.
So the question is, what do you do about that? The short answer is, you stop fighting your parents, and use that energy to start developing yourself. The struggle to be who you are is not ultimately a fight between you and your parents; the struggle is, and will always be, within yourself (and the older you get, the truer this will become).
I suspect that your parents, like mine, think they have your best interests at heart. At the very least, I am sure they want good things for you and your life, and they believe, at this point, that they have a better perspective than you do for making the judgments that will lead you to a good life.
For now, you may indeed have to do what they want you to do. And you *cannot* count on them ever to affirm your identity as a musician; if you want that identity, it is something that you will have claim for yourself. So, play your clarinet, learn and do what you can about music when and where you can, and work towards the day -- not as far off as it may seem to you right now -- when you are an independent adult and can make your own decisions.
However, if you want to be able to do things your own way, it does mean that you must be to be able to take care of yourself financially! If independent decision-making is your dream, I would encourage you to start planning *today* as to what you can do to gradually bring it about over the next four years, or even eight years.
Best wishes to you. Keep playing.
Susan
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