 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Robert Moody
Date: 2005-04-22 02:52
Okay, even as adults (some of us are...) this kind of debate comes up from time to time. Let me see if I can represent the sides correctly here...and I AM trying to be fair here:
Brass side: After going to Basic Training for nine weeks without touching your instrument, it is more difficult for a trumpet or trombone to get their chops back than for a clarinet player (chops being things dealing with sound production).
[This is in reference to going to the school of music in the military after basic training and then having to try and practice three to five hours a day in order to reach a 3.0 or higher grade (out of 4) in order to progress out of the school very quickly.
My side [yes, it was me against the brass...big mismatch!...for them ]: Both instrumentalists have real issues dealing with endurance and pain when being stuck in that situation. One really is not worse than the other...just different.
[My argument being that the 3.0 level is supposed to represent "professional" level playing and that to get a good sound on both type of instruments takes a lot of muscular control and the pain and suffering, while different, is very real on both sets of lips.
A secondary argument from this "dialogue" was that it is easier for brand new players (any age) to get good results on the clarinet than on the trumpet or trombone. Again, we are referring to sound production, not fingering, slides, etc.
My argument was conditioned on that while a clarinetist may be able to immediately produce more notes as a part of the nature of the instrument (i.e. more notes speak from a basic embouchure able to produce a sound), the quality and real productivity of that sound is very similar to the brass instruments. A clarinetist plays five or six notes simply by adding fingers down and a brass player needs to know the finger patterns to get that many notes out. If the new trumpet player knew the correct fingerings, they too would be able to produce probably just as many notes with the sound producing mechanism they start with. [We are both referring to the average beginner.]
A specific point was that after one class of introduction to playing the trumpet, most students, I believe, can buzz a note, stop, reset and buzz a note one octave away (given they understand cognitively, they could reproduce physically). This does not mean second line G to top of the staff G. But getting out a C below the staff, reset and play a C in the third space.
With that example...all I would get from the brass players is shaking heads and chagrin for me on the faces. My problem in accepting their opinions is that I've done it with middle school kids so I know for a fact, from direct experience, that they can...if they understand what is changing to make the pitch change.
In any case, I am interested in hearing from you individuals who have experienced both sides of the brass/woodwind issue. As for my ability on the trumpet, I can play two plus octaves from low G to C above the staff, slurred, without resetting my lips (I know the Trumpet chromatic scale fingerings well).
Go ahead...shoot.
Robert Moody
http://www.musix4me.com
Free Clarinet Lessons and Digital Library!
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Author: Contra
Date: 2005-04-22 05:26
I wrote a 1000 word essay on the difference between woodwinds and brass. That being said, this trombone is just sitting there, not getting used.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-04-22 14:03
Army Basic (before the West Point Band) was hell on my clarinet playing. At least at that time, you had to go through the "monkey bars" before each meal and formation -- swinging from one bar to the next through, I think 15 of them, hanging by one arm and hand half the time. My hands were bloody at first, and then developed huge calluses. What I gained in strength I lost in flexibility.
Fortunately, by passing the audition for West Point, I got to skip musical Advanced Training, then held in Washington at what was known as the Navy School. It was infamous as a place where people who had absolute control over your life were SERIOUSLY interested in how shiny your shoes were, but knew and cared very little about music.
When I got to WP, it took me over a month of solid practicing to get back my facility and endurance on clarinet.
Ken Shaw
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-04-22 14:49
All in all, I agree with the first part of what you wrote, Robert, however I disagree on the second . . . Quote:
A secondary argument from this "dialogue" was that it is easier for brand new players (any age) to get good results on the clarinet than on the trumpet or trombone. Again, we are referring to sound production, not fingering, slides, etc. If we're talking about sound production (quality of sound), I think that it's much easier to get a better quality, overall more pleasing sound out of a brass instrument than a woodwind. Granted there are tons of variables that we're putting aside, but all other things being equal, I believe that a brand new player would produce on a brass instrument a much more acceptable and pleasing tone than a brand new player would on a woodwind instrument.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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