 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mike Hancock
Date: 2000-02-24 02:31
I am over 60, have been playing clarinet "off and on" since grade school, and just started taking private lessons. My teacher is contemporary in age. In my last lesson, my fingers wouldn't do what they had been doing successfully during my practice sessions. I felt bad about that and even felt that maybe my teacher would think I had not been practicing enough. Has anyone else had an experience like this? If so, what do you recommend? Will this get better with time? I don't believe I felt particularly nervous or that I lacked confidence in my ability.....it is just that my fingers went elsewhere. And I should admit that this was only my third lesson.
Thanks for your thoughts......
Mike Hancock
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-02-24 02:45
Mike Hancock wrote:
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In my last lesson, my fingers wouldn't do what they had been doing successfully during my practice sessions. I felt bad about that and even felt that maybe my teacher would think I had not been practicing enough. Has anyone else had an experience like this?
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LOL! I think <i>all</i> of us have had this experience. There's the tension and nerves that come with performing for someone, especially someone whose real purpose is to listen, critique, and suggest improvements.
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If so, what do you recommend? Will this get better with time? I don't believe I felt particularly nervous or that I lacked confidence in my ability.
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It got better for me and just about everyone I know (I've only been playing for a few years - started at 43). There's always some tension when I play for my teacher - more so than when I play for a recital.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-02-24 03:18
I agree with Mark. This happens from time to time. I had a little Eb clarinet solo part down pat. But in the concert, while I didn't exactly blow it, it wasn't nearly as crisp and precise as I had played it in rehearsal yet I didn't feel nervous. So even when you think you are calm, there's another part of you that isn't.
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Author: ron
Date: 2000-02-24 06:26
Hi, Mike -
As one contemporary to another (I'm over 60) - I don't know anyone who ever got as hot as they thought they were going to. No matter how good you get you'll always find a way to improve. Your teacher is now, musically speaking, your worst critic and possibly your best friend. It may take more than a few lessons to feel comfortable in a teacher/student situation but it'll get there. Maybe you're trying to push yourself too much.
The best advice I had from a teacher was the hardest to achieve: Relax. If you're not having fun playing... well, what's the point? I think you must enjoy the horn, Mike, or you wouldn't have kept coming back to it. That's 90% of it - the desire and love of playing. You have that.
I also think you're much better than you give yourself credit for.
ron
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Author: Katherine Pincock
Date: 2000-02-24 12:04
All the tips above are great; this is definitely something that happens to everybody. I'm in a performance program at university, and I've heard it happen to all the students and all the teachers here. Some days you may be nervous/excited about playing for your teacher, other days, for whatever reason, the fingers don't work as smoothly--I know mine don't when it's cold and humid. In any case, it's nothing to worry about as long as it stays occasional. If it starts happening more frequently, discuss it with your teacher--you may be tensing a muscle that interferes with your fingers. There are also some good books about performance anxiety out there, that give various techniques for dealing with nerves. Heck, there's even one called But I Played it Perfectly in the Practice Room! ;-) Hope this helps.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-02-24 14:36
I agree the advice is very good. I'm well over 60 [add 20!] and have finger cramps or "stiffness" at times, principally in the index fingers, RT in particular, when playing extended bass parts. I find that short breaks with finger shaking is helpful, I'm just glad arthuritis doesn't visit me more frequently!!! Don
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-02-24 17:07
I don't think this is an age-related problem. It's just -- human nature-related. The same thing happened to me as a child, when I started piano lessons with a professional teacher outside my family for the first time. I'm now 51 and this "left it behind in the practice room" scenario has happened to me again, off and on, in different circumstances throughout the years. My husband, an amateur violinist, has been through the same thing. Seems to me I;ve had this conversation with just about every musician I've ever known! Mistakes seem more important (and louder...) when we're very aware of playing for someone else, who's present not just to listen but to criticize. Teachers understand about this sort of thing. A good teacher knows that you probably play better in private, because the teacher has gone through the same experience and has probably heard nearly all of his or her students describe it, too. The advice other people have given looks sensible to me.
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Author: John Scorgie
Date: 2000-02-24 17:28
Mike --
All of the above advice is good, but let me mention the possibility that much of your problem may stem from physical factors. As you know, at our age we experience various problems associated with the aging process, including some diminution in fine motor skills such as fingering a clarinet. In the case of the top pros, this loss is compensated by knowledge, experience and "muscle memory". The rest of us have to do the best we can. If you are able to locate a GOOD physical therapist in your area, the PT can recommend an exercise program which will improve your finger control. Once that is done, you can work on all those other problems which result in our mind going one way while our fingers go somewhere else.
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Author: Mike Hancock
Date: 2000-02-24 17:35
I'd like to take an opportunity to thank everyone for the advice and constructive comments. I have been quietly following discussions here for a long time and have not previously seen a discussion of my recent difficulties. I hope your comments will also be beneficial to other readers.
And I am having fun......
Thanks, again,
Mike Hancock
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-02-25 04:01
It took me around two years to become stable in front of my teacher. It will take time for you too, maybe not two years, but just relax and remember that the teacher isn't there to yell at you when you make a mistake, only help you get better. I hated getting criticized by my teacher in some ways, even almost cried at a lesson once. Try to stay calm during a lesson and do your very best. All a teacher wants is practice, practice, practice! Mistakes can be corrected, but mistakes from not practicing...
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Author: jack
Date: 2000-02-25 20:47
Mike, and all, this is a topic all of us need to consider. My problem is with the right thumb. My new Yamaha has an adjustable rest with a big, fat rubber cap on it, but after about 20 minutes, the thumb muscle cramps. I am 52, and don't remember this when I was younger. Any comments? Does anyone use a strap?
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-02-25 21:20
I use a neckstrap whenever my arm, hand or thumb start to get tired. As an engineer, I can say that the thumb is *not* a good design to support a clarinet.
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Author: Shadow Cat
Date: 2000-02-26 14:30
Dee wrote:
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I use a neckstrap whenever my arm, hand or thumb start to get tired. As an engineer, I can say that the thumb is *not* a good design to support a clarinet.
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This is the Chief Engineer's way of telling humans that you shouldn't be playing clarinets. I'm making my stupid pet human type this, to say that since those weird-looking thumbs do give you humans a powerful grip, the least you can do is buy neckstraps and use them to swing the nasty clarinets really hard against the wall. Then they won't hurt your thumbs any more and, more importantly, cats will like you better. That's what I think.
Shadow Cat
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Author: Jerry K.
Date: 2000-02-26 15:23
jack wrote:
. . . but after about 20 minutes, the thumb muscle cramps.
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Welcome to the club, jack. See above, under "Kooiman Thumb Rest," where I just left a long post about my experiences. (I'm 52.) And Mike, I seem to remember my fingers moving a lot better and faster 35 years ago in high school. Trust me, you don't want to hear my trill from D to E (on the staff); there is no flexibility in the third finger of either hand!
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-02-26 15:39
Another thing to check into is whether or not your hand positions are correct. At least half the people I have seen in community bands do not have their hand positions correct and almost any child who is not taking private lessons has a bad hand position. Poor hand position will lead to a lot of discomfort and stress plus inhibit your technique, making trills and other rapid passages more difficult than they need to be.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2000-02-26 16:12
Something similar happened to me last Monday at band rehearsal. The conductor was telling us (bass clarinet, bassoons, etc.) how he wanted a particular run of seven eighth notes played (louder and crescendoing). He then asked me to play it alone. I tried a few times and couldn't get my fingers to work properly although they had been hitting the notes properly a minute earlier and I wasn't feeling particularly nervous. Exasperated, I said "I can do it when I am playing with others." We went back to playing as a group and Voila!, my fingers hit the right notes in the right rhythm again even though I knew that I was exposed at that point in the music.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2000-02-27 11:01
Happens to me ALL the time. I have an understanding teacher who's advice is to to take the scales one at a time and keep playing doubles, triples and arpeggios by memory until the fingers move automatically. It's hard work, but I notice that I am able to tackle faster passages now than I was a few months ago.
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