 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Ron Jr.
Date: 2005-05-16 20:01
In response to an earlier post about learning clarinets, flutes, or pianos, I have a question.
Do you ever think that the clarinet is such a difficult instrument that if a friend wanted to learn it you might suggest another instrument?
Ron Jr.
Post Edited (2006-03-13 15:25)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Clarinetgirl06
Date: 2005-05-16 20:10
I'd say if she wants to learn the clarinet, let her! If she fails, she fails. She'll learn a lesson and then maybe she'll want to try a different instrument. Patience doesn't come naturally to a lot of people (ME), but it can be learned and practiced. If she's really dedicated to the clarinet and shows some talent, then she'll WANT to improve her sound by fixing reeds etc. and she'll WANT to take care of her instrument properly. Steer her towards a GREAT clarinet teacher and help watch/guide her down the road to success! Good luck, and sorry this isn't what you really wanted to hear.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: fredackerman
Date: 2005-05-16 20:32
Wait a second Ron, we blond Clarinet player's can handle the pressure & tech stuff.. 
Fred
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Clarinetgirl06
Date: 2005-05-16 20:48
LOL! GBK those pictures are awesome! I like the 2nd one the best! HAHAHA!
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Contra
Date: 2005-05-16 21:08
Most of the things you mention take less than thirty seconds to do at any time. I would think it as much harder to hold the flute up with both arms than to hold the clarinet with one. Is there, perhaps, another reason you would prefer her to go to flute instead of clarinet?
|
|
|
|
|
Author: ken
Date: 2005-05-16 23:28
The first two cats are just pics of flute players from GBK's old high school band ... little Herbie was too broke to afford a shirt, and animalisitic Ian too lazy to stand on both feet! v/r Ken
![[toast]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley15.gif)
Post Edited (2005-05-17 03:49)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: EEBaum
Date: 2005-05-17 00:22
Weight of the clarinet can be alleviated by a neckstrap. The rest of your concerns can be irritating, but wouldn't be enough to turn me away from an instrument. I switched from flute to clarinet 9 years ago and am quite happy.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Katrina
Date: 2005-05-17 02:16
FWIW, the Herbie Mann album cover REGULARLY gets put on the "Bad Cover of the Day" easel we have up at the record store where I work...
LOL....
Katrina
|
|
|
|
|
Author: music_is_life
Date: 2005-05-17 03:03
why would you steer someone away from something just because it's a little hard? I would never suggest to anyone to take the easy way out! some sort of cliche-sounding words came to mind when I read this post... something about life being short and why spend time worrying about being busy and not having time just to relax and have a little fun?
If your friend is a good musician and wants to learn the clarinet, let her!
blonde=flute player? wow... no comment on that one... :(
-Lindsie
|
|
|
|
|
Author: music_is_life
Date: 2005-05-17 03:05
p.s., gbk- those pictures are awesome! the last one bothers me a bit...that boy is tilting his flute so much! AH!
-Lindsie
|
|
|
|
|
Author: SueSmith
Date: 2005-05-17 03:07
Hmmm...Blonde and beautiful. At first you sounded like a jealous girlfriend...but then I saw your name was Ron.
Well, the best solutions is to let this Blonde beautiful chick learn the hard way that clarinet is not for her...because beautfiful people get handed many things in life way too easily.
Honestly, is there even a correct way to respond to the original post? LOL
|
|
|
|
|
Author: music_is_life
Date: 2005-05-17 03:12
Quote:
Well, the best solutions is to let this Blonde beautiful chick learn the hard way that clarinet is not for her...because beautfiful people get handed many things in life way too easily.
who says she'll be bad at it or that it's not for her! what assumptions! :(
-Lindsie
|
|
|
|
|
Author: SueSmith
Date: 2005-05-17 03:42
music_is_life wrote:
> Quote:
Well, the best solutions is to let this Blonde beautiful
> chick learn the hard way that clarinet is not for her...because
> beautfiful people get handed many things in life way too
> easily.
>
> who says she'll be bad at it or that it's not for her! what
> assumptions! :(
>
I was being facetious. Obviously, the last line of my post...
"Honestly, is there even a correct way to respond to the original post? LOL" makes that fairly clear.
Post Edited (2005-05-17 04:00)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Llewsrac
Date: 2005-05-17 04:24
Jr.
I think all your reasons for this young lady not to play the clarinet are;
1. Totally off-base
2. The Band Director, private teacher, not you, should help her make her
own mind up.
3. It sounds to me you are scared of the possible competition?
|
|
|
|
|
Author: pewd
Date: 2005-05-17 04:45
i want students who WANT to study the clarinet. i dont suppose she lives e around here, i have room for a few more students? lol
i really cant stand the ones who's parents are forcing them to do it...
the ones who came to me expressing desire to learn the instrument, great, bring them on.
if she wants to try clarinet because you play , cool, you've influenced someone to follow in your footsteps. thats a good thing. if she wants to try it, let her. maybe a year from now she switches to something else. so be it. if she wants to try, she should have at it....
>extraordinary patience required of a clarinetist.
name an instrument (wind, percussion, string, voice, etc) that this does not apply to? patience, commitment, dilligence in ones studies, and hard work are required of the study of any musical instrument, including flute.
paul
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
|
|
|
|
|
Author: graham
Date: 2005-05-17 08:17
so, what's your real agenda?
|
|
|
|
|
Author: msloss
Date: 2005-05-17 12:20
Flute is every bit as difficult and demanding to play as any other instrument, just in different ways. The cost of a mediocre flute can also be multiples of a fully prepared professional clarinet. Not sure how you are doing your lovely blonde friend any favors by steering her at all. If you want to be a real friend, suggest she make appointments with professional players of the instruments in which she really has an interest, and learn from the experts what the challenges and rewards are. She'll find her own path.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2005-05-17 13:09
Why try to impose your preferences on someone else?
Bob Draznik
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Ron Jr.
Date: 2005-05-17 15:31
Post Edited (2006-03-13 15:33)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2005-05-17 17:25
A person is more likely to succeed at playing an instrument if it is one they want to play. They are more likely to fail at playing an instrument they don't have an interest in. So, if you want her to succeed, encourage her to play the instrument she wants to play.
And just because people have imposed their preferences on others, it doesn't make it right. A parent, for instance, who steers their child to a college major that the child isn't interested in, will be pushing that child to a career they won't enjoy and are less likely to be successful at. Fortunately, as a child, my mother frequently told me "I don't care if you grow up to be a ditch digger, as long as you have a job you like." She knew because she was tired of working at jobs she didn't like. I tell my daughter something similar.
Plus, if your friend is so impatient that she won't take the time to put a reed on straight, she certainly wouldn't have the patience to practice any instrument. And not every clarinetist, especially beginning ones, need to be obsessed with sanding reeds. (Were you?) That only comes when you're to the point where you can be concerned with subtle differences in tone.
When adults relate tales of how they tried an instrument, got frustrated and never tried another instrument, it usually occurred in elementary or junior high school when they didn't realize that there was a possibility of switching instruments or felt that, if they did, they'd have to start over in beginner's band. Adults will know better and not have the trauma of feeling they are going back to a remedial class with the little kids.
Can a teacher accurately assess a student's ability to succeed? Often not. What would Einstein's math teacher have predicted when he failed math class? (Heck, I got a C in a 9th grade math class and eventually received third place in a university freshman math contest, got a degree in math, and became the president of the university's math honor society. I'm also certain that my old band instructors would have laughed if they were told that I'd eventually be a member of the wind symphony I play in.)
I vote for encouraging her to try the clarinet. If she decides she doesn't like it, you can be there to help her through her rough spots or, if necessary, suggest an alternative when the time is appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2005-05-17 21:10
Why not research the possibility of short-term rentals for her?
With a Legere (synthetic) reed and a well-fitted mouthpiece, she can decide if the rigours of the instrument are daunting.
Don't we have enough flute players, already?
If she really needs to be steered, the low voice instruments are begging for players (of any stripe or tint)...
*******
And Herbie is MANNtastic!
(I think I had a rug like that in my first apartment bathroom...)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Kevin
Date: 2005-05-17 21:16
I think it's foolish to be steering her away from clarinet, Ron, for the reasons given. And I think it's also slightly insulting to accomplished flute players, since you just simply assumed that it's easier to guarantee success by learning flute.
I understand you want to best for your friend, but it that's what you really do, then you must let her make the decision herself.
Post Edited (2005-05-17 21:16)
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Ralph G
Date: 2005-05-17 21:25
Ron Jr. wrote:
> Also since she's blonde and beautiful,
> she fits the classic image of a flutist.
http://www.thehelix.ie/images/sabine_meyer.jpg
That's not a flute she's holding. Yowza!
________________
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
|
|
|
|
|
Author: 3dogmom
Date: 2005-05-17 21:49
The original poster is making assumptions about another human being based on appearance. He is also assuming that something that he finds do-able is too difficult for his beautiful blonde friend. So is the concept of oboe reed-making. Sounds like you don't think much of this girl, huh?
Sue
|
|
|
|
|
Author: 3dogmom
Date: 2005-05-17 21:53
And just what is the "classic image" business, anyway? Are you the "classic image" of a clarinet player? I bet you don't look like me. This is the year 2005.
I'm afraid if I were to continue, my post would be edited, and rightly so.
Sue
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2005-05-17 22:01
And that's the final word. Unfortunately, this has gone way astray. I thought I was living in a more enlightened time with the "dumb blond" jokes being left in the trash along with other demeaning and racist jokes.
|
|
|
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
