 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Cindy
Date: 2005-07-19 21:57
So, I had braces for a while, played while I had them, got them off and improved drastically. now, I leave in a month to start at college majoring in clarinet, but my teeth are giving me issues (I was bad, didn't wear retainers). So, I'm considering getting full metal braces just on the top, so I don't have to deal with metal against lip when I first start into the rigorous schedule. What I'm wondering is how much metal braces on the top will affect my playing. Anyone ever had experience with that? Any ideas or advice would be welcome.
So many instruments to play........so little time to play them!
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2005-07-20 03:36
For goodness sakes, don't quit playing because of your new braces. I did and missed out on a great deal of formative playing.
My braces were mid-50's technology. The tabs on the bands cut into the back of my lips and made it impossible to play. Additionally, the orthodontist didn't want me putting a "crowbar" under my upper teeth and prying against the braces.
When I got the braces off, the high school orchestra was full of clarinetists; so they gave me a bassoon. Too bad I didn't really appreciate that wonderful instrument. (I did appreciate the endless supply of nice bassoon reeds, tho.)
My lower arch collapsed after the braces were off (probably insufficient wearing of the retainers). My lower teeth are all points and edges now; and that's hard on my lower lip.
I think that your orthodonist can offer you a technology that will minimally interfere with your playing; I think that that choice should be paramount in your selection of a doctor and a therapy.
Mazzeo used to use some kind of appliance that fit over his teeth. He had his dentist make it. He discusses it in his book.
Good luck
Bob Phillips
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2005-07-20 14:57
I was lucky enough to come back to playing in the Sacramento, California school system in the mid-50s.
As far as I knew/know, the horn was wonderful --unaffordable in our local Idaho district.
And, when I needed a new reed, the band director gave me one. He always seemed to have a drawer full, and I never had to wait for a purchase order to go through.
Our local HS doesn't even have an orchestra. The band director is retired from a school system in Colorado --to pick up his medical insurance. He teaches marching, stage and jazz bands. Next year, he get to add a music theory class. The magnet school, the Jr. Hi and the HS share instruments --directing what they have to the kids with the best potential. They have to swap inventory to get what they want/need the most. The Eb Alto instrument of torture was traded this year for a new Bb bass, for instance.
Bob Phillips
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