 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Noriko Meek
Date: 2000-04-18 03:28
I am working on a book which deals with adult beginners in different musical instruments. I am wondering if you could share some of your experiences in your journey to learn to play the clarinet. I have heard from cellists, oboists, flutists, harpist, violinists, bassoonists, pianists. I would like to know why some people take up the clarinet as adults. I am also curious to find out what kind of problems they face to take up an instrument like the clarinet. Most of adult beginners are passionate about their instruments, and they tell me that music making has changed their lives. Many of them attend summer camps to learn more. I would like to find out what you want to do with your clarinet - to be able to play in a community based orchestra? Is there a special piece you would like to learn to play in the future? Any thoughts or insights you have gained since you started playing the clarinet? I will be happy to learn anything you may have to say about your journey with your clarinet. I hope that you will write to me when you have time. I will be most interested in reading your accounts. Thank you for your contribution.
Mrs. Noriko Meek
norikomeet@hotmail.com
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-04-18 17:14
I suggest you look at Paul [Faaborg's ?] threads and posts as he [and quite a few others] comment frequently re: A B 's and others renewing their cl skills. My only renewing period was in the 1940's, but I'll be glad to provide comments! Don
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Author: Yaacov Shvat
Date: 2000-04-18 19:30
Dear Mrs. Meek
I am 52 and started playing the clarinet about
5 years ago without any background in playing any instrument
For me it is a dream comes true. I find it very difficult but still rewarding. My dream is to play chamber music.
I have succeeded by now in playing not so difficult parts.
I am working very hard trying to achieve the best I can.
I love the routine of practicing. The sound of the clarinet.
The main problem was to find a good teacher for a man in my age. I had to change 4 teachers till I have found the teacher who takes me seriously even if I am not the pupil
"with a future". The same problem I have with players
around my age - most of them have a lot of experience
and less patient for an old beginner. living in small country (Israel) does not make it easier.
But I love what I am doing.
For me the clarinet is a "teacher" by itself.
I am a teacher myself and I find that the way I am going through with the clarinet helps me a lot to understand my
teens pupils.
If you would like to know more I'll be glad to help
Yaacov
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Author: Bob Gardner
Date: 2000-04-18 20:19
Noriko:
your email address is not working. I sent you two messages and both were returned. Let me know if you know were the problems lies.
Bob
if you want i can post the message here.
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-04-18 21:27
Yaacov put it so very eloquently for us adult novices and adult intermediate clarinet players.
Like him, I took up the clarinet as a source of fun and relaxation. I'll never be very good at it and I know that my horn (with all of its goodies) is extreme overkill for my skill range. But, that's the passion of a hobby. The fact is that I enjoy it and that is all that really matters.
I attempted to play the clarinet in high school over 20 years ago. I was really a terrible player back then, attempting to make some kind of intelligible sound out of a plastic beater of a horn on the marching band field. I took up the clarinet about 4 or so years ago as a hobby. I've had a couple of years of private lessons from a consummate professional who taught me much more than how to finger the notes. My premium pro grade horn (and all of its goodies) will never be taxed to its limit in my hands, but once I learned how to play it correctly, it is a joy to play anyway. Whenever I can steal an hour or so of time just for myself, I go through mundane scales and simple songs. It's not much, but even that little bit can be registered on my blood pressure meter for greatly reduced stress.
With that said, I wish everyone (especially here in the USA where extreme stress can literally kill [like the Columbine HS attack almost exactly a year ago today]) would find a constructive way to reduce stress and relax. Music is definitely one of those magical things that can do just that. I wholeheartedly encourage folks to take the time to practice, to listen, to experience the gift of music. The instrument and the music itself is whatever pleases you, from Rachmaninoff to rock-n-roll to rap, I don't care.
Does this help answer your question?
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Author: Bob Gardner
Date: 2000-04-18 22:44
i read your post on the clarinet page and felt I would give you a brief
outline of what I'm doing and why. If you want more let me know.
I'm 64 years young and started to play the clarinet in high school. Even thou I (played for a couple of years?????????) I knew nothing. I played in a couple of marching bands and never played a note. I got lost as soon as we began.
I have little or no musical talent, only desire. I have to read music and am self taught. i live in any area where there no teachers available I can play the same piece over and over again and without the notes I wouldn't know where to begin. however i have a desire to play
something for my own pleasure. I don't see myself ever playing in a band
or with any group. This is going to be solo only.
i have tried to play the guitar, recorder, mandolin and never found any real pleasure in what I was trying to do. I went back to the instrucment of my youth the Clarinet. One of the main things that i like
about the clarinet is that ever as a beginner I can play a melody. I only play music that i know. Old ballets, show tunes, old favorites etc. i
love the music from broadway musical and certain composers. i.e. Webber,Hart, Porter, Carmichael etc. and i feel that I have made outstanding progress within the past three to four months. I may practice a couple of hours a day. My major problem is that i really don't count. That's why i play pieces that i know. i would love to be able to play
Gerswins--Rhapsody in Blue.
i have purchased three or four clarinets off of ebay and found the horn i
have been looking for. i now play a Selmer 10 as my main clarinet. I have found that the reed, mouthpiece and Lig. do make a differance.
One of my major blocks i have had is with # and b's. I'm beginning to have a better understanding of the different majors and so this is coming easier.
One other problem i will mention is that i produce a lot of mositure and so i have to stop quite often in order to dry out the clarinet.
i wouldn't say that playing the clarinet has changed my life in any why what so ever but it is good for my soul. i believe that anything we do to improve what ever we enjoy doing is called "soul time".
Anyhow i hope this is of some value to you.
Bob
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Author: Donn
Date: 2000-04-18 23:33
Bob: I have heard it said that "Music is food for the soul".
I feel well fed.
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Author: Marvin Adeff
Date: 2000-04-19 00:03
I had started playing at age 9. Played for about 4 years, became frustrated with my teacher, my parents, my impending teenageness, etc. I quit.
At age 19 I kind of missed playing and had some friends that enjoyed getting together to "jam" with thier guitares. So I bought a flute and self taught myself how to blow it so it had some tunes comming out of it. Then about once every 5 years I'd pick it up for a few weeks and give up.
Now I'm 40. One evening driving home after a particularly stressfull week I was "remembering better times." I spotted that I still had a desire to play clarinet. And in an avalanch I reallized that all the reasons I once had as to why "I didn't want to ever look at a clarinet again" weren't there anymore. The brick wall turned to vapor. When I pulled off the freeway, instead of turning left to go home, I turned right to go to our neighborhood music shop and rented a clarinet, just to see what happened.
That was October. I've now been taking lessons from a Jazz player/instructor since January.
I get lost in it. One day I went outside about noon in my backyard and started doing my scales, and then a few tunes, and then some more. Then I noticed it was getting cold and the light was fading. It was 6:30pm!
Now I'm about to purchase a Bass Clarinet. Thats my real desire.
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Author: Ron D
Date: 2000-04-19 05:07
I started playing again in december of 1999 after not touching any musical instrument since leaving high school in 1957. I was a good player then in my very limited world. I never experienced any competition nor much help from my band director, he was a horn player and had no background in woodwinds, also the school was a inner city school and we had very few advantages because of the lack of money, At any rate I played first chair in the school band and also played along with my teacher in Chicagos old Hull House band with many senior players in there sixties and seventies. I could not beleive how good they were and how tolerant of me a fresh 17 year old at the time. I was hooked on good music and marveled at the ability of this group to enjoy good music of any type.
My greatest supprise was finding out that people of this advanced age did live full vibrant lives, now that I am at that part of my life I can understand how music and the love of it enriched ther lives.
I can also atest to the fact that I have learned more about the clarinet from this bullitin board in the last three months then I did in the 4 years when I was very active and involved.
Noriko if you would like to know more please let me know.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-04-19 06:12
I shelved my clarinet when I went into the military for over 20 years. When my daughter signed up for band I got it out, overhauled it, so I could play along with her. My wife got a cheapo flute (didnt even know she had played one) and joined us. Its the best thing we ever did. We all now play in two different community bands. My wife is now a music major at the local community college of musical knowledge. Now if we can get our 12 year old (YO!) playing something and away from the GameBoy, collecting snakes (he walked in with another coral snake), I'll die happy.
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Author: Bob Gardner
Date: 2000-04-19 14:08
willie:
ask him if he ever wanted to be a smake charmer. Get him a recorder. Best of luck
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-04-19 15:04
Lord don't encourage him. I just lost my dog to a Water moccasin.
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Author: mike c
Date: 2000-04-19 22:15
Noriko,
My story is not quite the same as the others but the
joy I get from playing is the same.
I was working on our camper van roof and slipped off the ladder breaking both legs,when I got home from hospital still unable to walk I found I started to get very depressed
and at the time my wife was trying to run my shop by her self things were not good.So we sold it and in some of the stock that was left was a Jazz record of Acker Bilk playing a jazzed up version of Strangers on the Shore I know most on this bboard don't think much of AcKers playing, But for me
all I could think of was playing this bloody tune.
I tryed a saxophone but it was too hard to play in bed,
so on my 41st birthday I got my Buffet e11 .
So after 5 operations since the accident I am getting to play quite well by myself not so great with other people.
And I also have to say the advice on the board has been great for someone like myself in a small country where the clarinet is not so popular.
I have not been able to play for some weeks bcause of a bone graft and the medication that went with it but started again
Monday and it is going great ,don't seem to play as well but that will come.
So thanks again to DEE ,Mark and all who answered some of my questions.
MikeC
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Author: Bob Gardner
Date: 2000-04-20 02:53
have you ever concered moving. Even Adam had to get Eve away from the snakes.
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Author: Bob Gardner
Date: 2000-04-20 02:55
more power to you mike. Keep up the playing. i love A. Bilk. Thats my kind of music.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-04-20 06:29
Heck, just 10 miles over to the next town burglery and vandalizem is rampant. Here where we live, we don't even lock our doors when we're gone. The snakes, loose dogs, and hordes of prepubesent brats scare away the undesirables.
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Author: Kathy Handyside
Date: 2000-04-21 00:12
Hello Noriko! What a wonderful research project! I played clarinet in high school (1966-1970) - I started about 2-3 years later than all the other kids - they began in the 5th and 6th grades - I started winter of 8th grade. I don't really know why I chose the clarinet - when the band director asked what I wanted to play, the word popped out of my mouth. I worked really really hard and within a year passed everyone else. My band director - who was also my clarinet teacher - told me I had symphony orchestra potential and really encouraged me to consider majoring in music in college. Problem was that I was (and still am) terrified of solo performance! I gave up music, finally, when the problem just got worse and worse. But over the years, I finally had to admit to myself that music was where I belonged - it's the only thing that reaches my soul. I am now going to start back on clarinet - I just took my instrument in for a complete overhaul and re-padding. Although I'm far too old to be a professional (I'm 48), I hope to get into chamber groups - I played in a woodwind quintet in high school (in addition to marching and symphonic bands) and loved it! I like the intimacy of a small group. I'd love to play Mozart's clarinet quintet someday.
Kathy
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Author: Steve Epstein
Date: 2000-04-22 16:06
After putting the clarinet down for ~25 years post high school, I took it up again to play with pickup bands for contradancing (American set dancing). Irish reels, jigs, and southern "old - timey" tunes are not exactly clarinet repertoire, but the hardest part has not been playing the instrument technically but learning how to blend in with everyone else, i.e.; be a musician.
I was at a festival in Massachusetts last weekend and there are actually quite a few capable clarinet and sax players having fun with this music.
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The Clarinet Pages
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