 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Amber
Date: 2000-05-09 23:13
Hi everyone!
My wonder, amazing , beautiful, superb grandma and great-grandma are giving me $300 for "being the best (great) granddaughter in the world"! Isn't that cool! But the condition is I have to use it to buy an instrument or to save up for one, which is fine with me! They love having a musician in the family.
So my question is, should I buy an Eb or a bass? I can play both, but own neither. I think I am leaning toward the Eb but want to make sure I get the one that will serve me best in college. I know $300 isn't enough for either, but I got a job and since I don't have any real expenses other then redds and a movie now and then, I know I can save up the rest fairly quick.
Or should I get an second instrument? I heard if you double, colleges are much more likely to accept you? What should I do?
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-09 23:32
Amber,
You will need neither in college - it will be supplied. Do you already have an A clarinet? That will be a requirement if you major in clarinet in a college / university / conservatory.
Personally, if I had a spare $300 and a good instrument or two already, I'd think about having one of the very best technicians go over the instrument with a fine tooth comb. They can do some amazing things with good instruments.
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Author: Kontragirl
Date: 2000-05-10 00:28
Collages don't (for the most part) care how many instruments you play. It's all in the GPA. If you've got a good GPA, you'll be okay, and doubling will only help. They wouldn't choose the player with two instruments over the player with the outstanding grade point average. BUT having an extra instrument does come in handy, and since you do have an A clarinet, I would recommend asking if it would be okay if you went on a little shopping spree...You'd spend it on music stuff, but you could buy some good books, theroy books, a new mouthpiece, what ever. But if you HAVE to spend it on an instrument, save it and see what happens in the future.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-05-10 05:32
If you already have a good soprano and just want a second for ensemble, choir or community band, you'll most likely find more parts for the bass than the Eb soprano or Eb alto. We have two Eb sopranos in our band, but they play mostly Bb due to the lack of parts for them. Our Eb alto has more parts but still has to play some alto sax parts to stay busy. I honk on a EEb contra alto and about 80% of my music is for bari sax, tuba, string bass or cello. Clarinet choirs have parts for them all, but not every community has a clarinet choir.
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Author: 'nifer
Date: 2000-05-10 12:15
You would be better off buying good mouthpieces for both Bass and Eb, so when you do get parts for them you will have your own mouthpiece that you are used to and then when you do purchase one or the other in the future, you won't have to invest in a mouthpiece too! ;-)
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Author: Fred McKenzie
Date: 2000-05-15 13:10
Amber wrote:
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Or should I get an second instrument? I heard if you double, colleges are much more likely to accept you?
Amber-
By playing either, there may be a little less competition than if you played only the Bb Soprano. On the other hand, an ensemble needs fewer of the unusual instruments!
Most schools own the more expensive instruments such as Bass Clarinet, so you wouldn't have to purchase your own. On the other hand, you might be stuck with a less-than-perfect instrument if it had not been well maintained.
The hard part: you may need a lot more than $300. A new Bass Clarinet might cost around $4000. Figure half that would be a fair price for a good used instrument. To decide if it would be worth the investment, consider your goals. Do you want to be a performer or a teacher?
I think GPA is more important if teaching is your goal. As a performer, you may want the very best equipment as soon as you can get it.
Fred
<A HREF="http://www.dreamnetstudios.com/music/mmb/index.htm">MMB</A>
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Author: Laurie
Date: 2000-05-17 02:38
When you apply to college - they do look at GPA and ranks right ? I mean, it's not all audition based right ?!
I mean.. I have a 4.5 GPA and I'm ranked 25/ 373.. I have 2 years to work on audition stuff, but I don't know nerves and stuff through me off - So.. I can have a less then perfect audition yet still get into college ?
Laur.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-17 12:05
Laurie wrote:
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When you apply to college - they do look at GPA and ranks right ? I mean, it's not all audition based right ?!
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Are you applying for music education or performance? To a conservatory or an academically orioented college/university?
The acceptance into a conservatory may have everything to do with the audition and very little to do with academics. The acceptance part of a music performance major into a major university has everything riding on audition <b>and</b> academics. The academics mean you meet the requirements of the university; the audition means you have to meet the requirements of the music department. They don't relax the audition standards because you have a high GPA (what's a 4.5 anyway? If it's based on the 4.0 norm then it's very strange.)
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Author: Kontragirl
Date: 2000-05-17 20:12
(what's a 4.5 anyway? If it's based on the 4.0 norm then it's very strange.)
If you take AP classes it's possible to get higher than a 4.0. In a normal class it works like this:
A=4
B=3
C=2
D=1
F=0
But AP classes are harder, so it works like this:
A=5
B=4
C=3
D=2
F=0
Hope I've at least explained the GPA part of this question
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-05-18 01:04
Kontragirl wrote:
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(what's a 4.5 anyway? If it's based on the 4.0 norm then it's very strange.)
If you take AP classes it's possible to get higher than a 4.0. In a normal class it works like this:
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Well, in this part of the country you get college credits, not a 4.5 or whatever. The colleges will re-normalize the GPA and look at your college credits if any (at least that's what Michigan State and U of Michigan do according to the newspaper last year) and add on a little if you went to certain high schools where the curriculum is hard - or subtract a little if the curriculum is easy. Looks like grade inflation to me ... makes the school district look better if they average in the possible 5.0s with the regular 4.0s. Not to say that the AP classes aren't hard, but I personally think that rewarding you with early college credits is a better idea rather than marking you on a 5 point scale. But that's just me.
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