 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2007-04-28 19:09
No doubt someone on the bulletin board has preceded me in saying this, but...
"What works for you..." has been a real crutch for many players. However, it is not a valid justification in many important areas of playing. It's merely an extension of the pseudo-philosophical thought fad, here in the U.S., of expecting beliefs unsupported by evidence to be considered valid, despite contradictory evidence or no evidence at all, just because the belief exists: "I may be wrong, but that's what I believe, so you must respect that."
"What works for you" has been an easy excuse for repeating irresponsible musical interpretations despite contradicting evidence, blindly adhering to certain pet techniques without proper evaluation, and making judgments about equipment with little or no sampling. (Oiling the bore, fiddling with ligatures, arguing about which material is best to make a clarinet from, and swabbing mouthpieces come to mind.)
Let's cut our use of "what works for you" down. I think a decrease of 65% would be something to shoot for.
I'll shut up now. Let the wars begin!
B.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2007-04-28 19:18
> Let the wars begin!
We already have them in real life and in abundance. :-/
--
Ben
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2007-04-28 20:19
Thanks, Glenn. I had that internet dictionary in my favorites list at one time, but it got lost in a computer crash last fall. I never could find it again . . . now you plopped it into my lap. Eu
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2007-04-28 22:32
> But what if it does work for you? You can't say it does?
If it is a cheap excuse for repeating irresponsible musical interpretations etc. then you will be sentenced to Pita Royal #2 reeds on a Klingon mouthpiece for the rest of your life.
But I guess shrugging is still beneath the radar. Just shrug if you can hear me...
--
Ben
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2007-04-28 23:56
It would be nice if there was only one type of clarinet, reed, mouthpiece, barrel, ligature, teaching technique, etc. that was the perfect piece of hardware or approach for every clone clarinet player but since we are all individuals with different bodies, minds, and circumstances it is unlikely that one configuration will be a good match for everyone. I guess that some of us feel that although a particular item or technique works well for us that it would be fool hardy to generalize its use for the whole community. Granted there are hackneyed and cliché terms that are over used but the general gist of the "whatever works for you" maybe applies to most of our grand posts that extol this piece of hardware or that approach where we understand that it may or may not work in the same way for each and every person. YMMV for this explanation.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-04-29 01:23
I will be honest here... I find that what works for me also works for others- especially when it comes to equipment.
I was with a few clarinet students (graduate students)- we were passing around ligs, barrels, etc.
all of the equipment that one person thought was great was liked by all- to varying degrees, of course. I was surprised that we literally all agreed on which were good or bad components, with very few exceptions.
By the same token- during lessons, when I have had the chance to play a teacher's clarinet or mouthpiece, sometimes I think 'It's good, but not for me' but I never think 'How can they play with THIS?'
I now accept the statements that will tell me that I am fibbing and that it neve happened.
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Author: robertgh
Date: 2007-04-29 02:38
I've been following the board and rummaging through the archives for over a year now and have found the daily postings of "what works" for y'all absolutely fascinating and tremendously informative. Whether it's set-ups, instruments, fingerings, methods, classic recordings, concepts of tone--it seems pretty obvious that there's always a chance that a new approach might "work for you."
Of course, I will draw the line at pre-soaking reeds in yak urine.
(Actually, I just made that last part up. No, seriously. . . I JUST MADE IT UP!)
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Author: glin
Date: 2007-04-29 02:49
From an earlier post:
"Of course, I will draw the line at pre-soaking reeds in yak urine.
(Actually, I just made that last part up. No, seriously. . . I JUST MADE IT UP!)"
Eww..that's gross......
I think part of everyone's playing is to recognize that among the various options from fingerings to setup to technique, there are some things that just won't work for you. For example, maybe you have found a trill key fingering that works for you while 9 out of 10 other players would use something different. While maybe not textbook, it may prove to be reliable "for you".
.
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Author: doublej
Date: 2007-04-29 05:50
"Let's cut our use of "what works for you" down. I think a decrease of 65% would be something to shoot for. "
Whatever works for you. ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
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Author: C2thew
Date: 2007-04-29 06:56
What people are trying to do is spread what is good over what isn't as good as product A from product B. I can see how it can get a little excessive in oils and all the nitty stuff, but in selecting clarinets; it is a serious matter. $1200 for anyone is a serious chunk of change, so any guidance is better then none at all. You have to keep in mind that clarinets are extremely mass marketed products in a sense that they are small, easier to mass produce then saxophones, and that there's a strong consumer market for them.
and if you don't think that swabbing your mouthpiece will have some deletrious effects, that's fine by me.
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2007-04-29 07:56
I use "What works for you" sometimes as shorthand for, "Hey, I tried giving you some advice, you ignored it, and I think you sound like crap as a result. I've decided to drop the matter, with the hope that you'll someday realize that it does, in fact, sound lousy. There is always, however, a chance that I'll someday find my current sound lousy and find even better advice to give, making my current advice a 'what works for you' item. In any case, I don't particularly find it worth arguing at the moment, especially on the internet, and/or I don't want to be a jerk and hurt your feelings, and would like to remain friends otherwise. Besides, five minutes from now, someone more stubborn than I will probably argue my point for me and take the brunt of the backlash, and after the dust has settled, I can chime in with a few day-late-dollar-short words in support of the opinion, thus getting the same point across while saving me a lot of headache."
:P
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-04-29 13:32
Isn't it best to find YOUR own way of doing something, rather than being told how or what to do if you find your own (and maybe an easier or much better) solution to the same problem?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-04-29 13:45
Chris,
In a philosophical way, yes. But if it were really better, than we wouldn't need teachers- I mean in general, not just music teachers.
the teachers are there to guide us away from bad habits and towards good, in a way so that we learn the most with less falures and danger to owrselves than if we did it on our own.
to 'find one's OWN way' can be self defeating in some cases.'
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-04-29 13:56
But aren't teachers also there to impart not only their wisdom, but also to encourage their pupils' own way of thinking if they can see the potential benefits in that one size doesn't necessarily fit all? I've known teachers that welcome new ways of thinking and even take these ideas on board so there's at least an exchange in ideas there, and not just a dictatorship.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2007-04-29 14:31
I wholly subscribe to the "what works for you". At the same time, I'm open to other ideas as I might find a new idea that "works for me" better than something else I was using or doing.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-04-29 21:43
chris,
yes. the teacher should guide the student to 'what works for them'. But in some things, as there may not be universal techniques, there are common things that work for most.
Teachers have told me X or Y many times- and initially they were uncomfortable to 'what worked for me'. In the end the benifit was realised and 'my' technique disposed of.
I recall a tenor sax I had and loved the sound of- everyone that tried it loved it just as much. good stuff is good stuff.
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