Author: GBK
Date: 2008-08-27 19:51
As an educator, it's always nice to find a clarinet series which makes you say: "Finally, someone got it right"
I recently received in the mail the 3 volumes (Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced) of David Etheridge's newly published series of books - "Clarinet Skill Builders - A Practical Approach to the Clarinet"
For those that do not know, Dr. David Etheridge is a Professor of Clarinet at the University of Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma). He is a very busy educator, soloist, clinician and host (every year) of the Clarinet Symposium, held at his university.
I was fortunate to study with David Etheridge for 4 years in college and took away MANY of his teaching and playing concepts which I continually use to this day.
I wanted to let the clarinet community know of this valuable series of books which I feel will serve a very important role in the pedagogy of clarinet.
I told Dave that these books reminded me a bit of the (now out of print) Russianoff series, but he elaborated further by telling me that he would rather prefer to have them described as extensions of the Russianoff books because they contain clearer illustrations and more integrated applications of the concepts . There are also more topics, including clear description of the how and why of half-holeing, more high note fingerings, etc. - all with examples from the clarinet literature.
Especially impressive is the Beginner Book which contains excellent photographs of embouchure, posture, hand positions, etc. Even as an experienced teacher, I was able to find many new teaching tips and have now used these concepts with my young students. Also, for adult restarters or those that do not have immediate access to an instructor, the Beginning Book will certainly fill the void and get you off to a correct start, until a teacher can be located.
Both Fred Ormand and Russell Dagon have praised the books and given very positive reviews. Their comments and further information about this series can be found here:
http://www.woodwindeducatorspress.org/
I am certain that David Etheridge would be happy to field any questions about his new series of books by contacting him at:
david-etheridge@ou.edu
Disclaimer: I was given my copies of the books at no charge, but have no association with them other than promoting their value to the clarinet community.
...GBK
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