 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sarah.mah
Date: 2009-10-20 08:03
Hello! I am getting my first private clarinet student starting in November. I thought it would be interesting to hear from some of you that either has taught the clarinet or has been teaching for awhile. What were some of your memories when you first started teaching? Are there any tips I can get as this will be my first time giving private lessons?
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Author: Nessie1
Date: 2009-10-20 13:00
There are quite a lot of variables that come to mind here - what age is the student? Is he or she a complete beginner or a player with a certain amount of experience? Is it someone you already know or a total stranger? Will you be charging?
However - perhaps this brings me to my biggest suggestion - be flexible depending on the student and the circumstances!
Good luck!
Vanessa
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Author: sarah.mah
Date: 2009-10-20 14:18
The student is a beginner. I've taught a Band last year and had three Beginning Clarinet students in Band last year. I've never taught private lessons, but I assume it is very similiar ..
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Author: William
Date: 2009-10-20 14:41
Offer more compliments than critisims. My favorite statement has always been, "That was good, but maybe we could try........{etc}". Much better than, "That was terrible--do it this way".
Also, my "rule #2": do not try to teach everything you know about the clarinet during the first lesson. Your student will be more confused, self critical and discouraged than motivated to learn and practice what you teach. Be relentlessly postive and consistant in the musical & technical knowledge you offer, but look for behavioral changes (learnings) in "baby steps" rather than gigantic leaps.
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Author: blazian
Date: 2009-10-22 03:03
I also recommend that you don't be overly friendly with your student. Yes, it's always best to be courteous and genteel with your student, but at some point enough is enough. I had this happen twice. Once as being a marching band squad leader and once as a (piano) lesson teacher.
For my squad leader experience I was too nice to my section, giving them free stuff and letting them talk and goof off a little. They didn't learn the discipline that was expected of them later on in the season.
For piano lessons, the same thing happened. My student didn't learn to sit still and listen while I was correcting her. She also didn't learn how to to take my criticisms and use them to make her playing better.
I think the main thing is just making sure you receive enough respect that they listen intently to what you have to say and put it into action.
More experienced teachers may correct me since they probably have a more accurate knowledge of what goes on with students. I'm still in my first year of teaching after all.
- Martin
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2009-10-22 11:07
A big thing I could suggest is to actually play your student's clarinet during the first lesson (with your mouthpiece of course). This will tell you if the clarinet is playable or if it's missing pads or is misalligned somehow. There's nothing more discouraging than trying to play on a bummed up clarinet and thinking that it's you! One of my students was playing on a clarinet for 6 months before coming to me, and one of the large pads was missing. She thought that she was the one with the problem.
Help them play some little tune on it, so they can go home excited about playing something.
For beginners, make sure the reed isn't too hard - or damaged beyond help - or are using the 30-yr-old reed that came with the second-hand clarinet. Then there are those who have a death grip on the mouthpiece and absolutely squeeze the life out of any reed, they need to relax the embouchure and have a reed that suits them better.
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Author: sarah.mah
Date: 2009-10-22 11:59
I appreciate all your comments as I'm a first time private clarinet instructor. A mother came up to me during one of our orchestra rehearsals asking me for clarinet lessons for her son. I wasn't expecting to give private clarinet lessons really, but this was so unexpected that I said yes!
Having years of experience on the clarinet, I might be able to manage well with my first student. I enjoyed reading all your comments.
What are some Beginning method books that you would recommend? This student of mind is already in 5th grade Band ..
Also, what else do you notice about your Beginners that they need most help with?
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2009-10-22 15:04
I like the Standards of Excellence, Accent on Achievement, and Essential Elements series a little. I tend to use the first two books of each only if the student is already playing them in band. If I have a beginner not in a band I usually start them with the first and second Student Instrumental Course. I move the kids from the first group into the second S.I.C. book after the first two of those three series too.
As far as what beginners need help with, it depends on the band director's primary instrument! Make sure their embouchure is solid first (usually the first lesson), then move on to making sure the tongue is touching the reed (usually the second lesson), and if they haven't played any other instruments before, make sure you're explaining clearly what all the note-reading is about!
If the student comes in with a decent embouchure and good tonguing, I move to how they're using the air, in a very rudimentary fashion. I tell them to think "eeeee" so their air column is properly shaped. And then it's air support.
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2009-10-22 20:38
Katrina mentioned Standard of Excellence, and it's a great book. Several years ago I had the opportunity to meet the author, Bruce Pearson, and he's an amazing guy. One of the best ideas I picked up from him is to have your young students sing. Before they play a selection, have them sing through it (you can help) with pitch names and/or rhythms. Move your hands, clap, or tap your foot as you do it. I've found that young students usually perform better if they've sung first.
Another Pearson idea: Many teachers will open the book to the first page and say something like, "This is a whole note, and it's played for four beats." The teacher might then demonstrate it. A better approach is to close the book and play some whole notes (or half notes or quarter notes) for the student. Ask the student to play it back for you. At this point, you can open to the correct page and show the student what he/she just played.
If a student is really struggling with a particular passage, I often take a similar approach. I'll close the book and we'll play some short note patterns by rote. After the student appears to be comfortable with the pitches or rhythms involved, we'll go back to playing from the page.
Embouchure isn't easy to teach, but check out this Michele Gingras video for some great ideas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SlFgO4Hi5k
In The Clarinet and Clarinet Playing by David Pino, there's a chapter titled "Teaching Other Clarinetists." It's definitely worth reading. I've never met Pino, but after reading the book, I think I'd really like to meet him. Any current or former Pino students out there?
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