 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: dave
Date: 2000-12-08 20:55
Just curious to hear what others think - All instruments have their intricacies but would
you say the clarinet is one of the more difficult instruments to master?
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-12-08 21:29
No. Violin and piano are in a different league. I've tried.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Francesca
Date: 2000-12-08 21:37
I would have to say anything in the saxophone family. I find them so hard to tune and it's a lot of work to get a good tone.
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Author: Jeff Gegner
Date: 2000-12-08 21:43
Very few people ever master any instrument. Some are harder to learn than others. For me clarinet is harder than guitar was. Piano is at least as hard or harder. I think the oboe would be very tough. Trumpet was not bad to learn. Harp is supposed to one of the worst. The bagpipes look tough. I think a lot of it has to do with the mentality of the person. Personally I don't see how anyone plays the organ. Having both your hands doing different things and both your feet going different directions all at the same time--whoa, thats tough.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-12-08 22:15
I'd have to agree with Ken on piano & violin (and cello) as being on the most difficult side.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2000-12-08 22:36
Oh, Dave, why'd you have to bring this up ? ? ? :
Talk about a hard question . . . . I don't believe for a moment anyone can satisfactorily answer it. Everyone's different.
I'd have to qualify my opinion with an, 'I haven't tried to learn every instrument'. Besides clarinet, my main love, I've tried cornet and trombone, oboe (briefly), tenor banjo and saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone). The flute gave me fits and I abandoned it - perhaps too soon. I did not become proficient on any of the instruments I *dabbled* at and I'm still working on the clarinet. Along the way I gained a healthy respect for people who play other instruments well.
Your question is, is the clarinet one of the more difficult one to 'master'. I don't know anyone, including myself, who feels they have 'mastered' their chosen instrument. The clarinet, in my restricted opinion, is not a particularly difficult instrument to play reasonably well. All of them have their 'peculiarities'.
Keep on tootin' 
ron b
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2000-12-08 23:11
I believe that if a person really, really like the instrument it will be easier for them to play vs. one who is forces into playing something or other i.e. the parents picks for the child. We can do a lot when it is our choice.
I picked the clarinet and am doing better then I ever did with other choices.
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Author: Eoin
Date: 2000-12-08 23:26
I've been told that when your child is choosing an instrument, you really should discourage them from choosing French horn, because it is just so difficult. It is the hardest of the brass instruments to play. But to be able to coordinate 10 fingers in playing a piano is a different class of difficulty. I'm not saying it is harder, it is just different. No doubt there are piano players who could never play the horn and vice versa. The hardest woodwind to play is probably the bassoon, from what I've heard. They have 10 separate keys for just the left thumb!
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Author: Nicole Y.
Date: 2000-12-08 23:31
I have to agree that the bassoon is hard. However, the piano is not as hard as you think once you sit down with a teacher. I played it for 3 years (sadly I didn't keep up with it) and got pretty good for my young age (probably 9). It just takes practice like anything.
Ciao,
Nikki
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-12-08 23:35
I agree with my old teacher about difficulty (he was refering to pieces, but it would apply to instruments too, I believe)
Anything you play very very well is very difficult, because it is so hard to play well. On the other hand anything you play badly is easy, after all it so easy to play badly.
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Author: William
Date: 2000-12-08 23:59
Probably, IMHO, the toughest instrument to play is "second." ie--second trumpet, violin, clarinet, flute, bassoon, bass drum, whatever. No matter how well you play, you are always out of tune or balance with somebody. Good (second) clarineting, everyone
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Author: Yusuf Zaid
Date: 2000-12-09 00:04
From Yusuf
I don't think one instument is harder to play than any other. I believe that people have different abilities in all sorts of things. One person is good at languages, another is good at maths or drawing or athletics.
Many people have different tastes in music, in clothes, in what sort of films they like to watch.
One person finds the violin easy to pick up( not me) another the saxophone. It's not the degree of difficulty of the instrument, it's probably the person's ability to adapt to that instrument, neural brain functions, etc. Still, lets not get too deep.
My wife finds any instrument beyond her capabilities or perhaps she hasn't tried the paper and comb yet. ( I'm getting dirty looks from the chair next door).
Just a point of view ,I might be totally mistaken in all this.
Good here, innit?
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Author: Ron D
Date: 2000-12-09 00:42
I just started piano lesson in addition to playing my clarinet and I find that reading notes on a bass clef staff is frustrating I am used to only reading a treble clef staff.
reading a grand staff is frying my brain. To those of you who dont know , the notes are in different positions ie 3rd line on a treble staff is B but on a bass staff its a D.
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Author: Ken Rasmussen
Date: 2000-12-09 01:25
I don't think difficulty has much to do with choosing an instrument. They all take as much effort as you are willing to put forth. The question is, "What instrument is the most rewarding? How can I make my involvement with music more satisfying?" What you want is an instrument that makes you happy, happy to have, happy to learn about, happy to practice, happy to play, and happy to think about. Something like a clarinet.
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Author: Anji
Date: 2000-12-09 01:50
I've always found the piano particularly difficult to pick up.
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Author: Pam
Date: 2000-12-09 03:17
Anji -- Yeah, them pianos must weigh 500 pounds! (O.k. I couldn't resist!)
I hope piano isn't that hard to learn. It will probably be my next instrument. Thankfully, I already know how to read bass clef.
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Author: pam
Date: 2000-12-09 04:35
I'm pretty good at clarinet and piano but can't whistle!!! What's up with that?
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Author: ron b
Date: 2000-12-10 03:53
I tried the 'musical saw' once. Now, talk about difficult instruments....
ron b
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Author: Roger
Date: 2000-12-10 04:33
The Piano is the tough one---as I play both Piano and Clarinet I feel ( there's that feeling thing again Mark) I shall reword-- I know from my experience of both instruments the complexies in getting a piece to a presentable level on Piano is quite involved with both hands contributing many combinations of notes to produce the effect required and just one note within that combination can modify that effect.
I find it impossible to play other than a simple piece by reading alone with many hours of practice required to 'learn' it to a level of automatic response while using the music as a guide to trigger that automatic bit. The Clarinet I find easier with only one note at a time the need to 'learn' the piece to the automatic level not necessary thus permitting a larger repertoire and much less stressfull when taking center stage. I know what I am trying to say but I'm not sure I said it.
Roger --the other one.
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Author: Amanda Rose
Date: 2000-12-10 22:41
Of all the instruments I've ever played, the hardest for me has been PICCOLO!!!! Honestly, that instrument takes so much air and is so hard to get a good tone.
Amanda Rose
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Author: Julia Meyer
Date: 2000-12-10 23:53
There are so many different instruments, and there are difficult aspects of each one. Also what is important to consider is the individuals level of playing: when you first start, everything seems impossible....after a few years it becomes easier....and once you become proficient or even quite good on an instrument, things begin to seem impossible again.
I like best what my clarinet teacher told me last year. She said playing an instrument is like removing rocks from a field. At first you start with the big rocks and remove all of them. Then, once they are gone you see more rocks, but a little smaller andyou work to remove them. then the rocks you find are even smaller...and so on. The point is, no matter how hard you work or how good you become, there will always be something to work on. On the road to perfection, the hardest times are when you get closer and closer to that perfection.
Julia
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Author: Tracey
Date: 2000-12-11 03:15
I liked what somebody told me: getting just a note out on an instrument is easiest when you look at all the mechanics to help you. This meaning that finding a note on a saxophone is a lot easier than finding the same note in pitch on a violin. Not what the question was...but well, it makes sense. Does anyone else think that it's a lot easier to play "with feeling" on the clarinet than the piano? I mean, because you can change the quality of the sound, and the dynamics are easier to control.
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Author: dave
Date: 2000-12-11 20:23
enjoyed the responses!! I liked Yusuf point - its a matter of matching abiliities to the
right instrument. Good point about the organ - I have enough trouble getting my fingers
to play one set of notes on a page - can't imagine trying to get my feet and hands to
work together reading different notes! I love the clarinet and think it will take me a life-time
to become proficient; let alone master it! The fun is the challange.....
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