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Re: Pyne Clarion Mouthpiece, Which model?

Author: Buster
Date: 2011-07-06 19:32

To follow up on what Jack wrote,

After reading the thread from a few months ago, where you were placed in a similar quandary, I do have to question your teacher's intentions in these situations.

The first goal of any private instructor is to guide a student, and aid them in finding their own path to excellence. (Actually, I have always told students from the first lesson that my goal is to make them a finer clarinetist than I am.) This should obviously be accomplished through addressing pedagogical matters arising in music/ etudes etc... under the watchful (and hopefully knowledgeable) eye of the teacher. That is the vital student/teacher relationship (a mutual trust, if you will) that is needed for a productive environment. Quite obviously the teacher is compensated for their time; or better said, their knowledge.

At a point, the issue of upgrading equipment can arise, if, what the student has is insufficient for their continued advancement. This purchasing of "new" equipment must be done while still maintaining the essential teacher/student relationship. If at any point the teacher suggests, or forces, a student to purchase anything at a financial gain for themselves, they have destroyed the mutual trust that is needed.

I have never, nor did any of my former mentors, operate in this manner. In fact, I had several greatly aid me in finding equipment, and even so much as give me mouthpieces and the like for no cost at all. (One in fact gave me a fine original Cicero Kaspar without so much as a bat of his eye.) I only ever sold 1 mouthpiece to a student, at a $75 dollar loss to me. In other cases, particularly when living in Mexico where a "middle-class" student has far less expendable income than we do, I have given away mouthpieces ranging from $75-300 simply because the student needed something better. (I only maintained a small studio, not 20 or 30 students.) This is how I was treated and I want to carry on that kindness.

None of this is to say that your teacher is not a qualified instructor and that you should discontinue your studies with her. However, you, or your parents, have every right to ask your instructor to discontinue exploiting the mutual trust that exists for their own gains. It sounds a bit like you don't know what your are looking for equipment-wise and your teacher is attempting to take advantage of that. Again, as Jack stated, you need the operating trust that your teacher is acting in your best interest.

-Jason

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