 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Claire Annette
Date: 2013-04-30 13:19
Ever have a student who just doesn't show promise, no matter how hard you work with them? No matter how many metaphors, examples, exercises, dramatic gestures, foot stomping, hand clapping, positive reinforcement...the student just REALLY doesn't have what it takes?
I hate to sound so defeat-ist but I kinda want to say, "Have you considered another instrument?"
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-04-30 13:33
Is the student's problem mostly physical (relating to the technical demands of playing the clarinet) or musical (rhythm, notation "decoding")?
How old is the student? Kids are ready to learn things at different ages - I've had students who didn't seem to be getting very far until one year they suddenly seemed to blossom (or at least show real progress). It may be that he (she?) "doesn't have what it takes," or just that "what it takes" needs a longer incubation in some kids than in others.
Karl
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2013-04-30 14:54
I agree with Karl. It would be interesting to know how old the student is. There are many exceptions, but I've found that kids third grade and younger (<9 years-old) usually aren't ready for most wind instruments. For children this age, a good general music experience with singing, basic note reading, and recorder is wonderful preparation. Some fourth graders are ready, but I've found that the best starting age for most is fifth grade (about 10-11 years-old).
Another question: Is the student involved with band at school? I will sometimes get students who have played for a year or so, and they come to me because they're struggling with band music. "We're having playing tests next week, and I can't play any of this!" is something I often hear. These students often have poor basic skills, but their main goal is learning band pieces. It can be a real dilemma--do I try to help help them improve embouchure, tonguing, music reading skills, but not all at once (my choice), or do I spoon-feed band music (their choice)? I feel very sorry for them, and unfortunately, many end up dropping their private lessons and quitting band.
If you're able to take things very slowly (and there are no outside pressures), that would be the best approach. Before playing any selection, have your student (possibly along with you) sing it first. If your student is struggling with traditional counting, use Kodaly syllables instead. I've found this approach to be very successful with younger players. Introduce new pitches and rhythms by rote--and keep practicing them--weeks before they come up in the method book.
After saying all this, there are some students who just can't quite get it together. It's happened to me and probably to most teachers. It's not easy to know when to say, "Enough is enough."
Switching your student to trumpet might help if the problem is mostly physical.
If he or she has very small hands and can't cover holes, trumpet could be possible, but there is no guarantee that it will be the solution. As a band teacher for many years, I taught beginning trumpet students, and this instrument has quite a few challenges of its own.
Post Edited (2013-04-30 14:55)
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Author: Ed
Date: 2013-04-30 15:00
I think most that I have known who had these problems became conductors.
![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
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Author: Claire Annette
Date: 2013-04-30 19:14
Ha! Ed! 
This student is actually a high school sophomore. She switched from trumpet to clarinet on a whim after this past marching season. All the begging and cajoling and demonstrating and "Pretend you're inflating a Coleman air mattress!" haven't seemed to bring about the amount of air support she needs to be successful. If I didn't know better, I'd say she had lungs the size of walnuts. She has a good grasp of musical concepts but she also plays piano and cello. Maybe she's trying to be the jack of all trades but is the master of none?
In a relatively short amount of time, she's learned many fingerings but can't seem to grasp what it takes to get a decent sound from her equipment. Of course, she is required, in school, to pass the same weekly playing tests and play the same music as her peers who have been playing on their instruments since 6th grade.
I'm just disheartened. Nothing to do with the student as a person. She's delightful. I just usually don't face this difficult of a task. I've already mentioned to her that she might want to think about playing sax during marching season. Maybe she'll transition to that...if she can fill up the horn with air! Don't know how she lasted on trumpet as long as she did.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-04-30 20:17
Claire Annette wrote:
>
> This student is actually a high school sophomore. She switched
> from trumpet to clarinet on a whim after this past marching
> season. All the begging and cajoling and demonstrating and
> "Pretend you're inflating a Coleman air mattress!" haven't
> seemed to bring about the amount of air support she needs to be
> successful.
This puts a really different light on the matter. How good was she on a trumpet? If she got any kind of decent trumpet sound, then you're barking up the wrong tree with the Coleman air mattress - she needs to blow the same way she did into her trumpet. Borrow a trumpet and ask her to play a few notes on it at a lesson.
> She has a good grasp of musical concepts but
> she also plays piano and cello. Maybe she's trying to be the
> jack of all trades but is the master of none?
>
Well, is she good on any of them? If she's a good pianist or cellist, maybe she *is* just experimenting around with other instruments for fun and breadth.
If she isn't especially musically talented (apart from her level of accomplishment on either clarinet or trumpet) she may be looking for a band instrument she can play with the least effort possible just so she can belong to the group. Membership in the band program may be her main purpose and playing a band instrument of some kind is just a necessary passport into the program.
> In a relatively short amount of time, she's learned many
> fingerings but can't seem to grasp what it takes to get a
> decent sound from her equipment. Of course, she is required,
> in school, to pass the same weekly playing tests and play the
> same music as her peers who have been playing on their
> instruments since 6th grade.
Again, if she got a serviceable or better trumpet sound, she should think about transferring that sensation to her approach to clarinet. Is she playing on responsive equipment?
The instrument switch was her decision, and she must have had some idea of what it meant in terms of the teacher's or department's performance standards.
>
> I'm just disheartened. Nothing to do with the student as a
> person. She's delightful. I just usually don't face this
> difficult of a task.
Why are you disheartened? She has made the choice to start playing clarinet in her sophomore year. If she's happy to persevere and try to figure it out with your help, there's no reason for you to feel more frustrated than she does. Your greatest contribution to any possible success on her part will be to act as a coach and a resource while to a large extent letting her lead the process toward the result she wants. She is old enough to have her own goal in mind, and that will be what motivates her efforts. The task is hers, not yours, and your role is only to help her accomplish the task she has set for herself (whatever that task really is).
Karl
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Author: eac
Date: 2013-05-06 14:09
The Coleman air mattress is great if the student has actually ever inflated one. A lot of kids today probably don't even know what one is. If you have one, it might be useful to get it out and have her blow it up. That sustained air support idea really might register with it.
Liz Leckey
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-05-06 18:23
If your student can take in enough air to play the trumpet, she can certainly play the clarinet. Have her do the following:
1. Push your butt into the back of the chair, hips rotated back, like Donald Duck.
2. Sit up, feeling the curve of your spine above your hips. Let your back touch the chair near the top and feel like it's hanging there. Keep your shoulders relaxed and down and your head up.
3. In a single movement, inhale from your back at the hips, spreading your ribs on the sides and letting the air lift your chest.
4. Hold the air for a moment and then let it come out with its own weight.
If anything, this takes in too much breath. Getting light-headed is the problem. Take in only as much as you need.
Ken Shaw
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