 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jrain54
Date: 2017-06-07 15:38
Hi everyone
I may be taking up a program next year which would require me being overseas and working (a gap year program of sorts), and this would likely mean that my clarinet would go a year without playing - or very minimal playing.
I love the clarinet with a passion and am keen to pursue it after school (and after the gap year program if that's the case...) but am just wanting some feedback or experience from others on here if you've taken a break and started up again, and whether it's difficult to get back into playing... etc..
Thank you all!!
Jess
Post Edited (2017-06-11 05:35)
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Author: ClarinetRobt
Date: 2017-06-07 18:21
I quit for five years between college and finding a local community group to play in when I started my 'real' life. It's kinda like riding a bike. It should come back quickly. My technique was awkward at first...quick tonguing nonexistent. Tongue seems to be the first to go and last to come back without regular exercise.
I practiced in front of a mirror and thought a lot about my embouchure, breath support...you know the basics...for awhile. But I was surprised how resilient I was. I wasn't going to dethrone any symphony player, but I certainly didn't suck.
Try sneaking your horn with you on your journey. But talent never fades. Skill will always recover from most absences.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2017-06-07 18:45
I didn't touch a clarinet for 47 years. When I took it up again it took about half an hour to be able to play, although not fluently. The skills are always there and come back very quickly. Within a couple of months I was better than I'd been when I stopped.
Tony F.
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Author: GeorgeL ★2017
Date: 2017-06-07 18:51
My break from playing after college was 15 years. This was before the internet, and I had never heard of community bands. When I first saw a community band playing, I joined them the next week. I was much more proficient on sax than clarinet at that time, but they needed clarinets. A couple years later I was pretty much equal on both instruments, and would play either, depending on the band's needs.
Take your clarinet with you when you go wherever. If there isn't a music group you can join, you might find a few similarly displaced musicians with whom you could form a group.
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Author: Musikat
Date: 2017-06-07 19:48
My break was 12 years when I had my kids. I thought I had left it behind forever, but would actually have dreams about playing. A friend talked me into rejoining band with her (it had been even longer in her case, on bassoon) and we have been happily playing for the past 4 years now. There was definitely a journey back to all that I knew before, but I had been a good player before I
quit, and was immediately recognized as a good player when I came back, even after only playing for a few weeks. (The band director told me to move to the end of the row to be 1st chair, second part.) I have since moved back up to first part, but it did take some time to get those high notes back in shape! That and stamina were the main things I had to get back after being away from it that long. The rest came back quickly.
A year off shouldn't hurt you much long term, but I agree with the others. Unless you are going to a really remote location, there may be a local music group you could join (or even start). Are there colleges or universities nearby? Start there. I spent a year abroad for school and joined the orchestra there. It was a good experience to meet international players (and learn some new terminology -- quavers and semi-quavers, etc.).
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2017-06-07 22:41
I stopped playing for three years while pursuing an MA in Musicology that I never finished. I had received my Master's degree in clarinet and got wayyyy burned out on classical and way too mentally focussed on my perfectionism.
After those three years I found an amateur group performing international dance music and started playing again. Haven't stopped since, and have been teaching for nearly 20 years also. It took several months to have any kind of stamina afterward, but I'm glad I did it!
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2017-06-08 02:56
You may discover your priorities shift during the year. In some cases a year can somehow lengthen to two, or ten, or twenty years, or a lifetime.
If you decide to resume playing, you will be different, and when your technique then gets in shape you will be a different player than before - not worse, necessarily, or better, but different. This effect is probably greater the longer the interruption is.
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Author: Matt74
Date: 2017-06-08 07:22
Like the others say, it's entirely possible. However, music is like a friend. I'm not being sentimental, I think it's a good analogy. Once you part ways it may never be the same again. You might come back to music, and it could be even better than before, but it will almost certainly be different. Right now a continuity exists in your experience that will be lost if you quit and resume later, and that break, for better or worse will be part of your subsequent experience. Aristotle says that friends must live together, and I think ultimately this is right. By living together (seeing eachother daily, living in the same place, being subject to the same changes, etc.) you change and grow together, and your memories include one another. I think it's especially true when you are young, because we tend to change more when we are young.
I'm not telling you not to take a break, and I'm not saying you will necessarily regret it. I am saying that it won't be quite the same, because you won't be the same.
When I started playing again I realized that it was next to impossible for me to experience playing in the same way. I could not be around musicians all the time. I could not practice as much. I could not play in as many ensembles, or as high quality ensembles. I didn't have as many years of constant playing in my chops. It wasn't a part of my identity in the way it had been. Those are just some practical examples. I'm glad I did the other things I did when I quit, but I wish I hadn't quit. I wish someone had told me not to, and that I should make it a strong priority no matter what other things I was doing.
- Matthew Simington
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Author: Wes
Date: 2017-06-08 07:42
Well, I took about a four month break to have a heart valve replaced and one coronary artery bypassed. It had little effect on clarinet and saxophone playing. However, flute playing required a lot of dedicated practice to regain skills possibly due to the chest being tightly sewed back together with stainless steel wire. Lung capacity seemed less.
How about taking the clarinet with you on your new task?
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Author: jthole
Date: 2017-06-08 08:56
I do a lot of business travel, and I bought an inexpensive and light plastic clarinet (Yamaha) for that purpose. I can take it with me on at least 70% of the trips, depending on the carry-on rules. In most cities, it is possible to find a place to practice. Would that be an idea for you?
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2017-06-09 01:56
After finishing my undergraduate degree, I abandoned a Masters and took a year off. It was the best thing I could have done for my playing!
Your clarinet will still be there when you get back.
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Author: TomS
Date: 2017-06-12 06:22
I played for 7 years ... quit for 11 years ... played for 14 ... quit for 2 ... played for about 13 ... quit for 2 ... now back for about 5 years and don't plan on stopping again ... almost 54 years, off and on ... started at age 11 ...
Life gets in the way ...
The only thing I lost significantly after my absence was my music reading abilities ... my weak link has always been with notes and timing. Probably brain damaged from almost total lack of good training until I was almost 30 years old ...
Tom
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Author: BflatNH
Date: 2017-06-12 19:57
Recently I was unable to play or practice the Bb as much as I wanted for the better part of a year and became somewhat disillusioned, etc., but afterwards, much of where I was has returned. To my surprise, some aspects of my playing seemed to have improved in the hiatus. Perhaps what happens during your time 'off' may be related to how much you've challenged yourself before then, and your time off may actually give your brain a chance to install the needed neurons.
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