 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Meri
Date: 2001-11-29 00:51
The parents of one of my two students is not convinced of the quality of the mouthpiece is important. I have tried the mouthpiece that came with the student's instrument, and I am suspecting that some of his problems are because of the poor mouthpiece--the mouthpiece had a lot of resistence. I have sent her a copy of Hite's article on how good mouthpieces can help young players. Short of purchasing the mouthpiece at my expense, or purchasing it at my expense and then billing her if she is convinced that it makes a difference, what can I do to help her understand that the mouthpiece that came with the instrument is bad?
The student is really enthusiastic about learning the clarinet.
Meri
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Author: terry
Date: 2001-11-29 01:26
not certain if this helps, but i eventually bought a Fobes
Nova for my niece. She stayed with her clarinet, though
she had already quit Band. You could have them
contact me directly. I have some notes on this on
my personal clarinet page at http://sterkel.org/clarinet.
Look it over, if useful, then pass it over to the parents!
cheers!
terry
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-11-29 01:44
Try this if you already have some mouthpieces on hand that meet the criteria.
1. Find the most awful mouthpiece that you can. One that is difficult even for you to play.
2. Find the very best mouthpiece that you can. One that is easy for you to play and to emphasize your point one that is very easy to blow (possibly one with a somewhat open tip).
3. Sterilize them.
4. Give a 15 minute "mini-lesson" to the parent having them actually play the two mouthpieces. Probably should use say the G below the staff to maximize the perceived resistance but not have to mess with the little fingers. Start with the "bad" mouthpiece first. Then have them switch to the good one.
Or if you don't have a really awful mouthpiece on hand, try to borrow one from a friend or acquaintance.
The idea is to have the setups so radically different than even someone who has never played can feel the difference even the first time.
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2001-11-29 03:18
Trying to play most mouthpieces that come with clarinets can be likened to watching a new television set using the little rod antenna that is mounted on it. Yes, you can get some sort of a picture, but a few more bucks for a good antenna can make a great difference. Why didn't the supplier provide one? Simple: it would have cost more, and they would have made less.
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2001-11-29 04:29
And this is not unheard of with other products either, when I buy a new power saw, the frist thing I do is remove the supplied blade and install a quality one. A $500 tool needs an additional $50 - $100 investment to do what it was designed to do. Why? See the above post.
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Author: allencole
Date: 2001-11-29 05:52
I haven't had much problem in this arena, but I keep a Hite Premiere and a Fobes Debut for the purpose of loaning to students. Hopefully this problem is something that you seldom see.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-11-29 11:42
The analogy with the TV set is a very good one and might be a useful way to explain it to a parent. Although these days, some parents might be young enough that they have never tried using rabbit ear antennas on a television (i.e. always had cable).
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2001-11-29 13:18
i dont have much authority here, but maybe if you explaine that the reason the clarinets come with the horrible mouthpieces is because the makers know how IMPORTANT it is to have a good one and the choices are so personal they dont want to spend the money providing what THEY think is good. they INTEND to have the buyer choose a better one. ???
JL
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Author: Brent
Date: 2001-11-29 13:22
I agree with Allen. I have a Hite Premiere on hand always to loan to students at lessons so they can see and feel the difference. Sending it home can be a little risky--i had one get dropped once and the tip was dinged--but actually hearing the difference is the best way i have found to convince partents that the extra $20-$30 is worth it.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-11-29 17:10
Most stock mouthpieces are pretty bad, but the cost of a decent one is small. The plastic Yamaha mouthpiece, which every instrument store stocks, is only around $20, and it plays very nicely. Even better is a Fobes or Hite student mouthpiece for around $30.
When my nephew took up clarinet a few years ago, he quickly dinged the mouthpiece tip, making it unplayable. I got him a Yamaha plastic, badgered the instrument store into fixing a couple of leaks and adjusted a reed to play with minimal effort. His tone suddenly changed from "beginner" to rather good.
While beginners will always sound like beginners, they pretty quickly get to where a usable mouthpiece is a necessity. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money, but it needs to be done.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Blake
Date: 2001-11-29 20:24
My teacher had a box of about 50 mouthpieces that each student would "try" If we found one we liked, we either exchanged it for the used one or we went out and bought it after we "tried it" That might help as well or possibly suggest it would be a good 'present" this time of year etc. Blake
Arlington, VA
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Author: Meri
Date: 2001-11-29 21:16
Thanks for your ideas! I already have a couple of really awful mouthpieces, but will definitely purchase a few for loaners. (and to see which one individual students like best) Too bad there are no Canadian distributors for the Hite, Pyne, or Fobes mouthpieces yet.
Terry: the link is not working correctly.
Meri
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