 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Cindy
Date: 2002-01-03 21:18
When people just begin playing (as in, one or two months since they picked it up), there are always adorable mishaps. I am helping a very sweet, dedicated, and promising girl learn to play the clarinet, but she has been playing on really old reeds with no size marking. I recently had her try reeds of 2, 2 1/2, and 3. She brought them home and after trying them out called me. She told me in a very nervous voice that she thought she was realy weird, and she had a serious problem playing the clarinet.I was really surprised, and asked her why. She said she could make a sound on all the reeds, and they all fit on the mouthpiece, so she thought she has to buy a whole new mouthpiece to find one that works with reeds. I did explain later to her that the numbers are only strength indicators and that its not weird to be able to play on different sizes, but I thought it was really adorable. Has anyone else experienced adorable (or funny) mistakes like this?
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Author: Kate
Date: 2002-01-03 21:30
I run a sax group at school for teachers and pupils (it's funny giving instructions to my teachers!!!! But they have to do as I say!) and one of my pupils, a first year came to the first lesson really upset cos whatever she did she squeaked and her brothers kept shouting at her. She asked me what she was doing wrong - and after practicing one her own the whole summer she was playing with the mouthpiece upside down with the reed sellotaped on the top!! I thought that was really funny, and she's actually a pretty good player; once she turned the sax the right way up!!!!!! A few ppl I know have tried to play music the wrong way up on their stands, and this woman my parents know thought she had to buy different sized clarinets to fit the reeds!!!!!
:-)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-01-03 21:38
One of my beginners came to me after the first month and said she couldn't play that day because she had to buy a new mouthpiece.
When I asked why, since it was fine last week, she told me that her mom had tried to clean her mouthpiece for her. Unfortunately the student forgot to mention to her mom that I had specified cold/cool water only.
Her mom had put the mouthpiece in the dishwasher...GBK
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2002-01-03 23:15
Not clarinet...but funny
One of my favorite guitar students, back when I still taught, was an emergency room physician. She had gotten bored with pediatrics and was always ready to conquer new things. I was honored to have such a bright and dedicated person as a student.
After I tuned her guitar at the first lesson she inquired if I had a grease pencil. I rumaged around and found one. She proceed to mark the angle the tuning pegs where at, so she could put it back it tune. I did inform her (with out the grin and laugh I felt inside) that it was a bit more complicated than that.
Another, much younger student had a funny rattle in her guitar one day. She was about 8 or 9 and so bright and cute. I shook her little guitar and could tell some object(s) had gotten in it. I put it over my head and shook it and turned it until several Barbie doll shoes and a penny came out. Instant guitar repair.
Ginny
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Author: William
Date: 2002-01-04 00:06
During a routine administrative survey--the kind that we teachers just love filling out--there was a question asking us to relate if we had observed any incidents of violence among our students during the preceeding quarter, and, if so, what kind and how frequent. I reported that, as a music teacher, I was proud to report observing and directing numerous examples of violins every day during my classes. Not a lot of humour at Central Administration, I'm sorry to report...........Thats my story--Good Clarineting!!!!!!!
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Author: Kim L.
Date: 2002-01-04 03:25
In fourth grade, when I was a beginner, I played on sax reeds instead of clarinet reeds. They played for me! When I was told, I was amazed to find that there were "clarinet" reeds. :-)
Kim L.
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Author: IHL
Date: 2002-01-04 07:38
back in year 7, when we first started high school (aussie curriculum), the whole woodwind section had thier mouthpieces upside down (there were no double reeds). Our excuse was that in that position it looked similar to the recorder mouthpiece we were used to, so it just seemed right...
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2002-01-04 16:50
One of my young aspiring clarinetists talked his parents into a new R-13. Proudly, he sat down and put it together--making certain everyone noticed his new instrument. He got the mouthpiece and reed just right and took a breath and blew (everyone was watching). Nothing. He scratched his head and looked over the instrument and tried again. Nothing. I took it from him and took it apart to find--yes, another victim to a pad saver left inside the upper joint. He was meek and mild as a kitten for the rest of the day.
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Author: David Pegel
Date: 2002-01-04 22:26
During a rehearsal, one of the clarinet players (Who was rather farsighted) complained that her notes were moving on her page.
Turns out it was a fly
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Author: Emms
Date: 2002-01-06 13:15
A friend of mine started to learn to play clarinet. After the first week, she turned up at her lesson saying she had practised for hours at home, but as she lived in a flat and couldn't make loud noises, she didn't bother putting the mouthpiece on!
In band one day, someone was putting their clarinet together whilst his partner was putting up the stand. His partner was having difficulty as one of the nuts was missing and the stand wouldn't stay up. When we started playing, the first guy couldn't get his clarinet to play very well. We all ignored him 'til break time, then took his clarinet apart. The stand nut had fallen inside his clarinet whist he had been putting it together and was stopping the air flowing down his clarinet.
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-01-09 02:24
Ginny - sorry, but that's too funny - you made me chuckle at my desk at work (Engineering Company) and I was "busted" for doing non-net related business. I'll bite my lip, next time.
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-01-09 02:27
(bitting lip so as not to laugh out loud) - I remember being forced into playing recording in aussie primary school, too. I was even in a recorder marching band - which hysterically funny and we'd often laugh until we almost peed our pants (um, I was about 7 at the time - and yes, I've still got to watch that I don't over do the laughing for similar reasons and I'm not 30 years older).
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