 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Heather
Date: 1999-02-04 23:14
Can you ever enjoy being on top? I'm a Sophomore in high school. My goal as a musician is to be the BEST I can be. In getting to this goal I set smaller goals like being first chair. Well, I made my way to first chair and section leader this year in my school band. Did pretty well at regionals (3rd chair). I have been enoying all this for about 2 weeks. Now today I find out that there are 3 freshman clarinet players from another school in which I will be competing against this coming weekend at county auditions. These 3 are better than I was last year, but I have improved greatly since then.
Is there ever a time where things begin to slow down and enoy being good instead of fending off others... I'm getting really tired of all this compitition! I would just like to play my music and be good at it, not worry about who I have to beat next. But I am a very competitive person... and the way I get better is setting goals to beat people.
Is there a time in one's musical career where this compitition tappers off? If so, please let me know!
Thanks,
Heather
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Author: Nan
Date: 1999-02-04 23:42
<<Is there a time in one's musical career where this compitition tappers
off? If so, please let me know!>>
In a word, no.
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Author: Joris van den Berg
Date: 1999-02-05 00:38
In the wind band i play at the moment i know i could be able to play at first chair, but i don't (i have done it half a year ago).
second and third row need good players too. You could very well choose to play first chair second row, and be very good at it.
You can compete with yourself by setting goals about being able to play a certain difficult piece perfectly, without competition with others.
It's quite relaxt playing at second row first chair, you know you are better then the person on first chair first row, and there is certainly no argue about you being the best at second row.
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-02-05 00:52
Yes you can enjoy being on top. Basically it is a matter of perception and viewpoint. When I was in school, I practiced because I loved to play. I worked diligently on the drills as I knew that was necessary to achieve the skill I needed to play the music that I wanted to play. As a result, I ended up first chair and various other achievements yet I never focused on competition. For me it was secondary. When challenged, it was just another part of being involved in music.
Focus on the music and developing your skills and you can enjoy it. Winning the competitions is then a normal and natural result.
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Author: Brandon
Date: 1999-02-05 01:48
From what I understand, you want to be first chair. That is great. We all do. However, focus a bit less on the competition and more on having goals relate directly to the playing. I quickly found out that being one of the top clarinetists from my high school and region does not mean a thing when you go off to college. So I guess what I am trying to say adds up to this: Do not back off now just because you are first chair. If you are a musician, the competition is always there(except maybe in a community band, but there is even some there).
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Author: Mickey
Date: 1999-02-05 03:17
There is only one sure thing in life and music ..... there well always be someone else to take your place .... the next "Young Gun" (like what you are now). Just remember to enjoy the music, and your place in life .... whatever that may be or become.
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Author: (another)Heather
Date: 1999-02-05 04:02
To me, the main problem with music is it's too competitive. Sure, a little friendly competition is good for everyone, it keeps us working to maintain our skills and improve musically. But sometimes things can get so bad, that people don't even get along. I wanted to be a music major, to learn more about music, so I could grow as a musician. To be able to play for an audience, either professionally or just for fun, but the idea is, it would be to enjoy playing the music. But I still can't think of a way to get around the competition...at any level, it's always there.
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Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-02-05 04:03
It never ends because you always have to compete against yourself. But, were I a music major or a professioal musician, I would still set time aside very day to practice something fun, not on the curriculum, something for me. Even in my case where my practice time is severely limited and I concentrate heavily on exercises, I still grab my "easy solos" book and have fun by jazzing the songs up, trying to improvise over them, and just generally trying things, sometimes goofy things like playing a hymn completely in flutter tongue, or trilling every note to excess, or giving it an exaggerated Acker Bilk vibrato. It expands your outlook and increases your depth, and helps relax things too.
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Author: Fred McKenzie
Date: 1999-02-05 11:06
Joris van den Berg wrote:
-------------------------------
second and third row need good players too.
Joris-
This is a point that is not compatible with a competition where the "best" play 1st Clarinet. High notes may require a player to have more experience, but there are some really good parts on 3rd Clarinet. Having better players on 3rd makes the Section (and the Band) sound better. It might be a good idea for the Band Director to arrange the ranking to have number one play 1st Chair 1st Clarinet, number two on 1st Chair 2nd Clarinet, et cetera.
If you always play 1st Clarinet, you'll never know what you are missing!
Fred
<a href=http://www.dreamnetstudios.com/music/mmb/index.htm>MMB</a>
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Author: Justice
Date: 1999-02-05 15:23
Being "top-dog" is certainly one of the coolest experiences in this life. Why would anyone want to play an instrument and not play to the absolute top level of perfection possible? People will tell you that "there will always be somebody better than you". Well, there may be, but why not try narrowing the gap between you and the three other people in the world that may be as good as you?
Practice hard
Justice
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Author: steve
Date: 1999-02-05 15:52
top dog??? that's for dog shows, not music..
who's a better clarinettist Larry Combs or Frank Cohen or the student I heards at Curtis the other day give a beautiful recital and who's name I forget and you never heard of?? ...meaningless....
practice hard, be the best you can, enjoy music and communicate the joy to others. that's all that matters.
steve
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-02-05 17:35
The original poster was suffering from the pressures of competition and needed advice on how to deal with this. It is possible to both be on top and not be significantly bothered by the competition. And that approach is focus on the music not the competition. This is actually much more effective in reaching the top and staying on top.
However some people don't like any competition and if they choose the non-competitive route, that is their privilege.
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Author: Nancy Buckman
Date: 1999-02-05 18:14
Playing second and third clarinet makes the player responsible for the rythymic and harmonic aspects of the clarinet section. It's a whole different ball of wax. When I was in high school our section was arranged 1st chair first, 2nd chair first and 3rd chair first. Eveything else was filled out in the same way. We had a great section, everyone had a chance to play a little bit of everything and those who weren't as good as the top players could learn from having good players in their respective row. The responsibility of maintaining rows that sounded well to combine as a section was delegated to the best players.
Nancy Buckman
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Author: Lelia
Date: 1999-02-05 23:04
I played first chair clarinet in my high school orchestra (small frog in an even smaller pond!), then quit altogether, early in college. I hated competition. It seemed anti-musical to me. It started making me nervous to the point of getting sick, and the more I succeeded, the worse it got. But after quitting for years, I went back to music later, as an amateur, and I don't consider that a failure. I love playing. (Since I never had the skills to turn professional, that wasn't a factor.) I think that maybe once you've competed enough to prove whatever you need to prove to yourself and push your skill level up to where you can make a fair assessment of where you stand in comparison to other people, you can make a rational decision about whether you really belong in the competitive business of pro music or high-level amateur music, or whether you'd be happier, as I am, just playing for personal satisfaction. For a lot of people, the competitive thing gets horrible for awhile in high school, but then they sort of get used to it and it's no big deal any more. Why not stick out the competitive game through the end of high school and see how you feel about it then. And congratulations on your success so far. That's something to be proud of!
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Author: Merry
Date: 1999-02-07 21:48
In the community band I am in the older, more experienced players often get asked to play lower parts in competitions if the younger kids in the sections aren't balancing up with the rest of the band. It is no big deal for us as you do need good players in all parts. Our conductor also likes to spread the solos around to give a lot of the good players an opportunity to show their skills instead of just the principals in each section. We may not be the most technically brilliant band around but few bands can match us for balance.
In school I played first chair eventually but spent a lot of time in the lower parts. We didn't audition for our positions and you largely got promoted on age rather than playing ability. I never enjoyed solos and I still don't which is why I love playing in a band. Even though I have technically been better than several players ahead of me I have been quite content to do my thing well in the lower parts. There is no shame in this I don't think. In other words, no I did not enjoy being on top for my short time there but everyone is different I am sure some people revel in it.
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Author: Stephanie aka Benny
Date: 1999-02-09 19:17
Humm....you have raised quite a topic with many suggestions here. I don't like to compete but feel extremly well when i do good. Some people live from competition to competition and therefore are like obsessed with competiting. I personally just try to make myself the best that i can be and let the rest take care of it's self. Pleasing myslef>to me< is more important than what any judge can say. They only listen to me on that specific day, at that moment....and if i don't do good....well i know the kind of player that i am and who are they to judge me...?? Don't know if that really helped or not but i hope that you do good in all your futhur endeavors. IN my opinion we never stop competing... MYSELF ... is my biggest competitior. Hang in there and practice HARD!!!
Keep Swinging,
Benny
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 1999-02-10 05:09
As Steve said competition is not for music.If I quote a real references,I will take Heifez,Rubinstein,Caras.As Reginald Kell once said, "If Heifetz can fly,I also can."
He started really expressive clarinet art.This is my ideal!
I am an amateur but if I were a pro and play a concert,I will be glad to hear from student players to say:
"I was so impressed with your expression and feel itched to come home and try myself!" Not "you are top" kind praise.
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