Author: Aaron Diestel
Date: 2002-06-10 02:58
Sorry Bob,
I am a music educator. I also teach privately a well as play in a few orchestras in my area. As well as recently finishing concerts in New York and Cernegie Hall. I have been studying bass as well as the soprano from a great teacher, one who plays professionally. And has played bass with many of the country's largest orchestras. After going to so many contests for district and state level and listening to the broad range of bass clarinetists in the public schools I have found that many get an unleasent tone. In public school, the band, what happens so often is that the students that are playing bass clarinet end up on the instrument for sometimes one reason. The director needs a bass clarient player or two. He can't take the really good players out of the clarient section, so who usually ends up on the Bass....someone in the lower chairs of the section. Is this always true....no, but it and situations like it happen very often. A second reason is that no "extensive" teaching really happens on the bass clarinet. Everything seems centered around the Bb in some students lessons. True...not many peoiple can make a living playing bass clairnet only, but the bass should be covered in lessons, if the student is playing the bass. Playing the bass is not liek playing the Bb. There are differences. Certianly aspects can be applied from the soprano to the bass, however certain other aspects are different and could greatly improve a students abilities on the bass.
I'm not saying what I think is absolutly correct, however if you are going to play bass, treat it as if learning a different instrument, what applies to the soprano, dosen't always apply to the bass. Just be as informed as possible and if you can, espically as a young student, take lessons on the bass. Be a first chair bass clarinet player, not a 3rd row clarientist that just happens to play bass.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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