Author: cjwright
Date: 2013-08-05 01:23
I agree with this statement, sort of...
As someone who does a lot of playing in different capacities (church offerings, woodwind quintets, 100 person Mahler symphonies) I can say I use two or three different "categories" of reeds. Would I let most students play my "offering music" reeds? Sure, no problem. Would I let a student play my quintet music reeds? Maybe, if they were advanced and already had strong foundation. Would I let my students play my symphony reeds? Heck no. They'd hurt themselves.
Just for clarity purposes, Student reeds don't necessarily mean crappy. I make student reeds for several resailers and I wouldn't have any problem letting one of my students play on them. They are stable, with good tone, and take a reasonable amount of air. (Not too light, not too resistant.) Would I want to play on them? No, because they openings aren't big enough and i can't get enough dynamic flexibility that I need on a consistant basis, and the reeds are too responsive for the amount I blow. But I recognize the needs of younger students.
I have strong opinions on this topic because for most of my middle school/high school education I was given "professional strength reeds" and because they were difficult, I never was able to form a correct embouchure. It wasn't until I started working with a teacher who told me to step back and play on lighter easier reeds that I went from being able to only practice 30 minutes a day to 3 hours a day, and start to form a proper embouchure. Then, once it was formed, I slowly began building up the strength of my reeds. i'm a believer in getting a student to play on comfortable reeds, and as they get stronger, they'll naturally want bigger reeds that they can comfortably handle.
My two cents.
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