 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: chorusgirl
Date: 2009-02-11 23:41
Hi - Here's the scenario - I'm a choral person (piano/voice major, flute minor) who has been teaching chorus for many years. I'm in a new job now and they've just put me in with sixth graders for band lessons.
I have 12 clarinetists, and the band director put one on bass clarinet, and another student on E flat alto. She gave him an alto sax book to use.
The problem is that the alto sax music is written way too high for this kid to play. He hasn't learned any of these notes yet, but I can't ask him to read it one octave below. These kids only started playing in September.
I could put him on the bari sax book, which I think might work, and have him work with the regular clarinet book to learn new fingerings, etc. but am really not sure if this would work. The students come to me once a week for a group lesson, and go to band every day with their regular band director.
Any suggestions? (I am NOT a clarinetist, nor even really a WW player - I minored in flute but am not terrific - all my experience is really in voice and piano).
Thanks for any suggestions.
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Author: DixieSax
Date: 2009-02-11 23:54
Yes.. Ask the band director what he's thinking giving these kids bass and alto clarinets before they have learned the basics of clarinet playing. That's asking for problems right from the beginning.
The kids should have a year of experience (or more) before transitioning to alto or bass clarinet when they move on to a middle school band (7th grade) where there are actually parts available for the harmony clarinets.
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2009-02-12 00:42
There's just no need for alto clarinet until at least high school. They are problematic to play for even advanced (college, professional) players unless they are truly superb instruments. Even a Buffet Prestige Alto clarinet, if not in excellent repair, can be impossible to play.
During my undergrad, I played alto for a band concert. The instrument was fairly old, but in decent repair. It was still nearly impossible to play with any confidence, so I transposed to play it on A clarinet (a mellower sound than Bb).
Do the kid a favor and give them a Bb clarinet. Bass would still be a better choice than alto!
Good luck!
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2009-02-12 02:01
D S and N B say it very well. I've played most of the clar family [mainly your 3] for years and, IMHO, new students should be started on the Bb Soprano, NOT on the more difficult [in many ways] bass and alto. If you must provide playable music for alto cl, since, as I presume, you must stay in the cl's chalemeau/throat-tone register, low E up to mid-staff Bb, lowering an A S part an octave by computer program transposition would be my suggestion. Many churches have this capability, possibly music schools, libraries, skilled musicians/computer knowledgable individuals would also. Much luck, learning cl is not simple, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Tony Beck
Date: 2009-02-12 12:40
I feel for you! I’d agree with the above comments on the appropriateness of going to alto and bass at such an early stage (I switched to bass in 8th grade and loved it, but it’s a different beast). See if you can get the director to go with all Bb until they have more experience.
Pick up or borrow a cheap Bb in good repair and get a couple lessons yourself on clarinet. Then you will quickly recognize the problems these kids will have. A lot of junior band clarinets sound more like saxes due to embouchure and support problems. Once you recognize these and know what to do, they aren’t hard to set straight.
The computer transposition program will work great.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-02-12 13:15
Thank you for trying to do a good job with these kids instead of shrugging off the problems with, "Eh -- it's a paycheck."
Have you had a chance to sit down with the band director and discuss what to do? Diplomacy needed, because it's potentially a threatening situation for the band director. You're new to the job (she's got seniority) , you're not a clarinet player and yet you've identified a mistake in her curriculum planning. She's set this young alto clarinet player up for failure by putting him on the most difficult of the harmony clarinets before he's comfortable with the whole range of the Bb clarinet. (My experience was more typical: I started on alto clarinet in 7th grade, but by then I'd already been playing Bb soprano for three years.) His bad playing could drag down the morale of the rest of the band, too. So, the band director might get defensive, especially if she thinks you're undercutting her authority by assigning the kids different parts than she gave them.
In your situation, I think I'd talk to the director, but ignore the whole "What were you thinking?!" line of reasoning (accusatory, although it's completely valid!) and just talk about that individual boy. Ask if the band director would mind if you try giving this student a bari sax book or a transposition, for instance. Avoid implying that it's the band director's fault he's having so much trouble. (She may come to that conclusion on her own....) Instead of making the conversation about her, talk about what *the student* can and cannot do right now, and how to help that student now and in the future, not about what the band director already did that it's too late to fix. If the band director is tuned in, she'll figure out on her own that maybe she should go back to the traditional model and start these harmony clarinets later. If she feels that you're cooperative, on her side, optimistic and wanting the best for the band, then let's hope she's less likely to get competitive and obstructionist and more likely to give you free rein.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-02-12 13:25
I have to agree. I started on a soprano in 4th grade, and never moved to a harmony clarinet (a bass) until three years later, when I had a good grasp of fundamentals. Even nowadays, in my daughter's school system, they let the kids get a year or two under their belts playing Bb soprano, before attempting to move them to the larger instruments.
I really think this kid should be learning on a standard Bb sporano, wwhich isa far easier to work with and to learn basic musical skills on, than one of the lower voices of our family. While some of the folks have offered good workarounds if you must keep the student on alto, it would not be my choice for him as a first instrument.
Jeff
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2009-02-12 13:45
"Harmony/Background" clarinets -- hateful words! Sort of like calling football players "skill positions" or "grunts." Deprecating the large clarinets to defined subsidiary roles is a blueprint for mediocrity.
That said, I totally agree with the posters who recommended that kids not be assigned to the alto, bass, contra clarinets until they have reached some level of achievement on the Bb clarinet.
Post Edited (2009-02-12 13:46)
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Author: Ebclarinet1
Date: 2009-02-12 22:41
Even though I'm a fan of the alto, I would agree that 3-4 years of Bb clarinet are a good base for doing the transfer. One of my friends did convert to bass shortly after playing Bb but she was an exceptional student and was also physically big enough that the instrument was not a struggle.
The alto may be the most difficult of the clarinets to get a good sound and play well in tune. A good mouthpiece will help and luckily the Hite ones are not too expensive and realy give a pretty sound on the altos.
If the director has somehow singled out these students as being physically big enough to handle the instruments and has also talked with the parents that these are "unique instruments" then this MIGHT be OK. They do allow a student to do festivals that might not be possible on Bb. My director was a clarinetist so he was always looking for people whom he thought might could handle the other clarinets.
Right now I'm so in love with my Prestige alto that I've forgotten the problems one associates with the inststrument. That horn SINGS!
Eefer guy
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